Another Thread about lack of prize money in pool..

J

jdr

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I was watching this video about this kid who won $150,000 playing a video game and it reminded me of all the other threads about how 'sports' like 'rock, paper, scissors', video game playing, food eating, etc. all have much bigger prizes than pool tournaments.

But an interesting twist was that this kid actually plays pool... it was weird... supposedly he was 8th in junior nationals for a certain age bracket??

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=49750&cl=3330969&ch=334515&src=news
 
jdr said:
I was watching this video about this kid who won $150,000 playing a video game and it reminded me of all the other threads about how 'sports' like 'rock, paper, scissors', video game playing, food eating, etc. all have much bigger prizes than pool tournaments.

But an interesting twist was that this kid actually plays pool... it was weird... supposedly he was 8th in junior nationals for a certain age bracket??

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=49750&cl=3330969&ch=334515&src=news
Click to expand...

Well, guys... there's a great answer for this. National governing body... Believe it or not, Major League Gaming (MLG) is alive and thriving. The reason the prize money is so high (sometimes over a million dollars at some events:eek: ) is because of the huge technology companies that sponsor the events and the teams.
http://www.mlgpro.com/
 
No major sponsors in pool because there are not enough viewers. It's too painfully boring to watch. I'm a pool fanatic, and yet I find myself falling asleep at major tournaments!
 
being live is different (better) for almost anything... I'd pay more money to see a championship one time live than I would for a nice recording that I could watch over and over again. I agree it can be a little boring to watch but it also depends on your interests... I fall asleep watching most 9 ball and won't buy 9 ball dvds, but I buy 14.1 dvds. My friend won't watch 14.1 if you put a gun to his head but he enjoys 9 ball on espn.
 
Everytime this is brought up all I hear is pool is boring to watch. This may be the case but is it exciting to watch a car drive around a track 5 million times? There are many sports that cause my eyes to close and my remote finger to twitch, but all of these sports have plenty of sponsors. Does Nextel, Busch and Aflac have anything to do with racing? But they do sponsor racing. Seems to me, pool needs to look outside for big money sponsors. Until this happens, the pros will continue earning minimum wage.
 
UPlayLucky said:
Everytime this is brought up all I hear is pool is boring to watch. This may be the case but is it exciting to watch a car drive around a track 5 million times? There are many sports that cause my eyes to close and my remote finger to twitch, but all of these sports have plenty of sponsors. Does Nextel, Busch and Aflac have anything to do with racing? But they do sponsor racing. Seems to me, pool needs to look outside for big money sponsors. Until this happens, the pros will continue earning minimum wage.
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I don't think there's a lack of sponsorship because pool is boring. I think UPlayLucky is right about the sponsorship. There was a Camel pro tour that flopped but the Gordons for the women seemed to do well and some beer sponsors for the bar leagues... but not really the bigtime sponsors for championships that pool needs. Look at tennis who has Volvo and others that aren't related to tennis. Golf has Buick and many other sponsors not related to the golf industry. NASCAR has Wrigleys and Viagra! Maybe tennis and golf and NASCAR have better marketing people to attract other businesses to sponsor their events.

Pool is lacking that marketing/management that will lift it out of the dulldrums it has been in since Brunswick stopped supporting the billiard business. It will stay this way unless there's a big change. Maybe it's due to the lack of a good professional organization that would solicit some potential sponsors other than in the billiard industry. The payouts at many of the tournaments are small and even the pros have asked for some money for backers just to cover expenses for playing in them. Lets hope that there is someplace a big time sponsor that is willing to support championship play other than KT..but that's another sad story.

Curly
 
POOL IS NOT BORING!!! I have seen 500 people on the edge of their seats for a Hill-Hill match between two great players. MANY TIMES!! And you could hear a pin drop in the room. Every great shot brought a gush of excitement and on any close miss you would hear a collective gasp.

Watching a tournament match on television, that was played two months before and you already know the outcome, IS boring! How many people would watch Tiger Woods win a tournament if it was on television one month after it was played? I would guess the ratings would go down substantially.

Watching a tournament with mediocre production values (poor camera work, poor editing, bad direction, etc.) and inane commentary IS boring! Watching a tournament with essentially one games matches (The Challenge Of Champions) and where once again you know the outcome IS boring. Is it any wonder Pool does not get good ratings here? DUHHHHH

Now try watching a tournament LIVE, with decent commentary, good direction and full length matches between top players. Millions of people tune in for this. It's called the World Pool Championship. I wonder why these shows get such large audiences. So please don't tell me Pool is boring. I never bought that line before and I'm not buying it now.

Pool is a great game to watch and if it is ever presented properly on television in the USA, I expect the ratings to go up exponentially. Let The Action Report continue showing great matches for a while and see how many people begin to buy their feed. These guys are on the cutting edge, and they are tapping into a huge market that is already out there, just waiting for something good.
 
