Pool on TV

[grobbs]

So I am pretty new to serious pool playing. I've watched several videos on YouTube of tournaments. Why are there not anymore big time pool games anymore? For example the US Open 9 ball championships? They have them all from about 2000 to 2008 then they stop. The only big large professional games that are more recent I have seen is the Mosconi Cup. What happened? Has pool lost it's popularity since? Are the newer events just not uploaded on YouTube?

Again I'm referring to the real well produced tournaments like
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCXCvgfL_tc
and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTGMZVben94

now it seems all to be smaller pool hall tournaments with no spectators, horrible commentators, and next to no on screen graphics.

If billiards has really lost this much popularity, then this is a very sad thing! I've really grown to love and enjoy the game of pool. It would be very sad to know it's a dying sport.

 

[randyg]

Hi grobbs

All the sponsors would have to do is purchase air time. Now that sounds easy enough. Not a big enough fan base for most sponsors.

Remember, TV does not put the shows on, they sell the shows airtime.

randyg

 

[hang-the-9]

So I am pretty new to serious pool playing. I've watched several videos on YouTube of tournaments. Why are there not anymore big time pool games anymore? For example the US Open 9 ball championships? They have them all from about 2000 to 2008 then they stop. The only big large professional games that are more recent I have seen is the Mosconi Cup. What happened? Has pool lost it's popularity since? Are the newer events just not uploaded on YouTube?

Again I'm referring to the real well produced tournaments like
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCXCvgfL_tc
and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTGMZVben94

now it seems all to be smaller pool hall tournaments with no spectators, horrible commentators, and next to no on screen graphics.

If billiards has really lost this much popularity, then this is a very sad thing! I've really grown to love and enjoy the game of pool. It would be very sad to know it's a dying sport.

Almost all major tournaments are broadcast live over the internet, either free or PPV. After that, many matches are uploaded to YouTube or saved on Ustream.

You can get 100 times more matches on the internet now than you ever could on TV.

 

[boogeyman]

Almost all major tournaments are broadcast live over the internet, either free or PPV. After that, many matches are uploaded to YouTube or saved on Ustream.

You can get 100 times more matches on the internet now than you ever could on TV.

Good info, Hang-the-9.
Many people think pool is dead.
What they don't realize is that the "face" of pool has merely shifted to the media you mention, e.g. YouTube, Ustream.
The internet is part and parcel of what spectators use to watch sports nowadays.
Who wants one or two pool matches on the "tube" when one can surf and get tons of matches on demand.

Who cares about pool on television.
Let's keep up the PPVs and Ustreams, guys, and pool will survive!

 

[DogsPlayingPool]

If billiards has really lost this much popularity, then this is a very sad thing! I've really grown to love and enjoy the game of pool. It would be very sad to know it's a dying sport.

Pool itself as a participant sport is doing OK though many places are subsidized by leagues. Some traditional pool rooms are not doing quite so well because leagues are played primarily on bar boxes, often times in bars.

Pro pool is having a tough time of it and it will probably be a while before it gets better. There's no money to be made by the networks or cable companies. And there is no professional tour to begin generating interest, sponsors, and money. Not enough money to even purchase air time.

Hang out here and you'll get dialed into all the tournaments streamed on the internet. Plug your computer into your TV and your good to go.

 

[grobbs]

Thanks for your replies,

I am still not seeing the large, well produced matches anymore. What happened to the US Open 9 Ball Championships? I cannot find events like that on either Ustream, here, or YouTube. The only decently well produced event I can find is the Mosconi Cup.

 

[hang-the-9]

Thanks for your replies,

I am still not seeing the large, well produced matches anymore. What happened to the US Open 9 Ball Championships? I cannot find events like that on either Ustream, here, or YouTube. The only decently well produced event I can find is the Mosconi Cup.

US open I think was streamed PPV by AccuStats, you can buy their DVDs of it, and they may have a steaming service you can get. It was not streamed free from what I remember. Some parts of the Derby were streamed free from the action tables.

