Wow, finally someone else that got it, rather than talking about promoting and advertising.
Article by Badi Nazhat
- Thread starter Houstoer
- Start date
Wow, finally someone else that got it, rather than talking about promoting and advertising.
It seems that most people who are passionate about pool wish for things that are inherently not profitable like pro tourneys, serious competitions pool halls with 50 triple shimmed tables and so on.
But todays youth prefer to socialize and mingle while spending their entertainment dollars. Last thing the majority of this audience wants to do is spend the evening in a boring pool hall.
I'll give you an example, Texas has a chain of clubs called "Kung Fu" with a location in Dallas, Houston and Austin. They are very successful where these locations are doing $300k to $500k a month is liquor sales. I can't think of a single pool hall doing $300k / mo.
There business model is simply a 5,000 sqft free standing building filled with 1970's video games, skee ball and ping pong etc. Everything is free play and the drinks flow. High score gets you a free pickle shot. FYI, no pool table in sight and they are killing it.
Pool is not fun and people who try to control these spheres as Badi called it are gluttons for punishment. Yes it's a beautiful sport to those who are part of this cult following but until pool becomes interesting to the youth who spend the entertainment dollars the industry will continue to shrink.
Here's an idea, take an old 9' gold crown and open the pockets to 7 inches and give it to your local neighborhood bar as long as they allow free play.
But todays youth prefer to socialize and mingle while spending their entertainment dollars. Last thing the majority of this audience wants to do is spend the evening in a boring pool hall.
I'll give you an example, Texas has a chain of clubs called "Kung Fu" with a location in Dallas, Houston and Austin. They are very successful where these locations are doing $300k to $500k a month is liquor sales. I can't think of a single pool hall doing $300k / mo.
There business model is simply a 5,000 sqft free standing building filled with 1970's video games, skee ball and ping pong etc. Everything is free play and the drinks flow. High score gets you a free pickle shot. FYI, no pool table in sight and they are killing it.
Pool is not fun and people who try to control these spheres as Badi called it are gluttons for punishment. Yes it's a beautiful sport to those who are part of this cult following but until pool becomes interesting to the youth who spend the entertainment dollars the industry will continue to shrink.
Here's an idea, take an old 9' gold crown and open the pockets to 7 inches and give it to your local neighborhood bar as long as they allow free play.
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If by "got it" you mean speculation, then you are correct. None of these issues were addressed in Badi's statement.
You could pull it off for a movie with stars playing pool or a reality show with pool players acting like stars but soon people will Real Eyes its lipstick on a pig
It couldn't survive when ESPN was grabbing flipping Quarters to Dog tracks just to fill air time now they got almost every sport locked up so slipping in is not so easy
Unless of course u got big cash
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Not so easy is an understatement.
Everybody just takes their pet peeve and inserts that into the reasoning of what's wrong with pool. What's actually wrong is only a few people want to play and even less want to watch.
How to "fix" that is well anybody's guess. Talking about marketing a product nobody is really interested in the same way you market a product that people do want to buy is fruitless.
How they made poker interesting is beyond me but maybe something can be learned from that.
I do know people will tune in to watch pretty people get drunk and fight.
I do know that very weird people doing off-beat things can be popular.
I also know you can hold the world championships of nine ball in a huge city and let everyone come for free, let everyone know, and still nobody will show up to watch.
Kevin
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.....We would have done this for Badi or anyone else for that matter and it wouldn't cost them a cent.....unless we made the event MONEY.....this is how it works in the world of promotional events YOU EAT WHAT YOU KILL.....and nothing was even "wounded" in Tunica.
1) Who chose Tunica over Dallas (where it was last time) as the ideal venue to put on this promotional Pocket Billiards Event? .....
Before you throw rocks CJ...
Did you go to Tunica and support it each year....or just pout in Dallas?
IMO, Diamond and Greg Sullivan puts on an event and the the freakin fans and pool players dont show up? After all he has done?
For all you folks talking about what SOMEONE ELSE should have done, what have YOU done?
Ken
Everybody complains about the lack of a real pro tour or the realistic ability of a pro player to make a good living playing tournaments. I'm not trying to be a smart a$$, I'm really curious if anybody knows...when has this EVER been the case? It seems like there's a lot of nostalgia for something that never really existed...I agree it would be cool to have a true professional organization with a real, established, reliable tour and a living to be had, that leads to a potential no-kidding World championship; but we're talking about building a house on shifting sand here...
