The hole in golf may be the same size, but the course itself is vastly different than what it would be if the pros came to play on it. Also, bowling lanes and sizes are the same, but the oil patterns are rarely the same as what the pros play on.
If you make any of these games as hard as they are when the pros play them, people will lose interest quickly because of a lack of success, which is why golf courses don't keep their greens or rough the same level the pros play on. If you had the average joe in a bar playing sub 4.5" pockets with diamond style shelves, the frustration of sucking at pool would drive people away faster than it already does.
When I tell my friends I watch a lot of pool, their response is almost always: How do you stay awake? People find pool boring to watch. Unless you get them into the game so they understand it, they will never want to watch it. Baseball is a slow game on tv, but we have all played it and understand it, so it can be fun to watch. Get enough people to play pool at a decent level, and tv viewing would go up.
