A 50 year old that still has merit.

[macguy]

In reading some of the thread by Joe T about what he is trying to do and it prompted me to make this thread. I am going by an old memory but here is how it went. In the 60's a guy named Mr. Baker who owned a nice pool room in Tampa had an idea to promote pool that he attempted to put together but it just didn't happen.

The gist of the idea was an association made up of pool room owners. The idea was simple one, room owners would join at say $100.00 a year. If he could get say 500 room owners to join or more would be even better, you have to remember there were more rooms then that in every state at the time. There were 5 rooms in my town alone so that number was not really over ambitious to expect.

The money would be used to promote the sport and put on tournaments. with say 500 members you have $50,000.00 to start. Add to that entry fees, product sales, concessions and other yet to be discovered incomes they could really promote the sport. Your first thought is, why should a room owner join? Simple. much like being an owner of a franchise you get the benefits of being part of something bigger that can do things you can't on your own. You can't do anything with $100.00, but when combined with hundreds of other owners $100.00, well you get the idea.

His goal to start was 2 BIG tournaments a year with numerous qualifiers like the US Open did back at the time. His reasoning was, waiting for sponsorship was a waste of time. Since the base of the business was the small pool room and they were the ones who benefited directly from such promotion they could do it themselves.

There is real strength in numbers and they already had the numbers to do it. And who knows, a sponsor may in fact come on board but they would not be totally necessary. We all know that joining th BCA is pretty much a waste of money for room owners and the BCA does little or no promotion.

It is time for a new leader in the sport and the room owners are probably as a unit the most powerful thing in the sport if organized, They are a sleeping giant so to speak and have a power they don't realize. It was a good idea 50 years ago and still sounds plausible.
I just thought I would throw that out as food for thought. Why keep wait for someone else to do something you can do yourself.

 

[JAM]

In reading some of the thread by Joe T about what he is trying to do and it prompted me to make this thread. I am going by an old memory but here is how it went. In the 60's a guy named Mr. Baker who owned a nice pool room in Tampa had an idea to promote pool that he attempted to put together but it just didn't happen.

The gist of the idea was an association made up of pool room owners. The idea was simple one, room owners would join at say $100.00 a year. If he could get say 500 room owners to join or more would be even better, you have to remember there were more rooms then that in every state at the time. There were 5 rooms in my town alone so that number was not really over ambitious to expect.

The money would be used to promote the sport and put on tournaments. with say 500 members you have $50,000.00 to start. Add to that entry fees, product sales, concessions and other yet to be discovered incomes they could really promote the sport.

His goal to start was 2 BIG tournaments a year with numerous qualifiers like the US Open did back at the time. His reasoning was, waiting for sponsorship was a waste of time. Since the base of the business was the small pool room and they were the ones who benefited directly from such promotion they could do it themselves.

There is real strength in numbers and they already had the numbers to do it. And who knows, a sponsor may in fact come on board but they would not be totally necessary. We all know that joining th BCA is pretty much a waste of money for room owners and the BCA does little or no promotion.

It is time for a new leader in the sport and the room owners are probably as a unit the most powerful thing in the sport if organized, They are a sleeping giant so to speak and have a power they don't realize. It was a good idea 50 years ago and still sounds plausible.
I just thought I would throw that out as food for thought. Why keep wait for someone else to do something you can do yourself.

This should be voted in as the BEST THREAD of 2013. :clapping::clapping::clapping:

I like the way you think. It could work easily if everybody works together. Love this idea! :smiling-heart:

 

[david(tx)]

In reading some of the thread by Joe T about what he is trying to do and it prompted me to make this thread. I am going by an old memory but here is how it went. In the 60's a guy named Mr. Baker who owned a nice pool room in Tampa had an idea to promote pool that he attempted to put together but it just didn't happen.

The gist of the idea was an association made up of pool room owners. The idea was simple one, room owners would join at say $100.00 a year. If he could get say 500 room owners to join or more would be even better, you have to remember there were more rooms then that in every state at the time. There were 5 rooms in my town alone so that number was not really over ambitious to expect.

