Will there ever be an answer to pool in the States?

zpele

zpele

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Pool in the United States is built on a crumbling foundation.

Every day you hear about another pool room closing. Amatuer pool is on the rise. Pro pool is fast becoming something of the past.

What can we do to fix this? Is there something we can do in our local communities to start the solution?

I believe the APA will explode within the next 20 years and something will take its place unless they radically change the way they approach their playerbase.

What can we do to make pro pool a legitimate pasttime again?

What can we do to bring pool rooms back into the black?

We are fast approaching the time when this game will become little more than a pasttime and the reality is that it is as mentally challenging as any other game out there.

I believe that the future of pool rests in the hands of the next generation. How can we set up the industry to interest them?

Its a problem I've been rolling around in my head for a long time and although I have a few ideas none of them are far reaching enough to secure the foundation of the sport.

Anyone got any ideas?
 
Support your local guitar player!
Support your local bike rider!
Support your local archer!
Support your local _____.
 
zpele said:
Pool in the United States is built on a crumbling foundation.

Every day you hear about another pool room closing. Amatuer pool is on the rise. Pro pool is fast becoming something of the past.

What can we do to fix this? Is there something we can do in our local communities to start the solution?

I believe the APA will explode within the next 20 years and something will take its place unless they radically change the way they approach their playerbase.

What can we do to make pro pool a legitimate pasttime again?

What can we do to bring pool rooms back into the black?

We are fast approaching the time when this game will become little more than a pasttime and the reality is that it is as mentally challenging as any other game out there.

I believe that the future of pool rests in the hands of the next generation. How can we set up the industry to interest them?

Its a problem I've been rolling around in my head for a long time and although I have a few ideas none of them are far reaching enough to secure the foundation of the sport.

Anyone got any ideas?
Click to expand...
There is not a successful sport that does not have a from the ground up structure. Baseball has little league, pony league, high school and college as a foundation. Same with almost every other team sport. Golf and tennis the same. Pool has nothing that even in the remotest way resembles what other sports have done that works. We no longer have city wide champions, state champions nothing. Who is your state pool champion, is there even anything that can be considered as a state championship.

Back in the early and mid 1900's when players like Mosconi were playing they often progressed through a number of tournaments the lead up to a world championship. Play was done on every level. Today professional pool, if you can call it that, is just chaos happening with no structure, business plan or mission statement on what they are trying to accomplish other then one tournament and the hopes it does well.

Actually, the IPT had the right idea. Their only problem was a lac of patients to build something that may have taken ten yours to realize it's potential. The problem with pool in the US is just a matter of someone doing it. I bet there are a dozen people on this board who have ideas that would work but who is going to do it? It can't be for money because that, if it ever does come, will not be for a long time. We may need a Ted Turner or Mark Zuckerberg to do something who knows. Pool is certainly not a fad and there is something there that people like. You just need to find a way to tap into it.
 
Last edited:
macguy said:
There is not a successful sport that does not have a from the ground up structure. Baseball has little league, pony league, high school and collage as a foundation. Same with almost every other team sport. Golf and tennis the same. Pool has nothing that even in the remotest way resembles what other sports have done that works. We no longer have city wide champions, state champions nothing. Who is your state pool champion, is there even anything that can be considered as a state championship.

Back in the early and mid 1900's when players like Mosconi were playing they often progressed through a number of tournaments the lead up to a world championship. Play was done on every level. Today professional pool, if you can call it that, is just chaos happening with no structure of business plan on what they are trying to accomplish other then one tournament and the hopes it does well.

Actually, the IPT had the right idea. Their only problem was a lac of patients to build something that may have taken ten yours to realize it's potential. The problem with pool in the US is just a matter of someone doing it. I bet there are a dozen people on this board who have ideas that would work but who is going to do it? It can't be for money because that, if it ever does come, will not be for a long time. We may need a Ted Turner or Mark Zuckerberg to do something who knows. Pool is certainly not a fad and there is something there that people like. You just need to find a way to tap into it.
Click to expand...

Exactly my point. We need a visionary with a lot of money to burn that loves pool.

How do we build this basis? It starts with getting young players involved and building a solid foundation.

How can we institute a tournament with national caliber? One that starts on the local level and builds to the national level?

Wish I had the money for it...
 
Well, I agree with the above. Having some billionaire who loves pool and would like to take it to the next level would be ideal.
 
I know what you mean. I wish I had been the person that won that 700 million powerball or whatever it was. One of my goals would be to make pool bigger. I wish pool was a common sport in high school like golf is. Need to expose more younger people to the game. Maybe if we all try and do what we can it can make a difference.
 