Poker has always been much much bigger than pool go to the dollar store get a deck of cards and you can have a game any where any time
Then came online poker and Chris Moneymaker a armature winning the main event proving any average Joe can win ,, when the last time a amateur pool player has won a world event
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Before you can worry about marketing and promoting anything, first you have to have a product with which to promote.
From my recollections, many of the top pro's were slow to commit to this, the biggest tourney on our shores. It certainly appeared to me that support for this tournament was indifferent, and in truth it appeared to be tied to the peeing contest with Bonus Ball and the scheduling conflict.
CJ can say that this should have been better promoted, and he may very well be correct. But i contend that in order to promote this, the biggest pro tournament held here this year, you might wanna know that you indeed will have a full and representative field. The pro's dropped the ball.
He ought to just do a ladies only tourney. They supported him, straight away.
I think you are right. Even giving it away for free, people don't show up. What about bringing the event to where the people already are instead of trying to bring people to the event ?
I don't know the specifics, but I heard the recent Queens Cup in Asia was done in a shopping mall. Sounds like a good location to possibly attract interest from non pool players. Maybe add a trick shot exhibition, do little promotional things with kids, sponsors/advertisers from local shops and/or eateries.
Whether people are pool players or not, a popular shopping mall on a weekend will put the event, products, advertisements in front of thousands of people. You could have cheap paid seating up front for dedicated fans. I have no experience in promoting and I am a new pool player, but this sounds like a good idea to me as a way to grow the industry and create interest.
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this is what i was trying to say last night. you know it's bad, when i have $20K (wholesale) of furniture that i need to dump ASAP @ No/Charge - just come & GET it - and none of my dealers show up.
when you can't GIVE it away, then....
News Flash sports fans, Mr. Brewer has hit the nail on the head !..."Fixing" pool, is not possible !...In the first place, it is NOT broken !..It is, what it always was, a skill/game that very few mastered, and even fewer cared about watching !..The occasional movie, (if its good enough) will spur interest for a while, then it reverts back to what it ALWAYS was...A pastime that is enjoyed by many, but taken seriously, by VERY few !
In fact, if it were not for the two movies, and Fats successful (but brief) spurt, I would be surprised if CSI, DCC,TAR, or AZ Billiards, would even exist !..Mark Griffin discovered the only way to gain exposure, was by improving bar table league participation !.. Then, a half dozen other 'acronym's' jumped on the bandwagon !..Now, I fear even league play, has reached its saturation point !..
All the tens of thousands of "Joe Six-pack" league player's want out of pool, is a night out of the house, and a few beers with the guy's !..Mention the words 'One Pocket', 'SVB', 'TAR' or 'AccuStats' to them, and you may as well be speaking Chinese !..This is the "fan base" we are trying to attract ???
What about the other 297 million American's, that don't even play pool ?..However, it is a very safe bet, they know who Tiger Wood's and Tom Brady are ! (Earl Strickland, Efren,..not a prayer)...If someone like Jay, CJ, or Badi, can tap into a market that doesn't even EXIST...It will be more amazing than ObamaCare becoming popular !...But me, and every other pool degenerate, will keep hoping they find a way !
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News Flash sports fans, Mr. Brewer has hit he nail on the head !..."Fixing" pool, is not possible !...In the first place, it is NOT broken !..It is, what it always was, a skill that very few mastered, and even fewer cared about watching !..The occasional movie, (if its good enough) will spur interest for a while, then it reverts back to what it ALWAYS was...A pastime that is enjoyed by many, but taken seriously, by very few !
In fact, if it were not for the two movies, and Fats successful (but brief) spurt, I would be surprised if CSI, DCC,TAR, or AZ Billiards, would even exist !..Mark Griffin spotted the only way to make a buck, by improving bar table league participation, and a half dozen other 'acronym's' jumped on the bandwagon !..Now, I fear even league play, has reached its saturation point !..
All the tens of thousands of "Joe Six-pack" league player's want out of pool, is a night out of the house, and a few beers with the guy's !..Mention the words 'One Pocket', 'SVB', 'TAR' or 'AccuStats' and you may as well be speaking Chinese !..This is the "fan base" we are trying to attract ???
