My point exactly. And why is that? Because the USA no longer cares about pool like it used to.
That's more like it. We still care but we don't care like we used to care. One reason is that the cost of participation was much lower in the days when most of the major pool events were in America. Now that pool has gone global, the fixed costs of participation are daunting, and even the top American pros have skipped far too many of the overseas majors.
It's a numbers game. The US has fewer people interested in playing pool for a living than Europe, the Philippines, etc. End. Of. Story.
I doubt that America has fewer cueists than Europe who want to make a career of pro pool. If you have any data that supports this, please share. The real problem is that the many Americans who have chosen this career are developing so poorly.
This is not an excuse. It's just the way it is. Want a USA team that can compete with Europe in the Mosconi Cup? Get a lot of Americans interested in the game again.
Yup, that's very important. One of the Catch-22 issues of pool in America is that so many poolrooms are very dependent on alcohol sales to remain financially sustainable. This is part of why the poolroom itself is, far too often, a place that parents will not want their kids to frequent.
Trust me, if pro players had the opportunity to make a lot of money (on par with the MLB, NBA, NFL, etc.), the incentive would be there.
This will never happen. Even so, if pool players could make that kind of money, then some of the most elite athletes in America will start choosing pool over some of the other mainstream sports and we would end up living in a world in which the Fargo 800 player is dead money.
Overall you are making a lot of sense here. Nice post.
