An open conversation on what pool in North America needs and can support.
- Thread starter azhousepro
- Start date
Yeah, good point. And of course outsiders would be hated because they wouldn't do things the way things have always been done.
Step 1
I can sort of go along with this but I will add that we need to come up with something that Pool Players are happy with. You do that and you've got something. Pool is honestly a snore experience for television unless you have some drama included, look at racing they go around in circles! You start adding in the drama and Bingo! Now you have a winner. We need us some competition and some drama to make things interesting. Drama also draws numbers to events.
I can sort of go along with this but I will add that we need to come up with something that Pool Players are happy with. You do that and you've got something. Pool is honestly a snore experience for television unless you have some drama included, look at racing they go around in circles! You start adding in the drama and Bingo! Now you have a winner. We need us some competition and some drama to make things interesting. Drama also draws numbers to events.
Like others I have spent a lot of time thinking about this and have no concrete answers.
Pool has a few very large challenges with respect to sponsorship:
1) It's more fun to play than watch for most people.
2) It doesn't require any special clothing, uniform or shoes.
3) It doesn't require freaky athletic ability - everyone thinks they could plays as good as the top pros if they did more drills.
4) It reaches all demographics...Pool is a great melting pot. If you are an advertiser that doesn't help you do any targeted advertising.
If you want to reach young white kids - advertise on skateboarding.
If you want to reach old white guys advertise on golf tournaments.
If you want to reach urban youth advertise on basketball.
If you want to reach a random hodgepodge of people advertise on pool.
See the problem?
5) Number 4 leads to this point - The only targeted advertising we have so far for pool players is that they are pool players and might buy products related to pool. So our sponsorship is limited to pool products right now. Unfortunately pool players don't 'consume' anything when they play. Buy a cue or two and you're set for life except for chalk. Maybe buy a home table. Pool players used to consume beer and cigarettes - but with anti-smoking laws and the general decrease of alcohol use among younger people those markets are shrinking fast.
Fisherman, hunters, skateboarders, snowboarders, runners, golfers - all buy a lot of equipment that they eventually outgrow and have to replace. As well as consumables - like golf balls and ammo - that they have to keep replacing. And they have a targeted demographic.
The pool industry should hire a marketing demographic firm to figure out what pool players have in common and what types of targeted advertising would work. We are all obviously missing something. Then go after those sponsors with numbers and professional salespeople. For example, if company finds that pool players on average spend 25% more disposable income on teapots than other groups of people. You can take that to XYZ teapot company and show them how they can reach your 2 million amateur league players and how many more teapots they will sell and how much it will cost.
Given the above, pool needs to be organized so that there is massive structured participation with rewards for achievement. Competitive people love to strive and improve and test themselves against others. And climb a ladder. One of the strengths of pool is that everyone is physically capable of competing at a high level. It's a great competitive outlet. Similar to golf where there is a barrier to getting on the 'pro tour' and a clear path on how a player can elevate themselves from a league player to a regional player to the mini tour to the pro tour.
I think it's better to gear the big prize money to a select group. Once you have your tour card you can play for it. Until then you have to work your way up to it. Win 3 mini tour events in a season for a battlefield promotion.
Pool has a few very large challenges with respect to sponsorship:
1) It's more fun to play than watch for most people.
2) It doesn't require any special clothing, uniform or shoes.
3) It doesn't require freaky athletic ability - everyone thinks they could plays as good as the top pros if they did more drills.
4) It reaches all demographics...Pool is a great melting pot. If you are an advertiser that doesn't help you do any targeted advertising.
If you want to reach young white kids - advertise on skateboarding.
If you want to reach old white guys advertise on golf tournaments.
If you want to reach urban youth advertise on basketball.
If you want to reach a random hodgepodge of people advertise on pool.
See the problem?
5) Number 4 leads to this point - The only targeted advertising we have so far for pool players is that they are pool players and might buy products related to pool. So our sponsorship is limited to pool products right now. Unfortunately pool players don't 'consume' anything when they play. Buy a cue or two and you're set for life except for chalk. Maybe buy a home table. Pool players used to consume beer and cigarettes - but with anti-smoking laws and the general decrease of alcohol use among younger people those markets are shrinking fast.
Fisherman, hunters, skateboarders, snowboarders, runners, golfers - all buy a lot of equipment that they eventually outgrow and have to replace. As well as consumables - like golf balls and ammo - that they have to keep replacing. And they have a targeted demographic.
