Well for starters, stop having events that no one in their right mind want to go to, either as a player or a spectator. The middle east is a good example, and it turned out to not be sustainable. WTF wants to go to Winterhaven, California (or as matchroom calls it, Yuma, Arizona).
It is about priorities. For Matchroom Pool to have a sustainable pro pool product, the economics of event production must come first, then the needs of the players (who seem to show up regardless of venue as long as the prize fund is good enough,) and then the fan experience. As fans, we'd rather be a higher priority, but understand that revenue from live attendance is not a critical aspect of the business model (other than at the Mosconi Cup and Reyes Cup events). Nonetheless, Matchroom offers the best arenas in pool and, yes, I've attended some Predator events. Yes Matchroom had a hiccup earlier this month with the seating at the Florida Open, which was a day six issue only.
Focus on the streaming like is actually matters. Make everything easy to find and follow in one place instead of piecing it here are there, like 1 stream on youtube, 1 stream on tiktok, 1 stream on wnttv.com, etc... As a spectator, determining who is going to play, what time they are going to play, and if it will be streamed or not, should not take and entire data center of AI to figure out. Make sure the streaming can be watched on televisions, via smart apps on the televisions. Yes, I know, televisions are old, but some of us like to see pool while on a couch on screens that are larger than a few inches.
All good points here. In fact, Matchroom has gotten worse and worse in posting the match schedule on their live scoring app and it negatively affects both attendees and those watching on stream.
Quit requiring an email address to track scores. Shouldn't require two different accounts to subscribe to the streaming and check the live scoring.
This is extremely trivial.
Use presenters, for the US events at least, who don't treat the event like it is a cosplay and have zero history or knowledge of the game and its players.
That's fair.
At the events, use raised seating. No one should have to tell you that.
For Matchroom, with a few exceptions, there is usually just one row of seats at each table until day six of a major. To my knowledge, the 2026 Florida Open was the first ever WNT major in which there wasn't raised seating on day six and I agree that it was problematic.
Schedule matches at a decent hour so "normal" people can watch them, and not only young players or players on stimulants can win. If you want access to a large market, it would help to make your product available while that market is awake.
I think that this is a strength of Matchroom. Their sessions don't start early and don't end late. Of course, when your stream audience is from all over the world, there is no way to please everybody. For example, the Arizona Open final did not finish until almost 1:00 AM in New York.
Stop having TV/streaming tables with different rules than the outside tables. The pocket sizes should be the same, and every match should play on a shot clock if one is being used at any table.
I think everybody agrees with this. Pool without a shot clock is far less exciting. Still, this is about resources. Where are you going to get shot clock operators? There aren't enough volunteers to get this done, and if you get referees at every table, you will have to play them, compromising your business model. All that said, if shot clock on the stream table is the best they can offer, it's way way way better than not having a shot clock on any of the tables. Pool's business model will have to improve before shot clock on every table happens.
Quit fucking around with ball colors and pocket sizes.
Nobody will ever convince me that this matters. Players and fan alike are smart enough to get used to anything.
Do not use ticketmaster to rip off your potential market.
Pool must be one of the cheapest sports to attend. It tends to cost about $25 per day. Not a big issue here.
Quit cancelling major events like the World Cup, World Pool Masters, etc...
Event economics here. Tennis and golf sometimes move on from an event if it's economics are not adding up. That's how business works.
Quit "cancelling" players because they might not play at one of your events.
This has been one of Matchroom's biggest mistakes. They have squandered some of the loyalty they had built with the players through their penal action, especially against SVB and Filler. How can any player feel safe from similar punishment in a similar scenario?
Just a few things off the top of my head.
You made a lot of good points. Nice post!
