for all the people who comapre golf to pool.

bfdlad

bfdlad

T-Wheels
Silver Member
Ok, so I know that there are alot of people out there who like to compare pool to golf. Well I saw something this morning that made me think a little. I was watching the Womens British open and noticed that there were less people there watching than there are at a WPBA event. I know we are not comparing the PGA but still the womens pro tour gets ALOT of sponsorship $$ and alot of TV time. So if the Womens tour canget all that sponsorship $$ with a very small gate I wonder why the WPBA can't get that kind of backing. I am sure if I am wrong you guys will let me know about it and I hope someone does.
 
bfdlad said:
Ok, so I know that there are alot of people out there who like to compare pool to golf. Well I saw something this morning that made me think a little. I was watching the Womens British open and noticed that there were less people there watching than there are at a WPBA event. I know we are not comparing the PGA but still the womens pro tour gets ALOT of sponsorship $$ and alot of TV time. So if the Womens tour canget all that sponsorship $$ with a very small gate I wonder why the WPBA can't get that kind of backing. I am sure if I am wrong you guys will let me know about it and I hope someone does.
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Golf's fan base is in a higher tax bracket. They can advertise to fewer people at a golf event and still end up with a better return on their investment.
 
As far as I am concerned the only similarity between golf and pool is that you are hitting the ball into a hole with a stick. The other comparison I can see some people make is that they are beer drinking sports.

I am sure you can make lots of other similarities but you can also debunk them just as easily.

I did try to play pool in my golf shoes once and nearly broke my neck. It didn't help my game one iota.

anyway that my 2 cents.
 
bfdlad said:
Ok, so I know that there are alot of people out there who like to compare pool to golf. Well I saw something this morning that made me think a little. I was watching the Womens British open and noticed that there were less people there watching than there are at a WPBA event. I know we are not comparing the PGA but still the womens pro tour gets ALOT of sponsorship $$ and alot of TV time. So if the Womens tour canget all that sponsorship $$ with a very small gate I wonder why the WPBA can't get that kind of backing. I am sure if I am wrong you guys will let me know about it and I hope someone does.
Click to expand...

Ok,You might get a few hundred people watching a WPBA event.......I think there might be alittle more than a few hundred people watching the womans British open,scattered about on the 6,500+ yards they are playing on.
Try adding a couple of 0's to that count.
 
The women's tour (LPGA) is hurting.....the turnouts have been very low and they are concerned about sponsorship dollars.....this has been a topic of much discussion on the 19th hole.....unfortunately, there is no real dominant force on the tour, nor rivalry, in quite some time.....

Paraphrased from last night, "every weekend there is a different asian female with zero personality winning"......again, those are from the program, not my words at all, I don't follow women's golf but do watch the 19th every now and then......there has been much discussion around gimmicks and other advertising hype they can use to get back or build a new fan base....

They do have some valid points, what draws a fan base to many sports:

Dominant players that do amazing things
A good rivalry
Strong personalities
It doesn't hurt for them to be attractive.

At a recent WPBA event, I think it was Monica Webb who pulled off 3 incredible shots, all in a row.....people want to see incredible shots.....dominant players with mad skills....good rivalries....strong personalities.....and again, I know people get pissed when this is mentioned, but sports have a strong male following, and they like to watch good looking females....

Same thing in female tennis....you have dominant players, rivalries, strong personalities, and attractive players, ratings go up....

my two cents....
 
matta said:
Golf's fan base is in a higher tax bracket. They can advertise to fewer people at a golf event and still end up with a better return on their investment.
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Ok, I can get that. good enough for me. There is no way to change that situation but I did hear that the WPGA is going broke and that they have no events scheduled for next year. I'm not sure how true that is but it would be interesting and make sense.
 
Major difference - TV dollars. There may only be a few hundred on the course, but how many people are watching at home? I would venture a guess that there are more people watching the first round of the Women's British Open than there will be for the final of the US Open 9-ball. TV rights bring the golf to the everyday viewer. Pool is tucked away on ESPN2, and can only be seen by people that pay the extra dollar to get cable TV. The major channels fight to get certain golf tournaments every year - CBS, ABC and NBC duke it out every year to get coverage of men's and women's tour events. When was the last time any of those channels ever wanted to pick up professional billiards? Hard to get money if you can't get airtime on a major channel, because sponsors rely on advertising to make their money.
 
bfdlad said:
...but I did hear that the WPGA is going broke and that they have no events scheduled for next year. I'm not sure how true that is but it would be interesting and make sense.
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I've heard that Elvis is still alive. The WPGA has their schedule set until 2014 as far as their scheduled events. Maybe you have some serious inside information there, but I don't think there is any truth to what you've heard.
 
Let not for get pool was originally a lawn sport before moving indoors.

Similarities:

1.) Almost always an individual sport
2.) Hitting a ball in a hole
3.) Smooth playing surface -- Green vs. Felt
4.) The Ryder Cup vs. The Mosconi Cup
5.) Hustlers
6.) The fewest number of strokes is best.
7.) Beer drinking.
8.) Gloves :rolleyes:
9.) Shoes ;)
10.) Mace vs. Golf club

Differences:

1.) Money :eek:


Golf_Club.jpg110_mace-cues.jpg
 
jason said:
Let not for get pool was originally a lawn sport before moving indoors.

