Arizona Open 2026, Yuma, August 13-16

[Kris_b1104]

Actually, bonus ball was a great game, their biggest mistake was trying to push their own ballset. It was easily playable with a standard set.

Lol I never said Bonus Ball was bad, I actually enjoyed it. Especially the drama with Earl

This is the day I became a fan of Jeremy Jones. He was on demon time.

Anyways, the question was:
Which other games do you want him to take up?

 

[garczar]

Pool's business model may not be where we'd all like it to be and for Matchroom Pool, great increases in added money are clearly contingent on improving that business model. Who is to say how long the WNT business venture will last? We shall see.

Nonetheless, I think a lot of what they are doing makes perfect sense, and aspiring pro players can now try to earn a living on the WNT without having a huge travel budget. Once they are ready, those who are worthy can travel to all the majors.

In 2023, Matchroom added WNT ranking events in Scotland, Poland, Spain, and Vietnam. In 2024, they added events in Colombia, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Maldives, Finland, Morocco, and Portugal. In 2025, they added events in Sarajevo, Bucharest, Manilla, Orlando, Jacksonville, and Seattle. This year, they added events in Chinese Taipei, Belgium, Costa Rica, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Estonia, Czech Republic, Phoenix, and Yuma.

Things have really improved in America. The US Open 9ball used to be the only WNT major contested on American soil, but now we have the US Open, the Florida Open and the Arizona Open. Matchroom has made good on its promise to invest more and more in America. In addition, Matchroom has produced junior championships in conjunction with each of its three American majors, which, to my knowledge, is more than any American event producer has done for the juniors. Prize money at the Mosconi has doubled since 2018, the year before Matchroom produced its first major in America. Winners used to get $20,000 each, but now that's the loser share.

Has Matchroom made some mistakes? Of course, they have. Have they made significant strides forward. Of course, they have. Have they grown their tour? Yes, they have. Is prize money where we'd all like it to be? No, it isn't, but the money offered through WNT ranking events continues to grow significantly, so there is hope.

Yours is a respected opinion on AZB, but you haven't given us a sense of what you would do differently if you ran the WNT.

And he won't either, just a knock artist. I agree 100% with your take here.

 

[skogstokig]

Lol I never said Bonus Ball was bad, I actually enjoyed it. Especially the drama with Earl

This is the day I became a fan of Jeremy Jones. He was on demon time.

Anyways, the question was:
Which other games do you want him to take up?

my position at the time (a time when pool was really in the dump) and since was the same at jack nicholson in one flew over the cuckoo's nest. after having tried to remove a sink by lifting it up. when this feat of strength failed he said "i tried dammit.. at least i did that".

johnny and the others got a lot of flak on this forum for bonus ball. but at least they tried something, when pool was in the gutter

 

[Bob Jewett]

The Yuma/Winterhaven casino has hosted multiple major 3-cushion events, so maybe they wanted to try a different discipline.

 

[Monti]

my position at the time (a time when pool was really in the dump) and since was the same at jack nicholson in one flew over the cuckoo's nest. after having tried to remove a sink by lifting it up. when this feat of strength failed he said "i tried dammit.. at least i did that".

johnny and the others got a lot of flak on this forum for bonus ball. but at least they tried something, when pool was in the gutter

Mmm juicy fruit!

 

[Badpenguin]

Lol I never said Bonus Ball was bad, I actually enjoyed it. Especially the drama with Earl

This is the day I became a fan of Jeremy Jones. He was on demon time.

Anyways, the question was:
Which other games do you want him to take up?

I thought Bonus Ball was awesome, shame it didn't last.

 

[jbart65]

Well for starters, stop having events that no one in their right mind want to go to, either as a player or a spectator. The middle east is a good example, and it turned out to not be sustainable. WTF wants to go to Winterhaven, California (or as matchroom calls it, Yuma, Arizona ....

Thanks for your insights.

Thanks for your thoughts. There's too many points to respond to. Some of your criticism is spot on, some issues have been resolved imo and others I think you inflate.