What about the other 297 million American's, that don't even play pool ?..However, it is a very safe bet, they know who Tiger Wood's and Tom Brady are ! (Earl Strickland..not a prayer))..If someone like, Jay, CJ, or Badi, can tap into a market that doesn't even EXIST...It will be more amazing than ObamaCare becoming popular !...But me, and every other pool degenerate, will keep hoping they find a way !
That's a very sober look at the reality of pool's history.
I think the relative few that are so passionate @ pool just romantically wish there was "more". "We" fight over the same nut - some fairly - some unscrupulously. Some get a little nut, some take the pipe.
History shows the graph of the ebb and flow of pool. It's not a big swing.
Insanity. Enjoy it for what it is and hope for God to show up some decade nonetheless.
Tap tap tap
They had a tourny in a Mall (Peninsula Open-Bustamante winner) and they had a tourny in GRAND CENTRAL STATION-I forgot who won. -It was $10 Spectator Entry at GCT and there were few fannies in the seats. There was a spot where if you craned your neck just so,stood on tippy toes, looked between someones armpit and a railing, you could see half of one table for free. That's where most of the 'pool crowd' was -ahahahaha-so funny!
The mall tourny was just as successful.
I don't believe you can force feed pool.
Im still going to enjoy pool. In fact its "small community" was one of the things that attracted me to the Sport. IMHO, only when some of the younger folks have a total philosophy shift and see "real" things as cooler than Bits, Bytes and computer code (video games) does pool stand a chance. That can happen but there being no hint of it presently, means it is probably at least 5 years away or more, Some may think that it will NEVER happen. I think it will.
The mall tourny was just as successful.
I don't believe you can force feed pool.
Im still going to enjoy pool. In fact its "small community" was one of the things that attracted me to the Sport. IMHO, only when some of the younger folks have a total philosophy shift and see "real" things as cooler than Bits, Bytes and computer code (video games) does pool stand a chance. That can happen but there being no hint of it presently, means it is probably at least 5 years away or more, Some may think that it will NEVER happen. I think it will.
News Flash sports fans, Mr. Brewer has hit the nail on the head !..."Fixing" pool, is not possible !...In the first place, it is NOT broken !..It is, what it always was, a skill/game that very few mastered, and even fewer cared about watching !..The occasional movie, (if its good enough) will spur interest for a while, then it reverts back to what it ALWAYS was...A pastime that is enjoyed by many, but taken seriously, by VERY few !
In fact, if it were not for the two movies, and Fats successful (but brief) spurt, I would be surprised if CSI, DCC,TAR, or AZ Billiards, would even exist !..Mark Griffin spotted the only way to make a buck, by improving bar table league participation, and a half dozen other 'acronym's' jumped on the bandwagon !..Now, I fear even league play, has reached its saturation point !..
All the tens of thousands of "Joe Six-pack" league player's want out of pool, is a night out of the house, and a few beers with the guy's !..Mention the words 'One Pocket', 'SVB', 'TAR' or 'AccuStats' and you may as well be speaking Chinese !..This is the "fan base" we are trying to attract ???
What about the other 297 million American's, that don't even play pool ?..However, it is a very safe bet, they know who Tiger Wood's and Tom Brady are ! (Earl Strickland, Efren,..not a prayer)...If someone like Jay, CJ, or Badi, can tap into a market that doesn't even EXIST...It will be more amazing than ObamaCare becoming popular !...But me, and every other pool degenerate, will keep hoping they find a way !
You grow the sport - or any activity - by growing the number of participants and keeping them.
Of course regular league players often don't know about one pocket. But the very fact that Jane Doe is playing POOL instead of on bowling league means that there are more folks beside her doing the same thing. And out of a larger amount of people playing comes more people who get into pool in a deeper way who do learn what one pocket is and want to play it.
In other words a larger pie feeds more people. And with a larger stable base pool can find money to produce shows that make pool interesting. Snooker is freaking BORING but the production of it has made it interesting. In China there are at least three magazines that are REAL glossy heavy books devoted mainly to snooker players with in-depth interviews and tons of content. They actually have ads for giant brand names in them.