The pool industry should hire a marketing demographic firm to figure out what pool players have in common and what types of targeted advertising would work. We are all obviously missing something. Then go after those sponsors with numbers and professional salespeople. For example, if company finds that pool players on average spend 25% more disposable income on teapots than other groups of people. You can take that to XYZ teapot company and show them how they can reach your 2 million amateur league players and how many more teapots they will sell and how much it will cost.
Given the above, pool needs to be organized so that there is massive structured participation with rewards for achievement. Competitive people love to strive and improve and test themselves against others. And climb a ladder. One of the strengths of pool is that everyone is physically capable of competing at a high level. It's a great competitive outlet. Similar to golf where there is a barrier to getting on the 'pro tour' and a clear path on how a player can elevate themselves from a league player to a regional player to the mini tour to the pro tour.
I think it's better to gear the big prize money to a select group. Once you have your tour card you can play for it. Until then you have to work your way up to it. Win 3 mini tour events in a season for a battlefield promotion.
So some element of a wild card - like a pointer that tells them which ball they have to pocket next. Or when they pocket a ball in a pocket if it's the "death ball" they have to pocket the next ball in the same pocket. Or they are not allowed to play safe after the random "runout ball" is pocketed.
So there are several random events that can happen when you pocket a ball in a pocket - Similar to drawing a card. Runout ball, speed ball, bank ball, last pocket ball, etc... Not all have to happen in each game.
Something that can derail them but that they can overcome.
How I did it
Years ago Mark Wilson, stopped gambling, I never understood why when I was in my younger years, now it's obvious....it's about the game. The game comes first....
I remember years ago, at the Rivera, sitting at the control desk overlooking play with Gary Benson of Ft. Collins CO. 240 green felted tables surrounded by people.
So here I am months later....sittin' in a pub havin' a pint and I look up at the tv, early 2001 and here is an overhead camera shot of all these green felted tables surrounded by people, with out cue sticks.
I immediately went back home to my computer to see if www.worldbilliardtour.com domain was still available, and bought it and had NO plans.
Eventually, life and pool thoughts kept me thinking, how the hell did the poker guys lead the lambs/non pro gamblers to water and get involved.
What did I do....to begin it was easy.
Pool players, room owners, Tournament Directors....their actions are nearly 100% predictable and proven which is a good thing. What I'm about to say would be no different than trying to catch a fox, better learn it's habits first.
Business model:
#1 Write down everything you HATE about pool.
#2 Write down everything you LOVE and enjoy about pool.
Don't forget to include in your business model these factors that are ''in play''.
Family time
Travel Costs
Room owners prime hours
Church
Friday nights with family or your love
Cigarette smoke
pool table sizes
Time
Money
Work
Sandbagging
Which game???????????????????????????????????????????????????
This is the short list.
Years ago Mark Wilson, stopped gambling, I never understood why when I was in my younger years, now it's obvious....it's about the game. The game comes first....
I remember years ago, at the Rivera, sitting at the control desk overlooking play with Gary Benson of Ft. Collins CO. 240 green felted tables surrounded by people.
So here I am months later....sittin' in a pub havin' a pint and I look up at the tv, early 2001 and here is an overhead camera shot of all these green felted tables surrounded by people, with out cue sticks.
I immediately went back home to my computer to see if www.worldbilliardtour.com domain was still available, and bought it and had NO plans.
Eventually, life and pool thoughts kept me thinking, how the hell did the poker guys lead the lambs/non pro gamblers to water and get involved.
What did I do....to begin it was easy.
Pool players, room owners, Tournament Directors....their actions are nearly 100% predictable and proven which is a good thing. What I'm about to say would be no different than trying to catch a fox, better learn it's habits first.
Business model:
#1 Write down everything you HATE about pool.
#2 Write down everything you LOVE and enjoy about pool.
Don't forget to include in your business model these factors that are ''in play''.
Family time
Travel Costs
Room owners prime hours
Church
Friday nights with family or your love
Cigarette smoke
pool table sizes
Time
Money
Work
Sandbagging
Which game???????????????????????????????????????????????????
This is the short list.
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Ring Game Rules for 1
I always like things like Bank Pool, Ring Game Rules, Doubles or Team Competitions. Any Game where the players have to come with something trying to make a shot is exciting. A four rail safe might be cool to us but the viewing public.....he chickened out!
In that way Bonus Ball might have been onto something it just wasnt....Bonus Ball!
The way Pool is setup now its all about the skill, so we argue about racks, etc, etc. because people are concerned with making money and its a snore affair. Throw some luck in there but make it easier for people to draw a paycheck and you will see the numbers at the box office pickup...my opinion.
