Why does ESPN not support Men's Billiards?
I heard that it has always been a great filler for them?
I heard that it has always been a great filler for them?
Espn
- Thread starter BarneyCalip
- Start date
maybe it's because of the VIBE that men's pool puts out there .... have you watched any of the streams lately ....
I've been watching the stream of the Japan Open Championship and every player is dressed to perfection ... shirts, vests ....
the beach bum wear that most wear at the tournaments I see would make me think 3 or 4 times before I'd offer anything to Men's Billiards/Pool if I was an ESPN official.
Even the European tours require better dress codes
I've been watching the stream of the Japan Open Championship and every player is dressed to perfection ... shirts, vests ....
the beach bum wear that most wear at the tournaments I see would make me think 3 or 4 times before I'd offer anything to Men's Billiards/Pool if I was an ESPN official.
Even the European tours require better dress codes
Francisco Bustamante
calc...., you bring back memories.
At Jay Helfert's Los Angeles/Burbank Open many moons ago, I met Francisco.
We became close friends and this year I finally beat him to the chicken wings.
Francisco was sponsored by Falcon cues at that time.
He was very young and it was one of hist first tournaments.
He came to me and talked about how unsecure he was being over dressed.
He was wearing a white shirt with a black vest (with Falcon Patch) with his customary pleated slacks and dress shoes.
He looked great, I told him you are sponsoring Falcon Cues, you have to look good.
He understood!!!!
You will rarely ever see him with Hawaian shirt, shorts and sandals.
Calc..... I think you have a point.
calc...., you bring back memories.
At Jay Helfert's Los Angeles/Burbank Open many moons ago, I met Francisco.
We became close friends and this year I finally beat him to the chicken wings.
Francisco was sponsored by Falcon cues at that time.
He was very young and it was one of hist first tournaments.
He came to me and talked about how unsecure he was being over dressed.
He was wearing a white shirt with a black vest (with Falcon Patch) with his customary pleated slacks and dress shoes.
He looked great, I told him you are sponsoring Falcon Cues, you have to look good.
He understood!!!!
You will rarely ever see him with Hawaian shirt, shorts and sandals.
Calc..... I think you have a point.
!!!
This is true. The question isn't whether we have collared shirts or not. The point is advertisers are willing to pay more for a commercial during a hot dog eating contest than a pool match. ESPN is in the business of selling advertising, and they will put up sports content that will help them sell ad spots. This is the reason why WPBA matches have slipped to the 3AM slot, normally dominated by infomercials?
Take a reality check, where would the content come from? ESPN is not spending thousands sending a crew to cover a meaningless tournament, played by players that no one outside of the most hardcore pool fans would know, or care. Pool has no structure, no real champions, nothing organized that a fan can follow or root for. Pool at best is an exhibition sport that is interesting to watch for a short time without any interest in any of the outcomes. Sort of like watching a Rodeo. He ropes a calf, falls off his horse and you say, That was cool and change the channel. Just reality, pool is not a sport.
Here is the real kicker, even within the sub-culture of the pool world there is not even support. You can't even get pool players and fans to pay 10 cents to watch pool. They may watch if it is free but that is about it. Just look at the streaming pool on the net. Millions of pool players, thousands on this forum alone and they can draw 200 viewers if it cost anything to watch. Pool is just an amateur sport enjoyed by many many people, but has no marketable value what so ever, none.
Exactly, and that may be a good idea. Buy the time, show the product and sell your own advertising, much like an infomercial. Maybe there will be a way to do it and make a profit.
It already has a fan base going back pretty far. Much of the time I spent in Europe there was nothing to watch on TV so it was easy to get an audience. Heck, they were watching reruns of old American TV shows like 20 years old in prime time. I have a feeling much of the interest in Snooker has dropped off in recent years with more competition for peoples attention.
The fact that some folks out there are buying $25 pieces of chalk speak contrary to this, at least in my opinion. The fact that there are folks out there that spend over 2 or 3 thousand for a cue speak contrary to this thought as well. Also, the fact that Jeanette Lee has made millions MARKETING HERSELF PLAYING POOL also speaks contrary to this sentiment.
I certainly understand your position, as not much has come of "professional" pool to date. However, I continue to postulate that cue sports and its' variants are a highly fun (and addictive) pastime and as such has tremendous marketing appeal to the masses. Just because some pool tourneys currently draw few viewers on the stream doesn't mean that pool itself has no appeal. All it suggests to me is that our sport just hasn't gotten its' collective sh$t together, that's about it.
To sum it up: participants in the industry need to start working together to grow the sport. Otherwise, they're just pushing on a string.
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Well, you answer the question yourself. Pool is fun to play but has little value as a spectator sport and that is where money comes from. To be successful it has to be something that can gain appeal to the non player. I watch Golf every week although I have only played maybe a half dozen times in my life. Pool can't depend only on the hardcore fans, who by the way have proven they won't pay to watch.
It is funny, if you have ever run tournaments as I have you can't get spectators no matter what you do. I have run tournaments in pool rooms with players like Buddy Hall, Miz and so on. You know what happens? The phone never stops ringing, not asking about the tournament but wanting to know when it will be over and the room reopens so they can come down and play. This is just a fact and not meant to be some cynical nay-sayer spouting off. There is little you could point to that could be used as a pitch to bring fresh money into the sport, it's history of failure is all to well known. Pool is as I said before a very popular amateur sport far more fun to play then watch. I have no doubt much can be done that can grow the industry and help fill pool rooms with fresh blood but as a professional sport it is a dead end.
The fact that someone will spend big bucks on a cue says nothing about the sport. It just means they like nice cues and maybe like to play. They still won't support the tournaments and neither will the guy they bought that $2000.00 cue from.
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First off, there is no mens tour. Secondly, I don't think ESPN covers the production costs of any pool event it shows, including the WPBA. Since there are very few events that are streamed or otherwise video'd with the production values required for network presentation, there's nothing really for ESPN to even consider putting on. Lastly, for whatever reason, pool players don't support the pro game like fans do in other sports. No one I know is getting rich streaming pool either. ESPN has put enough pool on TV to conclude it doesn't get ratings, at least the way it's currently presented.
As far as getting the interest of non-fans, it's a catch-22. Casual observers would probably consider checking it out if there was big money at stake but there isn't because there isn't enough interest to generate that kind of cash.
As far as getting the interest of non-fans, it's a catch-22. Casual observers would probably consider checking it out if there was big money at stake but there isn't because there isn't enough interest to generate that kind of cash.
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What about the US Open? That would be perfect for ESPN
I agree with much of what has been said here. Pool is a difficult sport to draw spectators. I do think that if you had the right fast-paced set up, and a very large purse, it might help. I think the amount of money other athletes make has an awful lot to do with people watching. But, it is all those people watching that makes it possible for those athletes to make what they do. Catch 22 as I see it.
Braden
Braden
ESPN does NOT pay for any production costs to film pool tournaments. The WPBA pays a production company to film their events. They have that edited and it gets turned over to ESPN. At this point ESPN owns the rights to the film and they decide whether to air it or not and when and how often.
It costs something between $50,000 and $60,000 to have a high quality production for the final 4 matches of a WPBA tournament.
So, theoretically anybody could get a pool tournament on ESPN. They would have to shoulder the production costs and then turn it over to ESPN.
It costs something between $50,000 and $60,000 to have a high quality production for the final 4 matches of a WPBA tournament.
So, theoretically anybody could get a pool tournament on ESPN. They would have to shoulder the production costs and then turn it over to ESPN.
Sounds like somebody has bit of fat they need to trim.