That’s possible, I hadn’t considered that. Good point.
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Fatboy <———old and analog stuck in a digital world
The only thing wrong with "Pool," is it needs watching.
- Thread starter 336Robin
- Start date
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Fatboy <———old and analog stuck in a digital world
Pool for the masses is stuck in a paradigm. The Mosconi Cup is an example of breaking the mold and hopefully the beginning. So here is a next generation idea.
A challenge match between a favorite American player and a favorite European player with their entourages played in Las Vegas. On line gambling. The set to include a race to 7 in 9 ball...a race to 5 in 8 ball... Three games of rotation. One game of One Pocket. A scoring system needs to be developed. All played in one session.
Do you think this would establish a real champion??? Hell no. But it would address two major needs. One, it would create enthusiasm for the next matchup. And two, it would introduce the viewing public to other pool games. Of course, audio/video techniques have to add significant upgrades to appease the general viewer.
As in any new idea, there are naysayers. But if you would like to add suggestions/opinions...please do.
A challenge match between a favorite American player and a favorite European player with their entourages played in Las Vegas. On line gambling. The set to include a race to 7 in 9 ball...a race to 5 in 8 ball... Three games of rotation. One game of One Pocket. A scoring system needs to be developed. All played in one session.
Do you think this would establish a real champion??? Hell no. But it would address two major needs. One, it would create enthusiasm for the next matchup. And two, it would introduce the viewing public to other pool games. Of course, audio/video techniques have to add significant upgrades to appease the general viewer.
As in any new idea, there are naysayers. But if you would like to add suggestions/opinions...please do.
That's why a lot of casual viewers like the spot shot shootouts, that's because something is at stake every shot. I'll admit I like them too
A
And if a player has a big beard that's all you see the whole game
Chess spectating is academic because of the names of openings, positions and moves.
Billiards could improve on that.
Improving the player culture will have benefits because they are the ambassadors.
You have a champion/writer like Dan Harriman but look at how he gets treated on the forum.
Improving player culture starts with introducing better language or creating more opportunities for language development. How is it pool is based in America but some international players like Efren never really improved their English?
The average pool player turns off to most non pool players. The average player is most likely avoided because they are average. Pool was a great game when real estate needed to be sold, the days of a pool room being a draw to an area are over. Its time to adjust.
Billiards could improve on that.
Improving the player culture will have benefits because they are the ambassadors.
You have a champion/writer like Dan Harriman but look at how he gets treated on the forum.
Improving player culture starts with introducing better language or creating more opportunities for language development. How is it pool is based in America but some international players like Efren never really improved their English?
The average pool player turns off to most non pool players. The average player is most likely avoided because they are average. Pool was a great game when real estate needed to be sold, the days of a pool room being a draw to an area are over. Its time to adjust.
tomatoshooter
Well-known member
To be quite honest, I don't think cameramen and directors, etc. know anything about anything other than cameras (hopefully). Some of the shots are visually interesting but don't actually show anything valuable about the subject matter. I've even seen it in car magazines that manage to have nice close ups of a tail light or door handle but not a single shot of the entire car. If you want to watch a football game, there might not be a better view than behind the line of scrimmage looking downfield but you will rarely see that in a broadcast except the replay. I think it's amazing that a cameraman can keep a Formula 1 driver's head centered in the frame as the car rips through corners at 120 mph. I might even be more amazing if I could see anything else in the shot.
tomatoshooter
Well-known member
The suspense is good, it just isn't representative of the game. It's like if the NBA replaced overtime with a game of horse.
They can at least understand the shots are hard and both players are shooting the same shot.
A game of Horse would be awesome !!! Lol
I think I'd replace your one pocket with straight pool because its easier to watch for newbies into the game.
It occurs to me that in this thread, no one except for me has even mentioned the sharing of the videos we have to the players that
exist in their social circle. That tells me that this demographic may be too hard to please and going around them to new people in the
marketplace might make it easier to sell the sport to viewers. It's sad but it might be true.
You'd have a winner if you could edit 8-Ball broadcasts to fill an hour (40+ minutes after commercials). It must have good back-stories and visuals. People buy lip-syncing in masks during primetime this way, they can sell this.
The pool match itself has to be almost secondary. If the stories are captivating you can sell a knitting competition . And there are plenty of stories in billiards.
The pool match itself has to be almost secondary. If the stories are captivating you can sell a knitting competition . And there are plenty of stories in billiards.