Jeff M said:
I know what you mean. I wish I had been the person that won that 700 million powerball or whatever it was. One of my goals would be to make pool bigger. I wish pool was a common sport in high school like golf is. Need to expose more younger people to the game. Maybe if we all try and do what we can it can make a difference.
Click to expand...
Ideally would be a seed for something that would be a non profit organization that can be self sustaining. Once someone starts trying to drain the profits rather the reinvest it is pretty much over. Pool unfortunately, has always attracted the short sighted.
 
Celophanewrap said:
I understand it's doing well in some other countries, what is the draw there?
Click to expand...

In some cases, and I say this because I used to go to Europe and play, it was new to them. Many snooker rooms began to add pool tables and it grew from there. The thing is, they already had Snooker to draw players from and the younger players began to gravitate to pool. They also already had some structure in place from snooker to develop tournament play. They already knew what they were doing.

I want to add this, I don't want to give the impression I am some globe trotting pro. I have relatives in European countries. All it took for me to go to Europe was a cheap plane ticket. I had places to stay and cars to drive for as long as I wished to stay. In fact because I can play a little, I always came back with much more money then I left with while having a great time traveling around. Today though, I have to admit, they play a lot better over there then they did 15 or 20 years ago and are a lot smarter regarding a pool hustler.
 
Last edited:
Interesting

My two cents:
The ground up approach is critical. In order for pro pool to become a legitimate industry, our youth need to be introduced early and educated on how to properly play the game. Having regional, state, and national championships is also crucial because there must be a natural progression to the top. Finally, it won't take a millionaire willing to throw money away to make this happen. Pool has an adequate fan base to support an organized industry and it could be profitable if it is implemented correctly by the right people. Currently, corporate America is not willing to support the industry because there is no organization. There is no organization because corporate America will not inject the necessary funds to get started. Someone must develop a solid plan and show potential investors that an organized pool industry will benefit them. If investors see the likelihood of a decent return on investment, the needed capital will come.
 
Actually, getting the younger generation involved is one of the harder aspects, at least in this area.

For instance, I learned how to shoot pool when I was 16. My brother took me to a bar in his hometown and taught me. My dad loved to shoot pool, but since all of the pool tables were located in bars and my parents were devout Baptists, that didn't work too well.

In my current area, the only pool tables I can think of that are not located in a bar are two badly maintained tables at the skating rink (which is itself struggling to stay open) and a couple in the back of a gas station. There is rarely a "family oriented" pool hall. I honestly don't know if there are any tables at any of the boys or girls clubs, rec centers, etc.

There's a wide age range in the local players here, but the youngest is 22, and they just barely got interested in pool. Why? They just started drinking (at least legally) and now they have regular access to tables.

I know what you mean about pool halls closing. The place where I learned, Shooters in Lake Jackson, TX, is now a church. No, they did not keep the tables. But that place had quite a few tables and was a dedicated pool hall with a bar, not a bar with 2-3 coin-ops, which is all we have left now that I know of.
 
Alright so what is stopping us? Lets get some business plans out there. Shoot em out and lets try and refine something. Why discuss it and not do anything?
 
zpele said:
Pool in the United States is built on a crumbling foundation.
Click to expand...

It wasn't built, there is no foundation. It evolved from a parlor game to an industry.

It's like when politicians talk about fixing the "health care system". There is no health care system in the US. It's an oxymoron.


So the simple matter that there is in fact no foundation is the essential problem. Don't continue to try to fix what does not exist. If you want a foundation for the sport or industry you will have to build one.
 
Chopdoc said:
It wasn't built, there is no foundation. It evolved from a parlor game to an industry.

It's like when politicians talk about fixing the "health care system". There is no health care system in the US. It's an oxymoron.


So the simple matter that there is in fact no foundation is the essential problem. Don't continue to try to fix what does not exist. If you want a foundation for the sport or industry you will have to build one.
Click to expand...

This is just brainstorming, but when you watch golf they have "The first tee"
http://www.thefirsttee.org/Club/Scripts/Home/home.asp

It is amazing how they have taken the sport and turned it into almost youth necessity. Their pitch is really powerful when you hear the commercials you would think they were talking about religion.
 
We should build a search engine where people could collate and extrapolate on the ideas of those that came before them on topics of their choosing.
 
Pool future and foundation

After we finish up our national event, I will try to put down my thoughts and ideas.

Junior programs, and support of all levels of play are important.

I feel CSI (through the BCAPL and the USAPL) are on the right track.

We are starting a junior program, we have amateurs and support professional events.

It is not easy and it is time consuming and expensive.

To the original poster - I believe you had started another thread the other day about which amateur league you should try to 'acquire'.