The money would be used to promote the sport and put on tournaments. with say 500 members you have $50,000.00 to start. Add to that entry fees, product sales, concessions and other yet to be discovered incomes they could really promote the sport. Your first thought is, why should a room owner join? Simple. much like being an owner of a franchise you get the benefits of being part of something bigger that can do things you can't on your own. You can't do anything with $100.00, but when combined with hundreds of other owners $100.00, well you get the idea.

His goal to start was 2 BIG tournaments a year with numerous qualifiers like the US Open did back at the time. His reasoning was, waiting for sponsorship was a waste of time. Since the base of the business was the small pool room and they were the ones who benefited directly from such promotion they could do it themselves.

There is real strength in numbers and they already had the numbers to do it. And who knows, a sponsor may in fact come on board but they would not be totally necessary. We all know that joining th BCA is pretty much a waste of money for room owners and the BCA does little or no promotion.

It is time for a new leader in the sport and the room owners are probably as a unit the most powerful thing in the sport if organized, They are a sleeping giant so to speak and have a power they don't realize. It was a good idea 50 years ago and still sounds plausible.
I just thought I would throw that out as food for thought. Why keep wait for someone else to do something you can do yourself.

How much of the money raised would go to pay the people to put the tournaments on , the facilities used , handle the money etc ? In those days people would help out around a pool room cleaning up , doing odd jobs for what many pool players expect now days and that is free table time .

I believe Mark Griffin just mentioned that they had to cover Hard Times nut in order to hold the Jay Swanson tournament there , they don't sell alcohol or much food there , it sounds old school , bet they don't have free pool from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

 

[macguy]

How much of the money raised would go to pay the people to put the tournaments on , the facilities used , handle the money etc ? In those days people would help out around a pool room cleaning up , doing odd jobs for what many pool players expect now days and that is free table time .

I believe Mark Griffin just mentioned that they had to cover Hard Times nut in order to hold the Jay Swanson tournament there , they don't sell alcohol or much food there , it sounds old school , bet they don't have free pool from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The same way I cover all my business expense now. It has to be run like a business and all these questions would be answered as you put the business plan together.

 

[Pushout]

The same way I cover all my business expense now. It has to be run like a business and all these questions would be answered as you put the business plan together.

Exactly! And that's why nothing has succeeded before this. Especially with the players running it.

 

[RBC]

The concept sounds good, but I do have some questions.

Obviously, someone has to put a lot of time into this. Arranging locations for the tournaments, schedules, people to help etc. That person, most likely won't work for free, so how much of the funds will go to pay him.

I see that the intention is that the pool rooms will "pool" (pun intended) their money in order to create these tournaments. I think everyone agrees that any group that can come together and raise some money can start a tour. I don't think it would take much money either. The question is really is it sustainable?

I mean, after the rooms "pool" their money, and they have a couple of tournaments, what will bring them a return on their investment? Will having a couple of pro tournaments bring more people into the pool rooms? I think it could, but only if a few things happen first. I think you have to get people, meaning spectators, to watch the pool tournaments. Once they are there watching, you can advertise the pool rooms to them, which could drive people to go to pool rooms, which could give them a return on their investment. At least for those in close proximity. I don't think it would do much for those pool rooms which are not in close proximity to the actual tournaments.

I like the idea, but I think you have still have the same problem you have now. If you don't get some more people interested, then not much will change.

 

[macguy]

The concept sounds good, but I do have some questions.

Obviously, someone has to put a lot of time into this. Arranging locations for the tournaments, schedules, people to help etc. That person, most likely won't work for free, so how much of the funds will go to pay him.

I see that the intention is that the pool rooms will "pool" (pun intended) their money in order to create these tournaments. I think everyone agrees that any group that can come together and raise some money can start a tour. I don't think it would take much money either. The question is really is it sustainable?

