MATCHROOM WPM - BUMS IN SEATS

Nick B

Nick B

This is gonna hurt
Silver Member
Lat me start by saying I'm a huge fan of what Matchroom is doing for pool (I can almost live with Purple 5) but they need to put more bums in seats. Look what the crowd adds to Mosconi Cup. Granted it took years to build that up (read decades) but somehow with all the money, effort, sweat and marketing they could go find a couple hundred people to fill up the stands a little. Maybe they are trying but alas it's not showing in attendance. For us the pool community you need to get in your car and support the game. Hell take a sick day. We are so, close here. To the casual fan who falls on the Youtube feed it matters. Hell it matters, matters, matter to all of us.

Production 10
Commentary 9.5
Arena 9.7
Table set up and rules 9.1
Referring 7.8 (Only the purist like me would notice)
Quality of Play = World Class
EF in a Power Suit = 9.892

Now all we need is a few more bums.

Not the final but you get the idea:

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Inclined to agree. When I watch a Matchroom event on stream, poor fan attendance detracts from the excitement. The Premier League Pool, which has no audience, takes it to the logical extreme.

I'm hard pressed to blame the game's fans, for there are financial and logistical constraints that sometimes make live attendance difficult. It's not really Matchroom's fault, either, for they keep both event production costs and player lodging costs down by going to some of the less known cities, and I support this. For example, a) the World Championship was in Kielce, Poland, and used to be in Milton Keynes, England) b) the World Pool Masters was in Brentwood, England, c) the Premier League Pool was in Leicestershire, England, and d) the upcoming European Open is in Fulda, Germany.

Except for the most prestigious fights, boxing always had this issue when it came to filling the seats, but event producers often went the extra yard, giving out free tickets to the locals so that the venue would be full.

It seems to this not-very-marketing-savvy fan that Matchroom might consider giving out free event tickets in the style that boxing producers always have when attendance prospects look poor.

I recall watching the Mosconi Cup years ago before I had ever attended live and could sense the excitement in the crowd. I knew I wanted to be part of it, and I've now been to about nine of them. Excited fans in the stands make online viewers want to be part of it and it leads to greater attendance.
 
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This is My take on it, I always feel pool is somewhere in between darts and snooker. It shouldn't be like a church in its atmosphere, but it shouldn't be rowdy like a darts tournament . Like pool. those two sports you have be, the very best to win. You also have to play your very best too. And no matter what you do, those sports have characters. With the darts, these characters are created. I think also, this is why the prize money is so high. And the reason why, money was invested in the beginning.Barry took both of these and made them, what thay are today. For me I always believe, it goes back to the way the game is played. Pool will get there, but if will take a long time to completely full those venues.
The one thing pool lacks is that, perfect break like a 147 or a 9 darter something you don't see everyday.
 
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Cue Alchemist said:
This is My take on it, I always feel pool is somewhere in between darts and snooker. It shouldn't be like a church in its atmosphere, but it shouldn't be rowdy like a darts tournament . Like pool. those two sports you have be, the very best to win. You also have to play your very best too. And no matter what you do, those sports have characters. With the darts, these characters are created. I think also, this is why the prize money is so high. And the reason why, money was invested in the beginning.Barry took both of these and made them, what thay are today. For me I always believe, it goes back to the way the game is played. Pool will get there, but if will take a long time to completely full those venues.
The one thing pool lacks is that, perfect break like a 147 or a 9 darter something you don't see everyday.
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I never thought about the 147, 9 Darter or 300 analogy. I guess running the set out but I would say that this is at least 5X tougher. My point is they could fill the chairs. Better a full house at $10 a seat then 100 at $50.
 
sjm said:
.... It seems to this not-very-marketing-savvy fan that Matchroom might consider giving out free event tickets in the style that boxing producers always have when attendance prospects look poor. ...
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On Broadway the practice is called "papering the house". Long tradition.

In the case of the IPT, Kevin went one better. In Orlando for the King-of-the-Hill event there were many good-looking well-dressed young people in the audience, both male and female. Such people are attracted to Orlando by The Mouse. Anyway, they attended the event without pay (or so I was told), just to get something else on their resumes. They were far more interested in talking to the other good-looking well-dressed young people than watching the pool, but they gave a nice backdrop and did applaud when it seemed appropriate. The stands were full. I'm not sure, but they may have been fed as well.
 
I've noticed this as well regarding some of the Match Room events. Beautiful venues, the best players, and dark empty seats everywhere. Doesn't look good to see while watching on YouTube. I think Stu is on to something on the free seat thing.
 
Bob Jewett said:
On Broadway the practice is called "papering the house". Long tradition.