Make em come with a shot to get the Cash! Make them entertainers! Fats was an entertainer and people loved him.
Make em do something that creates interest. When you get your money right you can still have the big, serious competitions.
I always like things like Bank Pool, Ring Game Rules, Doubles or Team Competitions. Any Game where the players have to come with something trying to make a shot is exciting. A four rail safe might be cool to us but the viewing public.....he chickened out!
In that way Bonus Ball might have been onto something it just wasnt....Bonus Ball!
The way Pool is setup now its all about the skill, so we argue about racks, etc, etc. because people are concerned with making money and its a snore affair. Throw some luck in there but make it easier for people to draw a paycheck and you will see the numbers at the box office pickup...my opinion.
Make em come with a shot to get the Cash! Make them entertainers! Fats was an entertainer and people loved him.
Make em do something that creates interest. When you get your money right you can still have the big, serious competitions.
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There's of course some degree of diversity in pool, but I don't think we're any more of a hodgepodge than any other sport or interest. The problem is that we're mostly old, cranky, working-class white men. Not exactly the demographic that advertisers are looking for. We need to expand that to attract others.
In other words - people with money lol
I can see it now: "This weeks pro pool event, The Geritol Open played in Palm Desert, CA."
OK let's start with a few of the known root problems. The big one, as everyone knows is MONEY. Where can the needed money come from ? Sponsors of course. Why are there no real sponsors? Because there is no real return on their money. Imo that doesn't need to be the case though. It's all about where / how they are spending it. What do the sponsors do? They put some patches on people that 99 out of 100 people could na,email if their lives depend on it - and this includes pool players themselves! They hang some banners at whatever event where there are what, MAYBE several Hu dredge attendees on average? Of course there are a handful of events throughout the year where they will get a few thousand attendees but even those numbers are just a tiny drop in the bucket for large corporate sponsors. Then you have the streams, both paid and free. The numbers for both of those are dismal as well. Now it's time to be brutally honest with ourselves and even tach other - the targeted demographics are on a whole a bunch of tight wad nits. This is just the truth. Think, most of these folks are the hard core pool junkies just like all of us. Think of the people that sit in the pool room for hours and complain about the hourly rate to practice, *****ing about only one refill on their coffee / sodas. Yes, some spend money on their equipment but the ROI Is just not there.
Next problem - leadership. I think we all know how effective our current choices are ( BCA, WPA, anyone else????) at promoting the game of billiards. Honestly I really don't even see any effort even being brought forth; other than if it can make them a buck or two for themselves. I surely don't have the answer to this one but what I do know with absolute certainty is a whole new organization needs to be built from the ground up, new talented fresh faces. The folks entrusted with this task need several qualities that are non negotiable. They need to have a strong love of the game of billiards. They need to have the dedication necessary to put in the work needed to grow the sport. Lastly, and just as important as the others, they need the experience and business knowledge to efficiently run things as well as being able to effectively negotiate many types of deals. One thing that pops into mind with this is having people that are voted it, not just a good ol boy scratching of the back appointment.
Next - exposure. We all know TV is where it's at. For whatever the reasons, ESPN has abandoned pool years ago. I do not believe that bridge is burned though. I see an opportunity to put something together that is heads and shoulders better product than ANYTHING put forth in the past. Getting hooked up with the right major corporate sponsors would be all it takes basically. Remember, it's all about ROI for ANY SPONSOR !
The plan - well this will be broken down into several sections ( for each of the problems I listed above ). I do whole-heartedly believe this is a " bottom up " endeavor , definitely not the other way around. Stand by , more posts will be forthcoming . Thanks!
Next problem - leadership. I think we all know how effective our current choices are ( BCA, WPA, anyone else????) at promoting the game of billiards. Honestly I really don't even see any effort even being brought forth; other than if it can make them a buck or two for themselves. I surely don't have the answer to this one but what I do know with absolute certainty is a whole new organization needs to be built from the ground up, new talented fresh faces. The folks entrusted with this task need several qualities that are non negotiable. They need to have a strong love of the game of billiards. They need to have the dedication necessary to put in the work needed to grow the sport. Lastly, and just as important as the others, they need the experience and business knowledge to efficiently run things as well as being able to effectively negotiate many types of deals. One thing that pops into mind with this is having people that are voted it, not just a good ol boy scratching of the back appointment.
Next - exposure. We all know TV is where it's at. For whatever the reasons, ESPN has abandoned pool years ago. I do not believe that bridge is burned though. I see an opportunity to put something together that is heads and shoulders better product than ANYTHING put forth in the past. Getting hooked up with the right major corporate sponsors would be all it takes basically. Remember, it's all about ROI for ANY SPONSOR !