In England the exploits of Snooker stars are tabloid material. Ok that's how it developed and Snooker had the backing of the BBC early as a test bed for all their broadcasting innovations. But it shows that a boring game can be made interesting for the non-playing public. People will care for and cheer for players they get to know.
Ok it's 2013 in America and the question is whether there is any room in the average American's mind to spend on pool and pool players? I don't know. But I do know that when I see adults on Facebook showing pictures of a backpack with the images of the Duck Dynasty characters on it and saying how much they want one then I have to believe that the beautiful game of pool can be packaged and sold to these people because we certainly have some characters that are more interesting than the Duck Dynasty guys.
But if no one actually writes the script and no one hits the road to sell it then it's a certainty that all we will have is continued hand-wringing and lamenting how bad off pool is. And you're right, in some senses pool is not broken, there are still rooms, there are still tournaments, there is still some action. Pool addicts will always be around.
The game itself in all the various forms will never die. Will it ever reach the heights it deserves? Maybe not, probably not, but it would be nice in my lifetime to see pool and its players be well known and well regarded among the general public. At the very least and well before that I think that pool in the USA can become consistent and stable with a pro tour and a broad base to support it.
That's doable right now with the resources we have with no need to look outside the industry.
Instead of sitting on the sidelines I call for Mark and Badi and Greg and likeminded people to get together and be the change they want to see rather than hoping others will see the errors of their ways and come to the table.
Pool isn't dead. Maybe viewership of pool is dead. Has anyone ever watched Tattoo Nightmares. If it was just a show about tattoos it would get boring. They do skits of how people got their tattoos. Pretty funny stuff. With all the history surrounding pool I am sure with all the stories. Someone with good production skills could put together a pretty good hit. Maybe the focus doesn't have to be to get on ESPN with two guys playing top notch pool that most finding boring. There are reality shows for just about anything. Its about the production and characters. Duck Dynasty is one of the hottest shows right now. It's pretty much about nothing. The characters are what make the show popular. Who doesn't love SI. You can sell the players but maybe not the game.
I play pool
Honestly it was a great article and well written but all i got out of it was, there is no support for any governing body of pool.
It is the players who make pool great. Unfortunately the days of pool being on TV are over, at least on ESPN. Maybe market to other television stations that want to buy into live drama TV. Collin Cowherd talks about this all the time. People are viewing less TV Shows and more live TV Shows such as sports: basketball, baseball, football, hockey etc.. and now even poker.
Lets say Pool created a rivarly just to interest fans, here is one Jeremy Jones and Earl Strickland that would be easy as pie to promote to the fan base two guys that don't like each other. Maybe the days of big tournaments are over but the TAR Events are awesome and the Big Truck Shows with FIGHT NIGHT are awesome.
Overall I love pool and have no clue how to help it. My suggestion start out with younger players and create a extra curicular activity for kids then hold state tournaments with kids representing their high schools and even some colleges give scholarships for pool. Its a slow and grueling process but it has to start somewhere.
For adults if Casinos got involved pool would grow but how to do that I don't know. Can't casnino's see how much more money is generated at tables and drinks and food when tournaments are held there?
I love pool
Honestly it was a great article and well written but all i got out of it was, there is no support for any governing body of pool.
It is the players who make pool great. Unfortunately the days of pool being on TV are over, at least on ESPN. Maybe market to other television stations that want to buy into live drama TV. Collin Cowherd talks about this all the time. People are viewing less TV Shows and more live TV Shows such as sports: basketball, baseball, football, hockey etc.. and now even poker.
Lets say Pool created a rivarly just to interest fans, here is one Jeremy Jones and Earl Strickland that would be easy as pie to promote to the fan base two guys that don't like each other. Maybe the days of big tournaments are over but the TAR Events are awesome and the Big Truck Shows with FIGHT NIGHT are awesome.
Overall I love pool and have no clue how to help it. My suggestion start out with younger players and create a extra curicular activity for kids then hold state tournaments with kids representing their high schools and even some colleges give scholarships for pool. Its a slow and grueling process but it has to start somewhere.
For adults if Casinos got involved pool would grow but how to do that I don't know. Can't casnino's see how much more money is generated at tables and drinks and food when tournaments are held there?
I love pool