Check out the Ultimate 10 Ball stuff on YouTube, very well done http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7gS0OafEpSoIDQjly-9L8Q

Unfortunately that tournament is not around anymore, at least for now.

 

[StraightPoolIU]

The best produced matches are typically ppv and usually aren't uploaded to youtube at least not in their entirety. The reason for this is that the companies that produce these streams Accu-Stats and TAR (formerly) own the rights to the broadcast and are making money from them either via dvd sales or on demand streaming. Like someone else suggested go check out the Ultimate 10 Ball youtube page as well as the The Action Report youtube page. Justin has uploaded sample matches of some of the streams they have produced at the US Bar Table Championships, US Open 1 Pocket etc. I think you'll find it's pretty high quality.

 

[DogsPlayingPool]

Thanks for your replies,

I am still not seeing the large, well produced matches anymore. What happened to the US Open 9 Ball Championships? I cannot find events like that on either Ustream, here, or YouTube. The only decently well produced event I can find is the Mosconi Cup.

The reason the Mosconi Cup has that polished ESPN type production is because it is a European promoter and they have TV contracts with Europe and probably Asia. I believe it is telecast live overseas. Yes, they have some arrangement with US television, but it is only broadcast months after the event.

 

[voiceofreason]

The opening posters point was regard to the quality not the quantity and I fully agree with him.

 

[Masayoshi]

Thanks for your replies,

I am still not seeing the large, well produced matches anymore. What happened to the US Open 9 Ball Championships? I cannot find events like that on either Ustream, here, or YouTube. The only decently well produced event I can find is the Mosconi Cup.

I'm guessing that they don't release their tournaments on to Youtube until DVD sales taper off.

 

[grobbs]

Thanks for all the feedback. I guess it makes sense that the older matches are the ones that are uploaded to YouTube for free and newer ones are pay per view while they can still make money off them. It is so much more enjoyable to watch good quality and well produced events with knowledgeable commentators and animated on screen graphics than events without commentators or with commentators who just respond to Ustream comments and just talking to the other commentator. It's like the difference between watching the Super Bowl on one of the big networks vs watching a video of someone who filmed it on their phone.

I'm glad the events still exist and think the Mosconi Cup does a lot of good for pool. My older brother doesn't pay attention or play pool whatsoever but he has heard of the Mosconi Cup. Hopefully billiards will have another upswing again soon like from what I hear happened after The Hustler then Color of Money came out.

 

[bral]

It is so much more enjoyable to watch good quality and well produced events with knowledgeable commentators and animated on screen graphics[...]

Out of curiosity, what type of animated graphics are you looking for that have added to your enjoyment of the matches?

Generally when I think of "TV production value" I think of awful ESPN pool productions from the 90's. Zooming in on the players faces when they're about to shoot, having cameramen move into shot lines in front of players to capture video of balls rolling into the pockets...etc. Rarely would more than a few matches be televised from a tournament. Cut away to a commercial break, return a couple games later.

 

[Scaramouche]

Out of curiosity, what type of animated graphics are you looking for that have added to your enjoyment of the matches?

Snooker has a couple of features.

The first, the telestrator, has been used in pool - drawing the track of the anticipated shot.
Great for showing the commentator getting it wrong, Billy Incardona comes to mind, and porn by Jeanette Lee. :grin:

The second is Hawkeye - neat visualization showing the table from the players perspective, what balls are available, distances between cue ball and object ball and object ball and pocket, and the angle of the cut.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kg7xuDR-Ur0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJ3pqWJO-ns

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOSt8noE4xc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUFVMxPRgPU

The Pocket Cam shows the balls rolling into the pocket, from the perspective of the back of the pocket.

 

[hang-the-9]

I'm guessing that they don't release their tournaments on to Youtube until DVD sales taper off.

I don't think AccuStats puts out their matches on YouTube officially. I am thinking that any of those matches on the internet were uploaded by someone else without authorization. Many other tournaments do upload their matches. InsidePool and Ultimate 10 Ball both have a lot of sharp well filmed matches on YouTube.