The plan - well this will be broken down into several sections ( for each of the problems I listed above ). I do whole-heartedly believe this is a " bottom up " endeavor , definitely not the other way around. Stand by , more posts will be forthcoming . Thanks!
That's true for the World Championships, but only because The Crucible only seats about 700. All tickets are sold out the day they go on sale. The total TV viewership last April was something like 300,000,000 but having a Chinese finalist may have had something to do with that. Some snooker events have essentially no audience, I think (Champions League?).
The Mosconi Cup will be at Alexandra Palace in London in December. It will seat about 1300. Some nights are already sold out and have been for a couple of months.
I don't think the IPT ever got past about 500 in the audience but it wasn't around long enough to establish a fan base. And it was not on TV where most people could see it to further build the fan base.
I saw a very interesting article that said big sports teams earnings went up when the players salaries shot up. The players became superstars with super salaries which attracted fans.
Some of this has been touched on previously, some not...
Anyone getting into pool the way he wants to has to first understand that it is not a matter of "here's the money, I'm in". Doing this won't take months, it will take years. It will probably take a couple of years of planning before the first tournament is even announced.
First thing I would do, is get together with some industry leaders that have "been there, done that". That means not just pool people. Although top pool leaders would also be consulted. I'm talking about the people that made the bowlers money, the skateboarders money, the dart players, the poker players. Sit down with them, and see what it takes to incorporate their ideas into making pool work. And what ideas to steer clear of.
As far as t.v. goes, it's not the product, it's the presentation. If they can make a successful show about driving a semi in the boondocks of Alaska and Canada, they can make a successful show about pool.
So, let's talk about the money. Sponsorship specifically. To get the money needed to fund this properly it needs to be someone with DEEP POCKETS. It also needs to be someone that is a good fit. One of the biggest things pool is lacking is the " COOLNESS FACTOR ". I think one great sponsor to get hooked up with would be Red Bull . Pool is a niche market and Red Bull is know for their Xtreme sports, many of which are ( or were ) niche markets. They could incorporate pool into their preexisting platforms and use their " stars " already under contract to promote pool. Just spit-balling here but think about how freaking awesome it would be to see two guys jump out of a plane with a pool table and playing a game on the way down while drinking their Red Bull drinks lol. I know this sound skin da funny but I'm being totally serious, maybe not that specifically but something crazy and cool is exactly what pool needs to jump start a large interested audience. Think about it, maybe Florian and others could be added to and compete in the " X Games "! How cool would that be ? POOL IS COOL! That's what we need to convey, not the image many have of a bunch of fat, old, not particularly good looking guys sitting in the back of a smokey, dimly lit pool room of the 70's.
The next sponsor that comes to mind is MILLER LITE! They always have massive marketing campaigns and are into all kind of stuff - Think Gas Monkey Garage . I'm seeing Richard Rawlings and AARON pulling up in one of their bad ass rides to the bar, getting out and going inside and straight to the pool table as they Crack open their ice cold Millers! He'll they could even build some kind of cool, non tacky pool related cars on one of their episodes . Miller Lite actually fits perfectly with the next part of my plan I will be discussing shortly.
Another sponsor that comes to mind is Predator. Think about it, they are directly related to the sport, well respected within the industry , and have deep enough pockets to actually be able to do something . They also fit just perfectly into my plan which I am about to discuss.
So these are just 3 of thousands of prospective sponsors. So even with everything I've just said, all roads STILL lead back to the ROI. At its most basic level, conversion is what's needed. Conversion is just a numbers game. Whatever the actual conversion rate is will vary by industry, location, product etc etc. All things being equal, the critical number is of course the total number or people reached. You can have a 100% conversion rate but that doesn't mean shit if you're only reaching 10 people. It quickly becomes the old chicken to the egg first????? So to b a able to sell 100,000 xxx's we need to reach xxx's of persons right???? But before the money is spent on advertising to reach xxx's people we need to sell xxx #'s of product to justify the advertising expense - and this could go on indefinitely but for one thing - anyone involved in business KNOWS you need spend money to make money. Now it becomes a risk assessment. How much are we willing to risk advertising in a an attempt to generate $xxx in revenue ??? I think I know the answer to that, and I do strongly believe it's already there and just a waiting for the taking .