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I would love to see someone do something with 8-ball and I think you're right about the back stories or storylines being important.
Organized gambling.
It needs to be 8-Ball. The game is more popular and relatable among the general public than all other games combined, x100.
It needs good commentating, and good editing. Not broadcast live.
Each episode should have a segment that features the player's backgrounds. It only needs to be a few minutes. The NFL wasn't built in a day. Every Sunday it's players, traditions, and history are built upon and
Borrow formulas that work from other shows. I mentioned The Mask. As the show/ players gain popularity, allow fans to attend in person. Again, don't air live, just a live audience. Maybe throw in a championship 'season finale' that's broadcast live.
Create "teams", or alliances, like WWF professional wrestling. People like affiliation and feeling like a part of something. Probably better than the lone ranger stigma, as well. We like choosing our favorites, and antagonists, and become invested when the player's plights are relatable. The real pool competition in the show is a bonus.
People gravitate to game shows because of the prize money. Pool has this covered, too.
Production cost would be peanuts, relatively speaking.
Want real money in pool? Get a real TV network to re-sign for a 2nd season, or 5.
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There are thousands of pool videos right now (for free) on Facebook and YouTube. I can't think of one that would be interesting to a non-player.
Understood but let me explain a bit more.
There are an estimated 34 million people who play pool at least a few times a year, with 11 or more million that play more than
4 times per month.
Such is the disconnect between amateur and professional that they really don't know much about pro pool but they are pool players and
are not non-players.
That is the pool market and activating those that already play the game seems to make sense which is why I suggested that sharing a pool video on social media may well put the development of the sport in the hands of the people that are fans of it.
I probably should have provided more information.
I think that makes sense. But Predator (and Matchroom) both have effective social media teams. If they thought their content was in high demand, but just was hard to locate by potential customers, they could easily promote it to boost views--e.g., buy keywords and adwords when people search for stuff online so they get directed to Predator and Matchroom's content. That's the typical way to boost viewership. For several thousand dollars you can get a million ad impressions. I think the reason we don't see this happening is these companies know it doesn't lead to more engaged viewers.
boogieman
It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that ping.
To me, at least locally, it seems like the real die hard players, "students of the game" type know the pros. They watch the matches. They follow the big money match ups on facebook and PPV. They chit chat about "X's" latest match, safety battle, big run outs, new break type, who won the open/mosconi/etc. They are the people who live and breath pool, playing at least 3 days a week, at least 10 hours on a slow week.
Other folks might know who SVB is but don't actively go out to watch pool. They love the game but playing it in league or local tournaments is about all they do.
The "students" play, practice, spar, enter all the tournaments, watch the pros to better understand patterns, breaks, etc. You gotta be a die hard to enjoy watching it.
What I don't understand is why people watch other sports. It's entertainment, but why would I watch football or baseball when I don't play it and haven't since high school? The only sport I watch is pool, and maybe 1 hockey game a year. If I don't play it I don't watch it unless maybe my niece or nephew are playing or something. I'd rather play pool than watch pool, but when I can't play I'd rather watch pool than some guys chase a ball around the field. At least I can learn something watching pool.
That's in America. It's probably in the hundreds of millions if you include Europe and Asia.
That said, the key to making pool accessible to the masses is keeping it simple, so simple than anyone can follow it without explanation. First and foremost, that means abandoning all "call shot" games. Matchroom understands better than anyone that in the toughest cue sport of them all, snooker, shots need not be called, and have focused on nine-ball, which similarly steers clear of it. If played Texas Express, ten ball also qualifies. There's little doubt in the mind of this veteran fan that call shot rules figured in the ending of the straight pool era --- the game was too slow and too hard to follow.
Fans can be expected to know what constitutes success on any given shot but should never be required to deduce exactly what the players are trying to do. That leaves us, for the most part, with snooker, carom, nine ball and blackball as the most easily marketable cue sports. One pocket also qualifies, but its pace is far too slow to ever capture the attention of the casual fan.
For those advocating eight ball, the call shot version of eight ball has been tried at the pro level, first with the IPT and again with the World Pool Series, but neither venture could make financial ends meet.
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I you had asked me before this thread I would have thought otherwise.
It is without a doubt that breaking into the Amateur Pool Leaguers world with pool related content doesn't look promising due to the habits of the pool players. Maybe there is a niche that would work to get word out to the extent that it would be cost effective and reach the already activated viewer. Thinking on that one.