 

[hang-the-9]

The opening posters point was regard to the quality not the quantity and I fully agree with him.

Most streamers don't have the budget to have super fancy camera work and booths setup, not to mention the space limitations if they are just streaming from a pool room with a tripod or two.

I watched the NJ 10 Ball tournament from Sandcastle and the video was great. AccuStats does the production there though so it's setup at pro level.

If you turn on "Bill's Bar and 1 Bar Table" stream, you probably will see a fuzzy picture with no commentary.

 

[StraightPoolIU]

I don't think AccuStats puts out their matches on YouTube officially. I am thinking that any of those matches on the internet were uploaded by someone else without authorization. Many other tournaments do upload their matches. InsidePool and Ultimate 10 Ball both have a lot of sharp well filmed matches on YouTube.

I think a lot of the older one that the OP was talking about are the Billiard Club Network ones. It was like a youtube channel that would upload US Open matches from the early and mid 00s and such that were filmed by Accu-Stats and then sometimes shown on local Fox Sports affiliates as filler and uploaded to youtube. I don't think they've uploaded anything new to their channel since about 08. Someone else may be able to give more background on BCN.

As for the pool that was and rarely still is on ESPN I find that I really have no interest in watching it. It might reach a bigger audience, but in my opinion it's a far inferior product than what some of the better streamers are putting out. That is unless of course you enjoy edited short-race 9 ball matches with banal commentary.

 

[macguy]

Hi grobbs

All the sponsors would have to do is purchase air time. Now that sounds easy enough. Not a big enough fan base for most sponsors.

Remember, TV does not put the shows on, they sell the shows airtime.

randyg

Even if they did who is going to supply the quality product they need. Kind of a chicken and egg thing. It is not easy or cheap to do quality a production then try to sell it. It would take real money and risk for little or no return. I am actually happy with what I find with PPV and on youtube. Pool is a subculture sport and I think we actually have a ton to watch on line.

Sure some of the quality isn't that great but so what, at least you not sitting at 3 in the morning in a smokey pool room sweating the action. I remember once driving 300 miles because Steve Cook was playing Allen Hopkins and I wanted to see it. It is a good time now for pool on the net and I see it only getting better.

 

[oldzilla]

Thanks for your replies,

I am still not seeing the large, well produced matches anymore. What happened to the US Open 9 Ball Championships? I cannot find events like that on either Ustream, here, or YouTube. The only decently well produced event I can find is the Mosconi Cup.

The deal with Billiard Club Network expired. Not everything is free forever !

US open I think was streamed PPV by AccuStats, you can buy their DVDs of it, and they may have a steaming service you can get. It was not streamed free from what I remember. Some parts of the Derby were streamed free from the action tables.

Yes, correct on all counts.

I don't think AccuStats puts out their matches on YouTube officially. I am thinking that any of those matches on the internet were uploaded by someone else without authorization. Many other tournaments do upload their matches. InsidePool and Ultimate 10 Ball both have a lot of sharp well filmed matches on YouTube.

Correct again, and we constantly have to keep an eye out for copyright infringment. Protecting the product is a non-stop job. And all the means of profit are important to the survival of Accu-Stats. It is by no means a get rich quick scheme. It's a labor of love !!!

Check out the Accu-Stats theater where you can get to watch many video's.
Pricing $5.95-$10 and video's will play for 24 hours. Some will play for 48 !
http://accu-stats.com/ppv9-ball.html

Tyvm and please keep supporting one of the best things in pool.

Including the All-Star Invitaional April 15-20

http://accu-stats.com/

 

[grobbs]

I am talking about on screen graphics like having the score displayed throughout the whole match on the bottom, a shot clock if used in the match, which balls are left to be pocketed, instant replays, top down camera angles with commentators drawing lines where they think the player will shoot, multiple camera angles, and other similar things. Most of the recent matches I see now are simple one camera setups that occasionally display the score in the top right and nothing else. I was just wondering what happened to the more highly produced matches like the US Open 9 Ball Championship and such.