Now this part will probably have some rolling their eyes while others will just be flat pissed off. LEAGUES ! Yup LEAGUES, I SAID IT LOL! Think about this ( from a sponsors perspective ), we already have ( AS IN TODAY ) hundreds of thousands of league games played each and every weak and that's not even including the 1,000,000 + leaguers that are classified as " occasional " players. Let's also remember that every last one of these folks are EXACTLY the targeted demographics in which we are after! The 21 through let's say 44 are the rough age bracket with disposable income - AND THEY AREN'T AFAID TO USE IT LOL! Not just pool related products either; think cars, watches, jewelry , trips/ vacations etc and on and on. These are the people where advertisers want to be and rightly so.
As far as leagues go, there are already quite a few established ones so the question becomes do we try to integrate the existing ones or start fresh. There are major pros and cons to each, which I will now discuss. We will start with the easy one - any time you start fresh from the ground up there are inherent risks associated with it not to mention the amount of time it may take to get the level of participation already present with the others leagues already operaring. Now this is where it gets sticky - one of, if not thee biggest gripes about leagues is the handicap and more specifically the SANDBAGGING ! I'm certain this is a huge turn off and is thee reason why people that played in league before all of the other aspects of it but quit because they didn't want to deal with all of the bs and drama associated with handicaps and the sanbagging. Well obvious this issue is ages old - now co,email FARGO RATE. IF Fargo turns out to be what it is purported to be, it could in fact solve 99% of all of those problems, and drawing a huge influx of players in the process if it is proven to be as accurate as now thought. This would also be an asset as far as integrity and sponsors are concerned. I would also think it's a very safe assumption that the largest of all of the leagues ( APA ) would NEVER adopt the Fargo system ( understandably so ) but that leads us directly back to the sand bagging issue ( which has much more importance than just the bs and drama associated with it - more in this in a bit ). So this is one aspect I do not really have any good ideas nor answers about but just like anything else I'm sure with a lot of thought could be remedied.
Standby, another post is forthcoming . Thanks!
The next sponsor that comes to mind is MILLER LITE! They always have massive marketing campaigns and are into all kind of stuff - Think Gas Monkey Garage . I'm seeing Richard Rawlings and AARON pulling up in one of their bad ass rides to the bar, getting out and going inside and straight to the pool table as they Crack open their ice cold Millers! He'll they could even build some kind of cool, non tacky pool related cars on one of their episodes . Miller Lite actually fits perfectly with the next part of my plan I will be discussing shortly.
Another sponsor that comes to mind is Predator. Think about it, they are directly related to the sport, well respected within the industry , and have deep enough pockets to actually be able to do something . They also fit just perfectly into my plan which I am about to discuss.
So these are just 3 of thousands of prospective sponsors. So even with everything I've just said, all roads STILL lead back to the ROI. At its most basic level, conversion is what's needed. Conversion is just a numbers game. Whatever the actual conversion rate is will vary by industry, location, product etc etc. All things being equal, the critical number is of course the total number or people reached. You can have a 100% conversion rate but that doesn't mean shit if you're only reaching 10 people. It quickly becomes the old chicken to the egg first????? So to b a able to sell 100,000 xxx's we need to reach xxx's of persons right???? But before the money is spent on advertising to reach xxx's people we need to sell xxx #'s of product to justify the advertising expense - and this could go on indefinitely but for one thing - anyone involved in business KNOWS you need spend money to make money. Now it becomes a risk assessment. How much are we willing to risk advertising in a an attempt to generate $xxx in revenue ??? I think I know the answer to that, and I do strongly believe it's already there and just a waiting for the taking .
Now this part will probably have some rolling their eyes while others will just be flat pissed off. LEAGUES ! Yup LEAGUES, I SAID IT LOL! Think about this ( from a sponsors perspective ), we already have ( AS IN TODAY ) hundreds of thousands of league games played each and every weak and that's not even including the 1,000,000 + leaguers that are classified as " occasional " players. Let's also remember that every last one of these folks are EXACTLY the targeted demographics in which we are after! The 21 through let's say 44 are the rough age bracket with disposable income - AND THEY AREN'T AFAID TO USE IT LOL! Not just pool related products either; think cars, watches, jewelry , trips/ vacations etc and on and on. These are the people where advertisers want to be and rightly so.