Whatever the case, the WNT, and Predator too, both have many things they can improve upon.

Early days. The two companies are experimenting, trying to make the economic work, etc.

Pool will always be a niche viewing sport. The question is, can it can become a somewhat bigger and more stable niche? It will take time to learn the answer.

 

[jbart65]

One thing Badpenguin commented on was MR's choice of locales for major tournaments. After watching the first day of the Phoenix Open, I thought it was clear MR could host a big event in the city.

I know MR needs to watch the economics closely to determine the choice of locales for big majors. The company does need to make some events annual, however, and try to find permanent homes. MR really has to ask: Is Yuma the best place for a annual major in Arizona? The answer is clearly no.

By calling it the Arizona Open, the event can be held any where in the state. Good thing it wasn't called the Yuma Open!

 

[sjm]

Well for starters, stop having events that no one in their right mind want to go to, either as a player or a spectator. The middle east is a good example, and it turned out to not be sustainable. WTF wants to go to Winterhaven, California (or as matchroom calls it, Yuma, Arizona).

It is about priorities. For Matchroom Pool to have a sustainable pro pool product, the economics of event production must come first, then the needs of the players (who seem to show up regardless of venue as long as the prize fund is good enough,) and then the fan experience. As fans, we'd rather be a higher priority, but understand that revenue from live attendance is not a critical aspect of the business model (other than at the Mosconi Cup and Reyes Cup events). Nonetheless, Matchroom offers the best arenas in pool and, yes, I've attended some Predator events. Yes Matchroom had a hiccup earlier this month with the seating at the Florida Open, which was a day six issue only.

Focus on the streaming like is actually matters. Make everything easy to find and follow in one place instead of piecing it here are there, like 1 stream on youtube, 1 stream on tiktok, 1 stream on wnttv.com, etc... As a spectator, determining who is going to play, what time they are going to play, and if it will be streamed or not, should not take and entire data center of AI to figure out. Make sure the streaming can be watched on televisions, via smart apps on the televisions. Yes, I know, televisions are old, but some of us like to see pool while on a couch on screens that are larger than a few inches.

All good points here. In fact, Matchroom has gotten worse and worse in posting the match schedule on their live scoring app and it negatively affects both attendees and those watching on stream.

Quit requiring an email address to track scores. Shouldn't require two different accounts to subscribe to the streaming and check the live scoring.

This is extremely trivial.

Use presenters, for the US events at least, who don't treat the event like it is a cosplay and have zero history or knowledge of the game and its players.

That's fair.

At the events, use raised seating. No one should have to tell you that.

For Matchroom, with a few exceptions, there is usually just one row of seats at each table until day six of a major. To my knowledge, the 2026 Florida Open was the first ever WNT major in which there wasn't raised seating on day six and I agree that it was problematic.

Schedule matches at a decent hour so "normal" people can watch them, and not only young players or players on stimulants can win. If you want access to a large market, it would help to make your product available while that market is awake.

I think that this is a strength of Matchroom. Their sessions don't start early and don't end late. Of course, when your stream audience is from all over the world, there is no way to please everybody. For example, the Arizona Open final did not finish until almost 1:00 AM in New York.

Stop having TV/streaming tables with different rules than the outside tables. The pocket sizes should be the same, and every match should play on a shot clock if one is being used at any table.

I think everybody agrees with this. Pool without a shot clock is far less exciting. Still, this is about resources. Where are you going to get shot clock operators? There aren't enough volunteers to get this done, and if you get referees at every table, you will have to play them, compromising your business model. All that said, if shot clock on the stream table is the best they can offer, it's way way way better than not having a shot clock on any of the tables. Pool's business model will have to improve before shot clock on every table happens.

Quit fucking around with ball colors and pocket sizes.

Nobody will ever convince me that this matters. Players and fan alike are smart enough to get used to anything.

Do not use ticketmaster to rip off your potential market.

Pool must be one of the cheapest sports to attend. It tends to cost about $25 per day. Not a big issue here.

Quit cancelling major events like the World Cup, World Pool Masters, etc...