In the case of the IPT, Kevin went one better. In Orlando for the King-of-the-Hill event there were many good-looking well-dressed young people in the audience, both male and female. Such people are attracted to Orlando by The Mouse. Anyway, they attended the event without pay (or so I was told), just to get something else on their resumes. They were far more interested in talking to the other good-looking well-dressed young people than watching the pool, but they gave a nice backdrop and did applaud when it seemed appropriate. The stands were full. I'm not sure, but they may have been fed as well.
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Absolutely. You go to the local league operators and offer a "Super Member Discount". Win-Win. Operator offers something to paying members. Seats are full and off you go. Ditto for local pubs.
 
The idea with corporations is top dollar - duh... so I doubt they'd set a precedent for free seating. I do find it strange Matchroom can't come up with enough family to paper the house. Maybe they all want money...

:D
 
I agree. In snooker, the audience interactions—polite applause after a good shot, cheers and applause on a win or a century, "oohs" and "aahs" when a ball scratches or misses the mark—is most definitely a part of the experience and adds excitement. The chanting of "Luca, Luca, "Luca" or "Come on, Ronnie" or "Mark, Mark, Mark" or "Come on, Judd," et cetera, is fun too.,

This recent World Pool Masters audience reminded me of the audience at the old U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship in Virginia when the audience was mainly made up of pool players and their friends and family, and even then, they had a much bigger audience than the recent World Pool Masters.

If tickets are not selling, give them away to local pool rooms or offer them to radio/TV stations as a prize. To the layman, seeing a sparse audience like this on TV isn't going to bring in new viewers.

Since snooker has a huge following in England, compared to USA, I do wonder if the World Pool Masters was in USA if they would have had a packed house.

On a positive note, though. the camera coverage, the commentary, and the art graphics for this WPM were first class all the way. I really enjoy Yates and McMullen providing the historical tidbits, and of course, Jeremy and Karl bring the strategy and analysis of the shots.

(When I first read "WPM," I immediately thought it was WordPerfect macro.) Hahahaha!
 
JAM said:
I agree. In snooker, the audience interactions—polite applause after a good shot, cheers and applause on a win or a century, "oohs" and "aahs" when a ball scratches or misses the mark—is most definitely a part of the experience and adds excitement. The chanting of "Luca, Luca, "Luca" or "Come on, Ronnie" or "Mark, Mark, Mark" or "Come on, Judd," et cetera, is fun too.,

This recent World Pool Masters audience reminded me of the audience at the old U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship in Virginia when the audience was mainly made up of pool players and their friends and family, and even then, they had a much bigger audience than the recent World Pool Masters.

If tickets are not selling, give them away to local pool rooms or offer them to radio/TV stations as a prize. To the layman, seeing a sparse audience like this on TV isn't going to bring in new viewers.

Since snooker has a huge following in England, compared to USA, I do wonder if the World Pool Masters was in USA if they would have had a packed house.

On a positive note, though. the camera coverage, the commentary, and the art graphics for this WPM were first class all the way. I really enjoy Yates and McMullen providing the historical tidbits, and of course, Jeremy and Karl bring the strategy and analysis of the shots.

(When I first read "WPM," I immediately thought it was WordPerfect macro.) Hahahaha!
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Word Perfect Macro...Hell I started on WordStar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WordStar
 
  • Haha
Reactions: JAM
I've been to televised sporting events where the producers would instruct security to bring down and bunch up spectators to court side seats. Just so the needed camera angles had full rows of seats in the background. Can't imagine how well that practice would go over post covid...lol

As far as giving away seats. I'm all for the idea. However some of those poor saps paid for their tickets. They best be getting some sort of specialized treatment, or you shouldn't expect to see them again.
 
The_JV said:
I've been to televised sporting events where the producers would instruct security to bring down and bunch up spectators to court side seats. Just so the needed camera angles had full rows of seats in the background. Can't imagine how well that practice would go over post covid...lol
...
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At the inaugural UK Open (Copper Box Arena, London, May 2022) during most of the event they did not allow spectators to sit in the top half of the seats even though the view was better from up there. They also did not allow spectating from the big walkway above the seats. I found it quite irritating. We were mostly ignoring Covid at the time.
 
And we all know that if there’s one thing we’re definitely not in shortage of in this sport, it’s bums.

Fully support the OP here. It seems that people would rather sit at home complaining that streams aren’t free.
 
Nick B said:
I never thought about the 147, 9 Darter or 300 analogy. I guess running the set out but I would say that this is at least 5X tougher. My point is they could fill the chairs. Better a full house at $10 a seat then 100 at $50.
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Absolutely right, I like the idea of giving out free tickets, once in a while. I used those two sports as an example. Of the big accasion, it could be.
What do you think about creating rivalries in the sport? Building the matches up before the game, like gorst and filler match? So you know your going to watch, something awesome!
 
Agreed.
In the pic provided, it looks like the fans are pretty far from the table and not elevated at all.
If that's the case, they fans are in the room but not watching the match very easily.
It could just be the camera angle creating that impression I suppose.
 
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