As far as leagues go, there are already quite a few established ones so the question becomes do we try to integrate the existing ones or start fresh. There are major pros and cons to each, which I will now discuss. We will start with the easy one - any time you start fresh from the ground up there are inherent risks associated with it not to mention the amount of time it may take to get the level of participation already present with the others leagues already operaring. Now this is where it gets sticky - one of, if not thee biggest gripes about leagues is the handicap and more specifically the SANDBAGGING ! I'm certain this is a huge turn off and is thee reason why people that played in league before all of the other aspects of it but quit because they didn't want to deal with all of the bs and drama associated with handicaps and the sanbagging. Well obvious this issue is ages old - now co,email FARGO RATE. IF Fargo turns out to be what it is purported to be, it could in fact solve 99% of all of those problems, and drawing a huge influx of players in the process if it is proven to be as accurate as now thought. This would also be an asset as far as integrity and sponsors are concerned. I would also think it's a very safe assumption that the largest of all of the leagues ( APA ) would NEVER adopt the Fargo system ( understandably so ) but that leads us directly back to the sand bagging issue ( which has much more importance than just the bs and drama associated with it - more in this in a bit ). So this is one aspect I do not really have any good ideas nor answers about but just like anything else I'm sure with a lot of thought could be remedied.
Standby, another post is forthcoming . Thanks!
As I mentioned early on, I see this whole thing as a bottom up proposition. While there has not been any mention on my part thus far, kinda the whole point was fixing " pro pool ". If all of the leagues were to bap able to be " unified " in some for or fassion, AND a fair standardized handicapping system could be implemented ( whether it be FARGO RATE or whatever ), I envision leagues that are capable of being all things to all people. What I mean by that is if all one person wants is to be able to get together with their friends once or twice a week to drink some beer, bs, and beat some balls around and have some fun they could do so. ( And if a fair handicapping system were in use it would be way more fun for EVERYONE ). Next level up is someone that really loves playing pool and wants to get better AND may even have a little competitive streak in them, that's there for them in league too. Going further up the food chain, You have a player that plays decent ( relative term but plays at least good enough to break and run let's say ) and they are motivated by the opportunity to win prizes ( more on this later ), a chance to win local, regional , etc championships and get some trophies for their wall well they can certainly do that here too.
Now comes the FUN PART! I'm envisioning league ALSO being like a " farm system " for the pros. If one has a dream of one day being a pro, they could play, practice, play and practice some more where they would need to reach a certain " point level" which would allow them to participate in certain " pro only " tournaments. All of this could be based on some type of performance points or it could even be done by you actual Fargo rating #, there are tons of ways to handle this. This would give anyone with those dreams a clear and we'll defined path for them to take, while having fun with their friends the whole way. I believe I'd you were able to successfully build a league ( farm ) system in this way, just through natural progression the pro tournaments, " pro tour ", and sponsorships ( money ) would follow hand in hand. I will get into the " pro players involvement shorty"
Still talking the amateur league side, with it being all new, new concepts, AND NEW PRIZES AND PAYOUTS. These will be ways of growing participants exponentially IMO. Yeah, yeah we've all heard about the " dream vacation " to nationals that so many want to " win ". Let's be honest, the fact that you have a 0.000001% chance at that ( or whatever the # actually is ) is pretty cool for just playing some league once a week but in reality it is kinda shitty and if you were going on vacation and paying out of pocket I'm sure it's not how you would do it. So now assuming we have at least one or two major sponsors on board, we now have some money to actually do something. Yes, the money I will be talking about will be considered " sizeable " to all of us common folks - but in reality it is but just a mear drop in the bucket of an advertising / promotion budget for these companies. Let's say you have city prizes, regional prizes, Tri cup ( or whatever it's called lol ) prizes, east coast VA west coast prizes, yall get the idea, and then the BIG ONE - National Championship.
On a more local level, there could be cash prizes of some substance , it could be nice gift cards with partnered companies or smaller sponsors ( just as an example maybe a gift card that would pay for a whole nice meal for entire team - the tram that was runner up to the team that gets to move on in playoffs. Possibilities are near endless when it comes to prizes and structure. Now I truly don't know what the top prize for APA Or whomever if you win the whole thing - I'm guessing what, like maybe $5000 for the whole team? Comes out to what like $500 bucks a person? Don't get me wrong that's cool and all, but considering what all they had to go thru to get to that point wouldn't something a little nicer draw a lot of attention? Once again just an idea but let's say you end up winning your discipline ( oh yeah BTW I'd have at least 3 disciplines - 8 ball, 9 ball, and actually one pocket too ( where they have access to big tables. And oh yeah TABLES, More on that later too ). So anyway, let's say you win your discipline - A 7 day all inclusive, all expenses paid trip for entire team ( with one guest each allowed ) To some resort in the Caribbean in a private plane. Not as Cray as it sounds; many corporations already have at least one of their own planes. They also have properties all over the place that they own OR can get reservations comped or HEAVILY discounted. All of these large corps have access most would not even dream about so actual real money out of pocket for something like this is minimal. Think about the exposure prizes like this would garner. It's crazy really.