Event economics here. Tennis and golf sometimes move on from an event if it's economics are not adding up. That's how business works.

Quit "cancelling" players because they might not play at one of your events.

This has been one of Matchroom's biggest mistakes. They have squandered some of the loyalty they had built with the players through their penal action, especially against SVB and Filler. How can any player feel safe from similar punishment in a similar scenario?

Just a few things off the top of my head.

You made a lot of good points. Nice post!

 

[Badpenguin]

It is about priorities. For Matchroom Pool to have a sustainable pro pool product, the economics of event production must come first, then the needs of the players (who seem to show up regardless of venue as long as the prize fund is good enough,) and then the fan experience. As fans, we'd rather be a higher priority, but understand that revenue from live attendance is not a critical aspect of the business model (other than at the Mosconi Cup and Reyes Cup events). Nonetheless, Matchroom offers the best arenas in pool and, yes, I've attended some Predator events. Yes Matchroom had a hiccup earlier this month with the seating at the Florida Open, which was a day six issue only.

I'm afraid you have those priorities completely inverted. Without the fans/eyeballs, you have no market/product to sell. It is us fans who pay the tax to make professional pool viable for the players, equipment manufacturers/advertisers, and producers. We pay the tax via purchasing merchandise, subscriptions, ticket prices, and equipment. Without the economics of scale that we, the fans, provide, there is no viable business for any of them.

The other major tournament producer, Predator, sells their equipment by sponsoring players, supporting all of the players, and value adds leagues in most of the events in the US. Those leagues provide a large market for this sport.

I'm not sure that the leadership of matchroom pool understands these basic economics. Maybe they are genius level masters of capitalism and I just don't see it yet.

I think that this is a strength of Matchroom. Their sessions don't start early and don't end late. Of course, when your stream audience is from all over the world, there is no way to please everybody. For example, the Arizona Open final did not finish until almost 1:00 AM in New York.

They start late and then end late on a regular basis. At least, for working people they do. Friday and Saturday are semi-fine, but playing into the fine hours of Monday morning is just not possible for the vast majority of any target market. And I'm talking about the same time zone the event is in. I'm assuming they even know who their target market is.

I think everybody agrees with this. Pool without a shot clock is far less exciting. Still, this is about resources. Where are you going to get shot clock operators? There aren't enough volunteers to get this done, and if you get referees at every table, you will have to play them, compromising your business model. All that said, if shot clock on the stream table is the best they can offer, it's way way way better than not having a shot clock on any of the tables. Pool's business model will have to improve before shot clock on every table happens.

I'm sure if they really put their mind to it they could figure out a reasonable way. But yeah, I understand this might not be doable.

Pool must be one of the cheapest sports to attend. It tends to cost about $25 per day. Not a big issue here.

Say what!? $25 a day? It will cost you that JUST FOR BOTTLED WATER!

Air fare/car rental (or gas if you drive), parking, hotel, and food. There is nowhere on the planet you are doing 4-5 days for $25 a day!

If you have that figured out, freaking let me know immediately!

Of course, my hat is off to matchroom for at least trying. No one else seems to be, besides Predator. Brunswick certainly isn't, Diamond has all but disappeared, no more Pat Fleming events like the Int'l Open or Make it Happen events, etc... Well, Turning Stone seems to do ok, but it seems rather niche.

 

[jbart65]

They start late and then end late on a regular basis. At least, for working people they do. Friday and Saturday are semi-fine, but playing into the fine hours of Monday morning is just not possible for the vast majority of any target market. And I'm talking about the same time zone the event is in. I'm assuming they even know who their target market is.

I've watched every big major since late 2022. This is simply not true. Most WNT produced events start between 11 am and 1 pm each day and finish by 9 or 10 pm. A few matches at the end of the day might run a bit later if earlier matches took a long time. Hasn't happened often.

The Arizona Open finals started at 7:30 pm local time and finished around 10 -- 1 am on the East Coast, where I watching the match.

My big complaint was the inability of WNT TV to let me watch matches when I wanted to, immediately when I wanted to. That problem thankfully has been rectified.