Pool is dying as is, why make it worse by turning it private?

Amateur pool is doing very well across the board. Even an organization like the ACS who does not have a ton of market share compared to others still draws plenty of interest from leagues who are affiliated with them.

But obviously, the pool world revolves around pro pool. I'll keep supporting whatever Zuglan and AccuStats do as they are the only two entities who know what they are doing compared to everyone else right now. At least Predator is trying something new even though the majority of the people here just whine and whine.

Cheers!
 
Look at pool verses snooker. Look at the crowd in a snooker match people are screaming and having a good time. Now look at a pool crowd. It's boring as hell. Let's have some fun
 
I have to disagree with the basic premise that pool is dying. Maybe from a US-centric point of view, but internationally it is flourishing. There are more events all the time, and the payouts keep getting higher. It is truly an international game at this point, and that's a good thing. If billions of people can sit around and watch soccer of all things, then that means the potential market for pool is still absolutely massive.

Nitpicking break formats and TV/streaming options (or individual player behavior, like gets brought up in similarly-themed threads) isn't addressing the real issue, as all sports have their own issues, even the hugely popular ones (National Felons League, anyone?). Involvement is what gets people interested in watching. Pool will only recover here in the US when more kids are able to safely get involved at a young age. Little league baseball players and peewee football players grow up to be consumers of MLB/NFL as adults, watching on TV and getting their own kids involved. Pool would be no different.
 
Zerksies said:
Look at pool verses snooker. Look at the crowd in a snooker match people are screaming and having a good time. Now look at a pool crowd. It's boring as hell. Let's have some fun
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This is spot-on. If more pool events were like the Mosconi Cup, then pool would attract a lot more interest.

I got a one-month DAZN subscription in October for the US Open. My parents (late-70s, know absolutely nothing about pool) were in town and we watched some of the matches. My dad enjoyed learning about the game and what the actual rules/goals were and why people were making the decisions they were.

Then on a whim between matches, we decided to watch a darts match. The crowd was boisterous and cheering, the announcers were upbeat and excited. What I thought was going to be a two-minute diversion before moving onto other things ended up being us watching the entire match, with my dad commenting on how "unexpectedly exciting and fun" that was, as the two players jockeyed to to close out the final game, the massive underdog vs goliath, and millimeters making all the difference.

I couldn't care less about darts, but it was interesting to see how people with no real exposure to either pool or darts picked up on the electric mood and excitement in the darts match (and the somber mood and hush-hush feel of pool) and were really swayed. If people can walk away from a pool match, either live or on TV, and think "wow, that was fun!"--however that has to happen--then pool could start really regaining some traction.
 
Rocket354 said:
This is spot-on. If more pool events were like the Mosconi Cup, then pool would attract a lot more interest.

I got a one-month DAZN subscription in October for the US Open. My parents (late-70s, know absolutely nothing about pool) were in town and we watched some of the matches. My dad enjoyed learning about the game and what the actual rules/goals were and why people were making the decisions they were.

Then on a whim between matches, we decided to watch a darts match. The crowd was boisterous and cheering, the announcers were upbeat and excited. What I thought was going to be a two-minute diversion before moving onto other things ended up being us watching the entire match, with my dad commenting on how "unexpectedly exciting and fun" that was, as the two players jockeyed to to close out the final game, the massive underdog vs goliath, and millimeters making all the difference.

I couldn't care less about darts, but it was interesting to see how people with no real exposure to either pool or darts picked up on the electric mood and excitement in the darts match (and the somber mood and hush-hush feel of pool) and were really swayed. If people can walk away from a pool match, either live or on TV, and think "wow, that was fun!"--however that has to happen--then pool could start really regaining some traction.
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The MC is a hyped-up once-a-yr deal. Don't expect your average event to have this level of planning/execution/drama.
 
Ummmmm ok

Possibly some people have forgot that the world doesn’t revolve around America.

Here’s where there is NO paywall for Mcup in most cases

26069509-7941-43E0-8A2C-69FCD6086C9B.png


It’s possible that maybe America isn’t all that important after all in the opinion of the distribution and overall audience.

Open your mind and eyes

Fatboy<———going global is the route to success
 
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I think I understand what OP is trying to say, and honestly I have had the same thoughts at times. By charging 20 bucks for a 1 pocket challenge match or 30 bucks for the MC, many "on the fence" fans are not going to see the product. When if you could put a high quality, high entertainment production out there free for the masses, you may attract hundreds or thousands of new viewers.

But then it all comes back to the fact that these streamers are trying to pay the bills...they are trying to earn a living, and why would I expect them to perform a service for free.

If you look at the combat sports model, for many years, the UFC existed ONLY on PPV and only 4 times per year. Then luck hit and they got a weekly reality show on an obscure cable channel... from that, they were able to put free fights a few weekends a month and promote their PPV's for the big matches. Fast forward 20 years, and UFC is on ESPN cable. ESPN+, subscription service pretty much every weekend, and ESPN is promoting and marketing the PPV's.

IMO, it is going to take someone to take a chance on developing, marketing, and promoting a product suitable for a cable channel. (Hopefully MR is that entity) Until then, the PPV streamers are keeping pro pool on the airwaves.
 
There's two sides to this coin.

I may just be reaching the end of my love affair with the game. It may be we have just grown apart, who knows. But I do lament the rise of the PPV even while I understand its necessity. I'm just not willing to continually fork out money, even if it's just the equivalent of a pizza, to watch a match. We've been sort of stuck in this limbo state, where the streaming doesn't have anywhere left to go. I'm happy there are a select few streamers that have figured out a way to not go hungry while pursuing this, but it seems like there has to be a more profitable path ahead, or they will all just gradually disappear.
 
