Kaci, pro pool and prize money

[banged up]

And the WNBA loses money every year, as do the individual teams.

How long will it continue? For the life of me, I can't understand why it still exists as it is...

2025 (Profitable): Surging ticket sales, merchandising up over 750%, and record broadcast ratings pushed the league into the green. The revenue boom was significant enough to trigger the first-ever player revenue-sharing payout in WNBA history, resulting in an $8 million pool distributed among the players. Keep moving those goalpoasts.

 

[skogstokig]

In the big cities one has to sell booze to make a room pencil.

sounds like an odd way to go about it.
in sweden we use basswood, alder or aspen

 

[SA96]

Pool is bar room game.

In the big cities one has to sell booze to make a room pencil.

Table time and pool players won't pay the bills.

Pool is not an " event " sport.

It will not fill stadiums or sport's arenas.

Professional pool is what it is....

People said that about darts.

 

[JAM]

If his expenses aren't covered by his sponsors, they are a tax write off. I'm not sure what percentage can be written off.

And what happens in the United States with the IRS, if one does not turn a profit on pool due to tax write-offs and deductions for expenses/costs, the IRS does not recognize it as a profession and it becomes a "hobby." A hobby does not let you deduct expenses that are more than your income.

Believe me when I say the expenses on the road in the early 2000s were hefty if you wanted to eat well and sleep in a decent hotel. Entry fees, travel expenses, hardware purchases and tune-ups, they add up. Even when you cash in the big tournaments, you're so suck from the ones you did not cash in that you never, ever turn a profit, unless, of course, you win, place, and show on a regular basis to offset the exorbitant costs to play pool professionally around the world, two, three, and four times a month.

 

[VarmintKong]

Kaci wrote on Facebook:

Tournaments with 128-256… only $50K-$100K in total prize money…
…I’ll be skipping them…

Kaci followed up with:


… I was talking about the smaller ranking events. Like Bucharest Open , Vice city open…

Well, that was a righteously indignant 3 days. Kaci playing this morning vs Asis in the Phoenix Open.

 

[JAM]

snooker has had a steady tour for decades, with a steadily increasing fan base. WNT and PBS are in their infancy by comparison.

the chinese 8b promotors peddle tables to a massive market, have big chinese sponsors, and ad revenue.. it's just a different numbers game there, with anything you sell.

I was watching America’s Got Talent on TV last night. The first-place prize? $1 million. That got me thinking about professional snooker. Just a few days ago, Mark Selby won more than $330,000 for taking first place in the China Open. Snooker isn't exactly mainstream entertainment in the United States. I love watching it, but I know I'm in the minority. To someone who isn't a snooker fan, watching players methodically clear a table probably isn't exactly edge-of-your-seat television. And pool is even further down the sports ladder.

Here's the uncomfortable truth. Until an entity like Matchroom, the WPA, Predator, or someone else figures out how to sell pool as an entertainment product and attract mainstream viewers, professional pool is going to remain largely a game people play in bars, pool halls, and amateur leagues rather than a major professional sport. And maybe that's perfectly fine for the people making money from the pool industry. Think governing bodies of professional pool consisting of industry members. They're getting fat. Most professional players are scrambling for crumbs and going broke.

Pool has incredible players, personalities, rivalries, and drama. What it needs is a way to package all of that so that someone who doesn't already love pool will want to watch, because the goal shouldn't simply be to grow the pool audience. It should be to create new fans who never thought they were pool fans. That's how you move pool up the sports ladder.

I've never in my life watched a soccer game until I noticed Norway's Erling Haaland in the FIFA World Cup. Now I'm following him and soccer. I love it. I'm watching it. I'm now a full-fledged soccer fan.

Haaland, Haaland, he's a blue just like his dad. Now he's at Etihad. Ha-ha-ha-Haaland.

 

[David in FL]

2025 (Profitable): Surging ticket sales, merchandising up over 750%, and record broadcast ratings pushed the league into the green. The revenue boom was significant enough to trigger the first-ever player revenue-sharing payout in WNBA history, resulting in an $8 million pool distributed among the players. Keep moving those goalpoasts.

I stand corrected.

One barely profitable year in its history for the league.

How many individual teams were in the black?

My point remains.

 

[rexus31]

And what happens in the United States with the IRS, if one does not turn a profit on pool due to tax write-offs and deductions for expenses/costs, the IRS does not recognize it as a profession and it becomes a "hobby." A hobby does not let you deduct expenses that are more than your income.

Believe me when I say the expenses on the road in the early 2000s were hefty if you wanted to eat well and sleep in a decent hotel. Entry fees, travel expenses, hardware purchases and tune-ups, they add up. Even when you cash in the big tournaments, you're so suck from the ones you did not cash in that you never, ever turn a profit, unless, of course, you win, place, and show on a regular basis to offset the exorbitant costs to play pool professionally around the world, two, three, and four times a month.

Now you are shifting gears. You mentioned Shane in the post I quoted you on. I didn't make a blanket statement about all players. I was referencing Shane, "If his expenses aren't covered by his sponsors, they are a tax write off. I'm not sure what percentage can be written off.". It's unlikely his expenses are going to overshadow his earnings so I think he is safe, as are (probably) the Top 10 on the earnings leaderboard.

Actually, the closer you can get to no profit as sole proprietor, the better off you are tax wise.

 

[loggerhead12]

We AZ'rs see pool from in a bubble, a small one at that. If you talk to any(most??) sports fans they don't even know pro pool exists. Its never going to be popular on the scale like in the places you mention. It is doing better and i'm good with it as it is, i have no delusions of 'pool grandeur'.