In that thread, you stated that BCAPL was just trying to steal players from the APA. I strongly suggest you do your research before making such statements. BCAPL is the oldest national system. I would definitely support the league that supports the industry. Too many leagues are only about making money and that should not be the only motivation.

I really appreciate you thinking there is a solution out there for pool - but I think you need to get in the trenches for a little while.

I always encourage responses - but am a little busy for another week or so.

Mark Griffin
 
Answer,??

zpele said:
Pool in the United States is built on a crumbling foundation.

Every day you hear about another pool room closing. Amatuer pool is on the rise. Pro pool is fast becoming something of the past.

What can we do to fix this? Is there something we can do in our local communities to start the solution?

I believe the APA will explode within the next 20 years and something will take its place unless they radically change the way they approach their playerbase.

What can we do to make pro pool a legitimate pasttime again?

What can we do to bring pool rooms back into the black?

We are fast approaching the time when this game will become little more than a pasttime and the reality is that it is as mentally challenging as any other game out there.

I believe that the future of pool rests in the hands of the next generation. How can we set up the industry to interest them?

Its a problem I've been rolling around in my head for a long time and although I have a few ideas none of them are far reaching enough to secure the foundation of the sport.

Anyone got any ideas?
Click to expand...
The question you have asked is a recurrent topic here on AZ,has been discussed in publications, argued over in pool rooms, and been a topic of conversation at Trade Shows.

There is no panacea that will resolve the issue definitively.

It is a process that has undergone evolution,and some may argue de-evolution, as a business model and a "Sport".

To imply that the APA or any league organization will,I believe you used the term "explode", in the next 20 years, is a huge under estimation of their business model. As a matter of fact, there will be even more leagues that will form. I remember when TAP was a local and regional league,and NAPA wasn't even on the radar in their current form. VNEA has a sizeable presence also,along with the myriad of Independent Leagues and Systems.

All of that aside,back to the foundation of pool.

No great change will occur,even with the $700 Million Lottery,unless we get pool introduced to the secondary school systems in this country as an alternative to traditional sports. For that we do not need money, we need an Advocate. Someone who can travel and spend time talking to state high school associations. That is a huge first step in getting young boys and girls introduced to pool. There are over 80 million people enrolled in secondary education in the U.S.(NES Statistics). If 1% of those students were introduced to competitive pool,that would give us an enormous group of tentative professionals,not to mention the fans who would be attracted to the game.

This is not a new concept,it is only one that hasn't been vigorously attempted.

Pool rooms are a business and they will succeed over time and fail due to the market. Change the market,change the result. Kind of what I mentioned above by developing young customers.
However, in fairness, I am a big advocate of the Club System for the U.S like the ones that exist in Europe. I'll save that for another post.

The main failure for Pro Pool is that organizations existed to serve a few individuals and not the long term picture. That's political, and I'll let others provide input on that subject before I weigh in.

Thank You for your indulgence,
 
cajunfats said:
No great change will occur,even with the $700 Million Lottery,unless we get pool introduced to the secondary school systems in this country as an alternative to traditional sports. For that we do not need money, we need an Advocate. Someone who can travel and spend time talking to state high school associations. That is a huge first step in getting young boys and girls introduced to pool. There are over 80 million people enrolled in secondary education in the U.S.(NES Statistics). If 1% of those students were introduced to competitive pool,that would give us an enormous group of tentative professionals,not to mention the fans who would be attracted to the game.

This is not a new concept,it is only one that hasn't been vigorously attempted.
Click to expand...

Pool absolutely needs advocates but with the obesity rate constantly growing, and schools fighting tooth-and-nail for funding, adding something like pocket billiards is going to be an uphill climb. Why do I mention obesity rates? Because at the budget meeting, the soccer coach fighting for his program is going to argue that kids need aerobic exercise, something that pool lacks.

A potential first step before getting it into schools is getting it into community centers and starting programs that way. Convince people to donate (and therefore write-off) their old tables instead of selling them on Craigslist. People can then donate their time to teaching the game, organizing youth tourneys, etc. etc.
 
Last edited:
someone needs to develop a w.s.o.pool, pro-am event where amateur has a shot just like in poker, and also gets a chance to play with the pros, which for many is a dream come true.

I suggest a killer format. where a 1,000 people put in 1,000 bucks a piece. thats 1,000,000 in prize money start off with 10 players each at 100 tables, 100 winners move on to ten tables in 2nd round, 3rd round is the final table.

killer is no ones ideal format of pool, but it's simple, people will get it. and i think this would make for a good sister t.v. event. to the w.s.o.poker which is kinda dying out. instead of a golden bracelet, maybe a golden glove as the coveted prize.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top