I can't resist this subject. Many threads on this over the years, going back to Usenet days.
Most recently, I've tried to get to the root of the issue. Focusing in on the product. It wasn't very positive.
Consider this, pool isn't likely to ever get real big in the U.S. market because to Americans, pool is a participant sport. Whereas, the major sports are spectator sports.
Hanging in the pool room, people look at me like I'm from another planet when I talk about TV pool or professional pool being streamed on line. Most have no clue who SVB is. It's really that bad. We're talking guys that are in the room DAILY.
I feel like I am a sub-group of a sub-group. A minority within the pool world which is already minority status. It's very discouraging. We the people of AZbilliards are not representative of the American pool world. We are hard core enthusiasts compared to them.
Now, that's among pool players who are always in pool rooms. The situation is even worse for people who aren't regulars or non-players. The new fans pool optimists hope to bring in.
Which is why I have said, try bringing in just the pool world alone first before you try and tackle a new fans. I mean, if you can't get the pool players to attend pro-events or buy streamed matches en masse .......forget anything else.
Pro pool doesn't even have big appeal to pool players. How sad. It really is.
Why is this? Because pool is a participant sport. Most of these guys would rather go to their local room and play than spend that same time watching it on TV. If they have a hour or two to watch pool, that means they are missing an hour or two at the pool room they could be playing instead!
It seems to me that the little pool people watch tends to be at times or in situations where they can't be playing. Home with the flu, snowed in...that sort of thing. Exception are the old timers who are in love with the women on the women's tour. These guys set their VCR's (not DVR's lol) to tape the ESPN airing of already completed women's tournaments.
Pool is different than other participant sports. You can't play other sports as long or as frequently as pool. The nature of the game is such that one can sit in a pool room for 10 hours and play the whole time no problem. Then do it again the next day. You can't do that in other sports. You will either be too exhausted. Or the venue doesn't allow for it, time/space. Or the cost would be too high. Or weather interferes. Pool has none of that.
Pool can be played so long as the establishment is open and there's lights over the table. Or until the player drops dead. Heck, you don't even need a pool hall. Pool is a sport that can be played in your HOME. Invite a buddy over and play a hundred racks through the night.
TAR matches should have 10x the viewers at least. Is it a matter of exposure? You know what? What's better than all talk about TV coverage, how about putting up the cash to advertise a TAR match in every pool mag out there? Has this been done already? Promote one of the TAR matches with big time advertisement (to the pool world).
If a TAR match, for a lousy $25 can't get the American pool world tuning in, from the convenience of their own homes, to watch elite world champions slug it out - then nothing, zero nada will convince me that pool has a chance in this country.
Jay is a smart man. With a TON of real pool world experience just about no one else can ever match. But I can't accept the comparison of the Philippines or Taiwan to the U.S.. As others have noted, does the Philippines have that kind of vicious competition from other sports on TV? It's not just that. People like what they've been exposed to. American kids grow up playing baseball, football, soccer, basketball, tennis...unless they are exceptional and go pro, they drop out of competitive sports and it becomes an exercise and hobby for them in adult life. They later follow it on television and have a life long connection to it.
How many American kids play pool? Most pool rooms don't let under 18 in. Next, pool rooms in America still have the stigma of being shitty places with shady people. And, quite frankly, many do. So the reputation is well deserved.
Pool rooms are also bars. Liquor brings the money in. Another obstacle to the sport/hobby image of pool.
Most Americans begin their pool playing after 18 years old. The few that start young or in their teens usually develop pretty strong games. The bulk of players started as adults when they gained independence and mobility.
So where is this connection? Pool isn't something they retired from, and find enjoyment in by watching pros on TV. Pool is something they just came to, or are still deeply involved in - as a participant in adult life. Also, a lot of pool players were people who weren't participants in athletic sports during their youth. This is psychological. They want to be participating, not watching. They did enough of watching from the bleachers.
Pool is also the refuge of the untalented, no hand-eye coordination crowd. It's something the mediocre to bad can do and still have fun. And there are leagues for them, like the APA. Which attract hundreds of thousands. Sure, you can say that of golf. Lotta bad golfers out there. But pool seems to attract some of the worst. That's why 3-cushion isn't big in America. Because it takes a certain level of skill before a player can develop a game that has some kind of reasonable flow to it. Imagine some APA 3's playing 3-cushion. Points would be almost on the level of luck and it would take dozens of innings to score a single point. Tedious and painful. Other sports need a basic skill level to be barely playable. If you can't ever return the ball in tennis, forget it. It becomes a contest of who can hit the ball over the net the most times successfully. Might as well play against no one. Or play at the same time on separate courts, keep score individually, compare at the end. LOL.
Pool attracts a lot of the "I can do that" crowd...hey, 8 innings to win an 8-ball game with no safeties is their idea of being in the game. Whatever floats their boat. It's doable in pool. Pool is accessible. It's forgiving of bad play among bad players.
The other group is the bar bangers. Pool is a secondary game played during the primary game of demolishing pitchers of beer. LOL. Pool is merely something to do while guzzling beer as to not look too silly simply sitting in one place guzzling beer. You have to be doing something. Play darts or pool. Watching a football game. Something.
As for new fans, new fans can never appreciate what they see because they don't play the game. Part of the psychological attraction to watching pro-sports is the admiration, respect and awe fans have for the abilities of the pros. People like seeing excellence. Watching a pro golfer make an amazing shot is so entertaining because people have played it and know how incredible such ability is. We the enthusiast pool fans who do watch pool are the same way. Watching Efren pull off some awesome shape, Earl drill some sick cut shot in, Shane's break...we know how tough that stuff is. We appreciate.
New fans can't, since they haven't played. If they start playing - they want to play more, not watch so much.
Again at the pool room, people are busy playing. Even pool players follow major sports more than they do pro-pool. For most Americans, pool is for playing, not for watching.