Similarities:

1.) Almost always an individual sport
2.) Hitting a ball in a hole
3.) Smooth playing surface -- Green vs. Felt
4.) The Ryder Cup vs. The Mosconi Cup
5.) Hustlers
6.) The fewest number of strokes is best.
7.) Beer drinking.
8.) Gloves :rolleyes:
9.) Shoes ;)
10.) Mace vs. Golf club

Differences:

1.) Money :eek:
Click to expand...

Smooth playing surface? Don't golf much, I guess. When's the last time you played on a pool table with a puddle on the left hand side of the table and a pile of shuffleboard sand blocking the corner pocket? Oh yeah, it also needs to have WAY thicker cloth (fuzzy old Mali cloth) on the section one diamond and in from the side rail.
 
Shawn Armstrong said:
Smooth playing surface? Don't golf much, I guess. When's the last time you played on a pool table with a puddle on the left hand side of the table and a pile of shuffleboard sand blocking the corner pocket? Oh yeah, it also needs to have WAY thicker cloth (fuzzy old Mali cloth) on the section one diamond and in from the side rail.
Click to expand...

I was reaching a little bit ;)

...but you did notice I was comparing "the green" with "the felt"!
 
Hate to bring this up because I think aiming at the third board every first shot of a frame is like watching paint dry!!! Look what happened to professional womens bowling, GONE, SEE YA. Thank god alot of the women on the pro pool tour have some personality and aren't too bad looking either....Oh by the way they can play a little too!!!!
 
NewStroke said:
As far as I am concerned the only similarity between golf and pool is that you are hitting the ball into a hole with a stick. The other comparison I can see some people make is that they are beer drinking sports.

I am sure you can make lots of other similarities but you can also debunk them just as easily.

I did try to play pool in my golf shoes once and nearly broke my neck. It didn't help my game one iota.

anyway that my 2 cents.
Click to expand...


NEWSTROKE: You are funny. Let's debunk these similarities.

"I am sure you can make lots of other similarities but you can also debunk them just as easily."

1. The ball dosen't move until we move it. (pre-shot routines)
2. No opponent. (just yourself)
3. No reactionary. (shouldn't break your neck)


Just me
randyg
 
it all about the $$$$$

I heard this from someone else and I completely agree.

The way you get money added to tournaments is usually from sponsors. Sponsors usually need to run advertisments during those tournaments. If their products have a high turn around and they sell a lot of stuff to the audiences, they stand to make a lot of money...thus being able to pay the added money.

In golf, it seems there is a new design for putters, drivers, balls, shoes, gloves, clothes, etc. every year. And all of us amatuer players run right out and grab that new stuff...every year. There is money to be made by advertising new golf equipment.

In pool, there aint too much new stuff...ever. The latest 'new stuff' I can recall would be jump/break cues with G10 or phenolic tips...now one strong leg in the pool world has outlawed that. How often do you buy a new cue? Probably not very often...as a matter of fact, some players still have their original cue.

When you do buy a new cue, is it a production cue? From a company that might have a large enough base to advertise and actually make some money from that advertising. I think many times when a person buys a new cue, it is a used cue that they really like form a friend or a site like this one or eBay and no one gets advertising $$$$ for that sale. I don't see too many cusom cue builders sponsoring tournaments...they can't afford to. They spend a lot of time building one cue for one person and probably don't earn enough to justify advertising...thus not $$$$ for sponsorships.

I guess we need to find some inovative new products that us players just can't do without so we can sell them and change the design every year so we can re-sell them again...then we might be able to sponsor a tournament and pay the players.

I also agree with the comment about the difference in income levels of the sports...seems golf and tennis are generally white collar and pool, hunting, fishing and car racing are blue collar. I don't mind being blue collar though...we know how to have fun.

L8R...Ken
 
Randy...and don't forget #4...both swings are a circle, where we strike the ball at the bottom of the circle. Stances and grips are designed to get optimum, accurate, and repeatable results from this type of swing. As you noted, the other ballistic sports are reactionary, but the swing is also a arc (baseball, tennis, pingpong and hockey), as opposed to a circle.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

randyg said:
NEWSTROKE: You are funny. Let's debunk these similarities.

"I am sure you can make lots of other similarities but you can also debunk them just as easily."

1. The ball dosen't move until we move it. (pre-shot routines)
2. No opponent. (just yourself)
3. No reactionary. (shouldn't break your neck)


Just me
randyg
Click to expand...
 
p00l-golf !!!!

Well i play both, but i dont compare?? as i love them both!!i am a man 72yr of age, thank god --for rogain for my HAIR, titatium for my GOLF clubs, and VIGERA for my sex life!!! sure wish i had pill for my pool game,, HELP!!!!!:confused::confused:who cares ther both fun????
 
As Skunkboy said we are a "blue collar" sport - so is football - we need BEER sponsors.

I think we also need to try to get through to companies that sell products that everybody buys in order for them to justify their advertising dollars.

Personal hygiene (soaps, shampoos, toothpaste, mouthwash, etc)
food - we all eat (fast food, restaurants, grocery stores, etc.)
women play too (beauty items, clothes, cosmetics, etc.)

How do we get the attention of these type companies ??

I still think that "team" events & women vs men events would appeal the most to the "masses".
 
Pool tournaments should also rent one of those T-Shirt launchers to shoot out advertisement shirts during breaks!
 
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