The fact is: All pool needs is more of what made it popular with the masses and brought the big sponsor money in - Big Tobacco, Big Alcohol, Big Auto, Big Pharma, etc - and that is a new hit movie with the masses, like we had in '61 with The Hustler, and again, in '86 with The Color of Money.

Advertisers and their prize money chase/follow the attention of the masses, movies and celebrities command the attention/interests of the masses.

It's a simple formula.

A "Pool Craze" driven by a big-time Hollywood movie, is only thing which has saved our game from near extinction with the masses, and kept large scale production happening in the past - and, it's happened twice; and since then :::crickets::: .

Right now, Hollywood seems to be focused on Super Heroes, Star Wars, and Magical Wizards.

It's a sad day for our game when prop magic wands and toy light-sabers sell better than pool cues. - GJ
 
GentlemanJames said:
The fact is: All pool needs is more of what made it popular with the masses and brought the big sponsor money in - Big Tobacco, Big Alcohol, Big Auto, Big Pharma, etc - and that is a new hit movie with the masses, like we had in '61 with The Hustler, and again, in '86 with The Color of Money.

Advertisers and their prize money chase/follow the attention of the masses, movies and celebrities command the attention/interests of the masses.

It's a simple formula.

A "Pool Craze" driven by a big-time Hollywood movie, is only thing which has saved our game from near extinction with the masses, and kept large scale production happening in the past - and, it's happened twice; and since then :::crickets::: .

Right now, Hollywood seems to be focused on Super Heroes, Star Wars, and Magical Wizards.

It's a sad day for our game when prop magic wands and toy light-sabers sell better than pool cues. - GJ
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Look around you. All you see is a moronic mass of phone addicted robots. Pool takes time and patience to learn.
 
Pool players are so cheap that streamers are supposed to live in a van,driving over half the country to put up pool for peanuts.
 
Like most things in life and history, things cycle up and down. Personally, in different ways, I think pool is on an upward trajectory. Locally I see leagues in my area very popular and keeping rooms afloat, Matchroom has been good for pool, and I get all my television over the internet. so I pay to stream pretty much everything I watch. Mosconi cup is the spectator pool event I look forward to most of any event because it's fun to watch.

Now if we could get the 5 back to its proper color, the universe will be in alignment and..............
 
jasonlaus said:
NOBODY is going to put pool on TV and NOBODY is going to produce these events for a loss.
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Well my events are at a 100% loss that i stream but I'm ok with it because im not ever looking to profit.I buy all the PPV streams I can to support them. It's a ton of work to set up all the equipment and travel to different venues.
 
the big reason is all things are geared toward the pool nut not the general public

pool players dont spend enough or do enough on their own to advance money coming into the sport.

they have changed the games and rules for their own advantages and tv changed things for the producers and by the producers, for short term gains.

sure pool players want to see a 10 pac, but not the general public want to see someone run the table 10 times after making a break that makes the same balls each time that is boring.

no one in the general public even the tv announcers can even recognize what balls are what on the tv as they change colors all the time.

tv and ppv pool is boring to watch and worse to listen to.
 
The "problem" is that pool is not a spectator sport, it is a participant sport for 99% of the population. This site of course is in the minority. Right now the pinnacle of the sport as far as fan experience, is going on and they could only get 2500 in the building. I'm not sure that pool will ever be a highly successful spectator sport again if it ever really was. Having the MC behind a paywall here is a mistake. How do you grow the game when only the die hards can find it and pay for it? I mean look at the members here every year asking how to watch it, or on facebook, and these are pool fans already. How do new fans stumble onto dazn and pay for it? They don't. I was talking about the MC at my league night and just got a bunch of blank stares. Many of these guy's play 4 to 5 nights a week and didn't know it was even happening. They NEVER watch pool matches. They might watch instructional videos or trick shot stuff on YT but other than that they wouldn't know if filler was on the table next to them.
Funny story, well sad actually, to make my point. One night Mike Dechaine was in are hall and hitting balls with me and another player, other player knows him personally. No one in the league had any idea who he was, 6 teams of 5 plus some stragglers so say probably 50 players.
People like my self who follow pro pool sadly are in a very small minority.
 
CaptainBly said:
The "problem" is that pool is not a spectator sport, it is a participant sport for 99% of the population. This site of course is in the minority. Right now the pinnacle of the sport as far as fan experience, is going on and they could only get 2500 in the building. I'm not sure that pool will ever be a highly successful spectator sport again if it ever really was. Having the MC behind a paywall here is a mistake. How do you grow the game when only the die hards can find it and pay for it? I mean look at the members here every year asking how to watch it, or on facebook, and these are pool fans already. How do new fans stumble onto dazn and pay for it? They don't. I was talking about the MC at my league night and just got a bunch of blank stares. Many of these guy's play 4 to 5 nights a week and didn't know it was even happening. They NEVER watch pool matches. They might watch instructional videos or trick shot stuff on YT but other than that they wouldn't know if filler was on the table next to them.
Funny story, well sad actually, to make my point. One night Mike Dechaine was in are hall and hitting balls with me and another player, other player knows him personally. No one in the league had any idea who he was, 6 teams of 5 plus some stragglers so say probably 50 players.
People like my self who follow pro pool sadly are in a very small minority.
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In a lot of places not knowing Douche-aine is considered a plus. ;)
 
Fatboy said:
Ummmmm ok

Possibly some people have forgot that the world doesn’t revolve around America.

Here’s where there is NO paywall for Mcup in most cases

View attachment 673476

It’s possible that maybe America isn’t all that important after all in the opinion of the distribution and overall audience.

Open your mind and eyes

Fatboy<———going global is the route to success
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It is true, america does think pretty highly of itself... ethnocentrism.
 
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