I mean, after the rooms "pool" their money, and they have a couple of tournaments, what will bring them a return on their investment? Will having a couple of pro tournaments bring more people into the pool rooms? I think it could, but only if a few things happen first. I think you have to get people, meaning spectators, to watch the pool tournaments. Once they are there watching, you can advertise the pool rooms to them, which could drive people to go to pool rooms, which could give them a return on their investment. At least for those in close proximity. I don't think it would do much for those pool rooms which are not in close proximity to the actual tournaments.

I like the idea, but I think you have still have the same problem you have now. If you don't get some more people interested, then not much will change.

I am not sure I would call an annual association fee as an investment. You would hope they would do it because that is the business they are in and anything that benefits the sport benefits them. The gist of the idea is that waiting for a big sponsor will never happen but an association of a lot of small sponsors is feasible.

 

[Lesh]

I don't like the idea of one or even a few people taking money from taverns and living off it while the try to promote pool for the hungry masses, It will not fly... this will need to be a volunteer army of like-minded SANE individuals. The vetting process alone makes my skin itch because I can spot a nut-job a mile away... even the ones that can hide their crazy well (or so they think).

Nobody get a single dollar out of the tavern or tourney money... it will not fly otherwise. im sure that later on when Cue Sports is BANGIN BABY!!!.... then there might be some full time slots that open up for the die-hard pain whores that sacrificed IQ Points and countless hours of sleep... for that, they get minimum wage, not $600,000.00 a year.

I can hear the scoffing now if people start nibbling on any money tossed into any great idea to promote cue sports. Be very careful, I hear pool players can be judgmental... just a rumor. But Im in! I will do whatever I can to assist in my own pathetic way. I have ins at most of the rooms in the area. There are about 6 in the immediate area (aren't I the lucky one?) Every single one of the owners is a GRAND Pragmatist and I know they will be looking at me through hooded eyes if I pitch a stale frog of an idea to them.

PM me if you want me to rant at you privately. I have lots of rant in me.


Lesh

 

[RBC]

I am not sure I would call an annual association fee as an investment. You would hope they would do it because that is the business they are in and anything that benefits the sport benefits them. The gist of the idea is that waiting for a big sponsor will never happen but an association of a lot of small sponsors is feasible.

I understand your feelings, and they are not uncommon.

However, the pool room owners, at least the ones I'm aware of, don't quite see things the same way. To most of them, the idea of promoting a professional tour would do nothing for their business.

If you listen to what Mark Griffin said in his interview on American Billiard Radio, I think you'll see what I'm talking about. Pool is really divided into 2 different categories, amateur pool and professional pool. Unfortunately, they are both completely separated. Most amateurs don't know anything about the pro side, and most pro's don't really care too much about the amateur side. Of course, there are a few exceptions, but for the most part this scenario fits pretty good. As far as size goes, the amateur side is huge, and the pro side is tiny. (by comparison) Although there is a group of "pool passionates", basically all of us active here on AZ, who is active in both groups, it too is a small number of actual people.

Until the professional side of pool can attract the interest of the amateur player, I'm not very confident that the rooms owners will be all that interested. After all, they amateur players is where they make there living. I think it would be great if professional pool could garner the attention of completely non pool related spectators, but I don't know if it would have the effect we would all like to see. I think that first, we need to bring the 2 groups together.

I find it confusing that so many dream of big, non pool related, corporate sponsorship that will put professional pool back on the map. The amateur pool market has money to spend, already has a passion for pool, and has nothing rally behind or be devoted fans of. All the money that pro pool needs to get out of the hole is already in pool in the amateur side. I don't really think too many big non pool related companies are all that interested in pro pool because they see too many events that have almost no spectatorship on site or even when it is televised. Let's face it, not even the amateur pool players watch much pool on TV.

I too hope to see pool united. But for it to happen, the professional side will have to embrace and make fans of the amateur side. That's the only way I see it happening.