Standby, final post forthcoming. Thanks-
Now comes the FUN PART! I'm envisioning league ALSO being like a " farm system " for the pros. If one has a dream of one day being a pro, they could play, practice, play and practice some more where they would need to reach a certain " point level" which would allow them to participate in certain " pro only " tournaments. All of this could be based on some type of performance points or it could even be done by you actual Fargo rating #, there are tons of ways to handle this. This would give anyone with those dreams a clear and we'll defined path for them to take, while having fun with their friends the whole way. I believe I'd you were able to successfully build a league ( farm ) system in this way, just through natural progression the pro tournaments, " pro tour ", and sponsorships ( money ) would follow hand in hand. I will get into the " pro players involvement shorty"
Still talking the amateur league side, with it being all new, new concepts, AND NEW PRIZES AND PAYOUTS. These will be ways of growing participants exponentially IMO. Yeah, yeah we've all heard about the " dream vacation " to nationals that so many want to " win ". Let's be honest, the fact that you have a 0.000001% chance at that ( or whatever the # actually is ) is pretty cool for just playing some league once a week but in reality it is kinda shitty and if you were going on vacation and paying out of pocket I'm sure it's not how you would do it. So now assuming we have at least one or two major sponsors on board, we now have some money to actually do something. Yes, the money I will be talking about will be considered " sizeable " to all of us common folks - but in reality it is but just a mear drop in the bucket of an advertising / promotion budget for these companies. Let's say you have city prizes, regional prizes, Tri cup ( or whatever it's called lol ) prizes, east coast VA west coast prizes, yall get the idea, and then the BIG ONE - National Championship.
On a more local level, there could be cash prizes of some substance , it could be nice gift cards with partnered companies or smaller sponsors ( just as an example maybe a gift card that would pay for a whole nice meal for entire team - the tram that was runner up to the team that gets to move on in playoffs. Possibilities are near endless when it comes to prizes and structure. Now I truly don't know what the top prize for APA Or whomever if you win the whole thing - I'm guessing what, like maybe $5000 for the whole team? Comes out to what like $500 bucks a person? Don't get me wrong that's cool and all, but considering what all they had to go thru to get to that point wouldn't something a little nicer draw a lot of attention? Once again just an idea but let's say you end up winning your discipline ( oh yeah BTW I'd have at least 3 disciplines - 8 ball, 9 ball, and actually one pocket too ( where they have access to big tables. And oh yeah TABLES, More on that later too ). So anyway, let's say you win your discipline - A 7 day all inclusive, all expenses paid trip for entire team ( with one guest each allowed ) To some resort in the Caribbean in a private plane. Not as Cray as it sounds; many corporations already have at least one of their own planes. They also have properties all over the place that they own OR can get reservations comped or HEAVILY discounted. All of these large corps have access most would not even dream about so actual real money out of pocket for something like this is minimal. Think about the exposure prizes like this would garner. It's crazy really.
Standby, final post forthcoming. Thanks-
First and foremost - the person in charge of the money should not be a pool player. Just because you can draw your ball and have played in tournaments, doesn't mean you know a thing about organizing, promoting or running an event. There should be a board of directors - all unpaid cause even with a million dollars there isn't enough for someone to draw a salary. There should be a single mouthpiece to the organization and someone that is responsible for running now the events.
Secondly - pool needs to be like other pro sports where there is a distinct path to being a 'pro'. These tournaments should be organized as such. Ranked players stay until they lose their ranking. Other players can 'play in' with qualifying tourneys. All tourneys should be single elimination, race to 11 or so, with a shot clock on every table. Eventually the goal should be to get it to TV on some outlet. Single elim works for tennis, bowling and other sports. It can work for pool.
I could go on exactly how I would organize it all.
Secondly - pool needs to be like other pro sports where there is a distinct path to being a 'pro'. These tournaments should be organized as such. Ranked players stay until they lose their ranking. Other players can 'play in' with qualifying tourneys. All tourneys should be single elimination, race to 11 or so, with a shot clock on every table. Eventually the goal should be to get it to TV on some outlet. Single elim works for tennis, bowling and other sports. It can work for pool.
I could go on exactly how I would organize it all.
No one should enter a business venture if it can't make money. So, until the professional players can show an ROI (return on investment), pool will not have a tour. People keep mentioning the rich benefactor that wants to throw a few million into the fire. That's pretty much what it would be.