Yup. Very few in any pool hall have ever heard of Efren, or SVB, or Filler. And it pisses me off that they stream cornhole instead of pool.

 

[BMC361]

They need to put pool in the Olympics, summer or winter.

 

[overlord]

People said that about darts.

Professional pool is just content.

There is a content war going on.

When you sit down at your computer or smart TV there are infinite entertainment options.

 

[overlord]

Yup. Very few in any pool hall have ever heard of Efren, or SVB, or Filler. And it pisses me off that they stream cornhole instead of pool.

I've been in rooms when super stars of the game show up and the folks drinking beers and banging ball have no idea who they are.......

To sell content you have to have stars........

 

[JAM]

Now you are shifting gears. You mentioned Shane in the post I quoted you on. I didn't make a blanket statement about all players. I was referencing Shane, "If his expenses aren't covered by his sponsors, they are a tax write off. I'm not sure what percentage can be written off.". It's unlikely his expenses are going to overshadow his earnings so I think he is safe, as are (probably) the Top 10 on the earnings leaderboard.

Actually, the closer you can get to no profit as sole proprietor, the better off you are tax wise.

View attachment 924845

I was posting a blanket statement about ALL professional pool players, not just Shane.

 

[sneakynito]

lol what an idiot.
pretty dumb to bite at the hands that feed you, especially when there's not a lot of food, and you're a pretty small dog.

 

[banged up]

I stand corrected.

One barely profitable year in its history for the league.

How many individual teams were in the black?

My point remains.

And there go those goalposts moving again! I knew you had it in you!

 

[David in FL]

And there go those goalposts moving again! I knew you had it in you!

How so.

The point for this thread remains the same.

Pool pays poorly because it doesn't attract any viewership, advertisers, or revenue.

It shouldn't be very difficult to understand.

 

[maha]

and in essence who really cares as none here will ever be in the very top to earn big bucks even if it was there to earn.

and those in the top with all that talent have misplaced their abilities to a game with little future for themselves.

and to spend your life trying to be tops for just a few hundred k a year is foolish.

play because you enjoy the game and make your dough at something else.

 

[skogstokig]

and in essence who really cares as none here will ever be in the very top to earn big bucks even if it was there to earn.

and those in the top with all that talent have misplaced their abilities to a game with little future for themselves.

and to spend your life trying to be tops for just a few hundred k a year is foolish.

i think you are being overly enthusiastic.

 

[banged up]

How so.

The point for this thread remains the same.

Pool pays poorly because it doesn't attract any viewership, advertisers, or revenue.

It shouldn't be very difficult to understand.

David, you didn't just move the goalposts on the league's profits—you completely moved them on player salaries too.
The Old Narrative You Are Relying On:
The old talking point was that WNBA players make next to nothing and the league is just a subsidized charity case.
The 2026 Reality:
Under the historic new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), the entire pay structure completely fundamentally shifted:

• The Salary Cap Pool: Exploded from $1.5 million per team in 2025 all the way up to $7 million for the 2026 season.
• Average Player Salary: Has officially surged past $580,000.
• The Baseline Minimum: Even a rookie coming right out of college now commands a $270,000 baseline minimum.

Your Double Standard on Goalposts:
First, you claimed the league shouldn't exist because it loses money. Proven wrong.
Then you shifted to "well, individual teams lose money."
Now you are trying to lean on the outdated myth that they make "next to nothing".
The Desperate Pivot Back to Pool:
And now, right on cue, you suddenly try to pivot the entire conversation back to pool's economy—which is completely irrelevant to what either of us were actively debating! You realized your WNBA facts were completely dead, so you ran back to a completely separate topic to find a safe zone.
A business does not multiply its employee payroll cap by nearly 500% in a single calendar year if it is a failing enterprise facing extinction. You are trying to fight 2026 financial balance sheets using 2018 talking points you heard on TV. It is a completely different world now. Changing the subject won't hide the scoreboard. Take the L and move on.

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[David in FL]

David, you didn't just move the goalposts on the league's profits—you completely moved them on player salaries too.
The Old Narrative You Are Relying On:
The old talking point was that WNBA players make next to nothing and the league is just a subsidized charity case.
The 2026 Reality:
Under the historic new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), the entire pay structure completely fundamentally shifted:

• The Salary Cap Pool: Exploded from $1.5 million per team in 2025 all the way up to $7 million for the 2026 season.
• Average Player Salary: Has officially surged past $580,000.
• The Baseline Minimum: Even a rookie coming right out of college now commands a $270,000 baseline minimum.

Your Double Standard on Goalposts:
First, you claimed the league shouldn't exist because it loses money. Proven wrong.
Then you shifted to "well, individual teams lose money."
Now you are trying to lean on the outdated myth that they make "next to nothing".
The Desperate Pivot Back to Pool:
And now, right on cue, you suddenly try to pivot the entire conversation back to pool's economy—which is completely irrelevant to what either of us were actively debating! You realized your WNBA facts were completely dead, so you ran back to a completely separate topic to find a safe zone.
A business does not multiply its employee payroll cap by nearly 500% in a single calendar year if it is a failing enterprise facing extinction. You are trying to fight 2026 financial balance sheets using 2018 talking points you heard on TV. It is a completely different world now. Changing the subject won't hide the scoreboard. Take the L and move on.

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I get it, you like the WNBA. Good for you. But try to understand my post in reference to this freaking thread.

Whatever pittance they get paid, why is it that the NBA pays its players a LOT more than the WNBA? Why does professional golf, baseball, football?

Again, it shouldn't be that difficult to understand.