Just a couple things. Pool is also a "bar game" just about everywhere in the world. In China there are thousands of outdoor pool rooms and pool tables around millions of stores where people gather to knock them around or even gamble a little. Same in the Philippines. Go to Taiwan and you will find plenty of pool being played in the non-sport setting.
In Germany pool is called a kneipensport or bar sport. You will find pool tables in all the places where people gamble on the machines.
Pool is not as popular or as easy to fund in Asia and Europe as people think it is. Despite the myths there are very very very few pool players in any country that are in danger of being recognized on the street due to their fame.
When Liu Sha Sha beat Karen Corr for the World Championships two years ago here in China it was being shown live on TV. But not in the biggest pool room in Xiamen with more than 60 tables. I mentioned it to the owner that maybe he ought to announce it to the room that a Chinese player just became the World Champion. No interest whatsoever in doing that.
Pool is always going to be thought of as something that everyone knows exists but no one really cares about. And the reason is very simple. It's not in front of people enough to make them care.
My ex-wife didn't know anything about pool players. But she knows all about these discussions. She got into watching poker even though she doesn't play and has zero interest in playing. She just caught a broadcast and they were profiling a player and it piqued her interest. After about a month she could name the best players and started following them through ESPN and the TRAVEL channel. She remarked to me once that the reason no one cares about pool is because no one KNOWS the pool players. She watched plenty of pool with me for as long as she could stand it and at least three times a show she would say which one is Johnny? Which one is Rodney????
Get pool on TV with some real production value and consistency and pool will gain a following and more people will want to play pool. That's the magic ticket, nothing else.
People in America follow what they are entertained by. If it's a movie that celebrates a specific type of wine then that wine gets a huge boost, if it's a movie about pool then pool gets a huge boost, etc.....
Other than that pool can be promoted MORE at the grassroots level. That's not being done - at ALL.
Have you ever seen any pool table manufacturer set up at a shopping mall with a professional player there and offer to give away a pool table to anyone who beats the pro?
No, you haven't. Why not? This would be SO SIMPLE and cost very little but is it done? No, it's not.
Do you see pros going to Boys and Girls clubs and YMCAs and Senior Citizen's homes to work with them? No you don't.
Do you see the leagues doing any of this? No, never.
Do you see leagues organizing leagues for big companies? No, you don't.
Over here one of my dealers started a league for Dell employees. He works at Dell and over the past couple years his league has done well but the real upside for him is that he has done well selling cues to the employees at Dell. This ONE dealer has sold more than 40 JB Cases for me in the past 12 months. All custom cases at an average of $600 per case. Do the math and extrapolate that with the same type of effort being put forth by others.