People keep talking about TV and media rights. And sponsors.And all of this money that will somehow funnel into pool. You have a conglomerate of cue manufacturers. And equipment manufacturers. And cue tip makers. And chalk companies. Let's say Nike decided to get into pool. Would you buy one of their cues? Or would you keep saying "pffff.....Nike cues are production....you should play with a McFloodiefloo custom cue!"? Most likely the second. These established companies provide a natural barrier to trade. No company can come in and make money from pool players. There are only so many ways to extract money from a pool player. He buys a cue. Once. Maybe buys an aftermarket shaft. Perhaps a break cue. Some accessories. But most of the equipment doesn't break, or get lost. And there's nothing to outgrow. So....who is going to get involved with pool, throw a ton of money at it.....when there is nothing in it for them?
TV and media rights? Person of Interest was just canceled earlier this year. They had about 6.5 million viewers. Once the cost of production is higher than the revenue dollars the broadcaster can get from sponsors and advertisers, it's time to scrap a show. You would have to give pool away for free to get 10,000 people to watch it. How many viewers watched the free streams on YouTube? I just looked on genipool14's YouTube channel. There are very few feeds with over 100k viewers. The 2016 World Badminton Championships men's singles game.....has over 1.2M views. Badminton doesn't have a professional tour. Sure, there are some events. And a few players make a decent living. But, for the most part, these guys have jobs outside of badminton.
I think pool should take a lesson from other "more popular" sports out there, and just realize that there are only a few sports that can actually provide people a career in said sport.
Just my opinion.
People keep talking about TV and media rights. And sponsors.And all of this money that will somehow funnel into pool. You have a conglomerate of cue manufacturers. And equipment manufacturers. And cue tip makers. And chalk companies. Let's say Nike decided to get into pool. Would you buy one of their cues? Or would you keep saying "pffff.....Nike cues are production....you should play with a McFloodiefloo custom cue!"? Most likely the second. These established companies provide a natural barrier to trade. No company can come in and make money from pool players. There are only so many ways to extract money from a pool player. He buys a cue. Once. Maybe buys an aftermarket shaft. Perhaps a break cue. Some accessories. But most of the equipment doesn't break, or get lost. And there's nothing to outgrow. So....who is going to get involved with pool, throw a ton of money at it.....when there is nothing in it for them?
TV and media rights? Person of Interest was just canceled earlier this year. They had about 6.5 million viewers. Once the cost of production is higher than the revenue dollars the broadcaster can get from sponsors and advertisers, it's time to scrap a show. You would have to give pool away for free to get 10,000 people to watch it. How many viewers watched the free streams on YouTube? I just looked on genipool14's YouTube channel. There are very few feeds with over 100k viewers. The 2016 World Badminton Championships men's singles game.....has over 1.2M views. Badminton doesn't have a professional tour. Sure, there are some events. And a few players make a decent living. But, for the most part, these guys have jobs outside of badminton.
I think pool should take a lesson from other "more popular" sports out there, and just realize that there are only a few sports that can actually provide people a career in said sport.
Just my opinion.
It's obvious that we think much alike on this subject.
The OUTSIDERS would have to have a large enough carrot that would make fading the stick worthwhile; at least potentially. It would take a lot of conversion on the players' parts.
IMO, the players should allow OUTSIDERS to do exactly what they want to do. When it becomes successful, THAT'S WHEN the player's organization becomes a usable tool, not while the product is in development.
Putting a player's organization in a position of any authority at this stage is almost a guarantee of failure.
One of my pool buddies works for one of the largest and most profitable corporations in America and is high up in the pecking order and he knows a great deal about the following subject AND he knows people with REAL MONEY. (not saying that $500,000.00 is not real money).
A made for television pool product development might be fueled by another product like augmented reality. This is already being used in a big way in industry and it is just getting started. Imagine newbies wearing a set of HoloLens Goggles and getting down on a shot and the program tells them they are not set up precisely enough to make the shot and it clearly shows them the proper alignment necessary to shoot the shot correctly. It is also possible that the HoloLens developers could provide an overlay that shows them the precision in which the cue stick must be stroked to accomplish the shot. To give you just a glimpse of what is to come click here.
Another good friend of mine is visiting Australia and going to many of their pool rooms and if you think the cost of our pool table time is high and the reason why pool rooms are failing, you are just plain wrong.
Other people are doing things differently and we can't continue to do things the old way. The old ways don't work. It's time for new thinking and new blood, something that most likely won't be found in this forum or this reply.
Just my $.02.
At least we are having some decent conversations about the status of pool and where we go from here.
Need more inspiration for AR? Click here.
JoeyA
JoeyA
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