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Well, I hate to bring this organization into this discussion but here goes...

What about the IPT? They had top notch production values, camera work, editing, lighting, location, and big prize money (at least everyone thought so at the time) But each event failed to fill the seats, and major sponsorship never came to be. It was just a big money pit.

Jay, you say it's not boring. I agree it's not boring to you and me, but what about the average Joe TV viewer who might play pool once every year or two? Do you think he can sit for 2-3 hours and watch a match and not be bored? It's like chess, would you want to sit and watch that for hours on end?

I'm on your side, I wish pool was more mainstream in this country, but I don't think it will happen in the near future.
 
curly said:
Maybe tennis and golf and NASCAR have better marketing people to attract other businesses to sponsor their events.
Click to expand...

BINGO! No offense to pool's marketing staff... but the other sports (some mindboggling, yes) have been able to turn their sponsorships in to big business. I think it could be done with pool, they just need the right sponsor to jump on board and the rest will follow.
 
Just an IDEA !

The main problem with pool is the lack of organization. Even though we have everything we need for BIGGER $$$ in the sport nobody is willing to put/work it all together.

Now insted of complaining about it, I actually have a plan.

(LIGHTBULB HERE ) Lets say we had a governing body (ABC Congress). The body was responsible for overseeing the PRO Tour and the Regional Tour Qualifiers (The Regional Tours being the only way to advance to the PRO TOUR ). Now with just this start (and there are many offshoots of this) the professional tournament pool community has expanded it's reach to consumes 10 fold by having a NATIONWIDE SYSTEM for the advancement of players through our sport. In turn, this give the Governing Body a cash flow system from the regional tour to the pro level and increases it's chances of landing a LARGE CORPORATE SPONSOR and Financing Televised Events.

I'm not picking on anyone or any association. All I am saying is that from my experience this would be a sound plan for the advancement of our sport.

Now all we have to do is convince the organizations (yes, I mean BCA, UPA, the regional tours) that this would benefit everyone.

What do you think, GOOD PLAN or FLAWED PLAN ?

Please share your thoughts.

The above reflects my personal opinion and not specifically of the Viking Tours sponsors.

Mj / Mike Janis
 
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Tim5000 said:
Well, I hate to bring this organization into this discussion but here goes...

What about the IPT? They had top notch production values, camera work, editing, lighting, location, and big prize money (at least everyone thought so at the time) But each event failed to fill the seats, and major sponsorship never came to be. It was just a big money pit.

Jay, you say it's not boring. I agree it's not boring to you and me, but what about the average Joe TV viewer who might play pool once every year or two? Do you think he can sit for 2-3 hours and watch a match and not be bored? It's like chess, would you want to sit and watch that for hours on end?

I'm on your side, I wish pool was more mainstream in this country, but I don't think it will happen in the near future.
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YES, I think more viewers would tune in to Pool if the matches were on a regular schedule that was adhered to, and not treated like "filler" to fill gaps in the scheduling. It is definitely not like Chess. Pool has action and lots of it. Once again, Pool has been presented on American television in a totally half assed manner.

We see long delayed matches with no set schedule, edited to death, with contrived audience reactions, and flaccid commentary. What do you expect, other than poor ratings. This is a self fulfilling prophesy. Treat Pool like a minor league sport and the ratings will confirm this fact.
 
Once again

Mike and Jay have hit several nails on the head. There is no governing Pool organization in the USA to 'organize' Pool throughout the different levels.

First, those levels have to be defined, and as I have said many times, the Semi-Pro level is the most overlooked area. Look at any other sport, and they all have feeder systems that end up at the top pro level. Pool needs that too.

Sponsors might be more interested if they know it will affect many levels, with more of a demographic. Pool organizations are polarized to their own little world, with little, if any, true actions towards integrating the Pool world into a national overall plan that cooperates with world associations.

The Pool world is in a Catch-22 situation, and noone is breaking it. Say what you will, but if KT's plan could have worked, it could have attained goals in Pool that many of us have never seen before in Pool.

Perhaps, people in Pool organizations should be paid on a commission, by how well they attain the goals set for the organization on a 1,2,5 year basis? And 25-30% of the goals have to be for the general benefit of Pool as a whole sport within our country.
 
Snapshot9 said:
Mike and Jay have hit several nails on the head. There is no governing Pool organization in the USA to 'organize' Pool throughout the different levels.

First, those levels have to be defined, and as I have said many times, the Semi-Pro level is the most overlooked area. Look at any other sport, and they all have feeder systems that end up at the top pro level. Pool needs that too.

Sponsors might be more interested if they know it will affect many levels, with more of a demographic. Pool organizations are polarized to their own little world, with little, if any, true actions towards integrating the Pool world into a national overall plan that cooperates with world associations.

The Pool world is in a Catch-22 situation, and noone is breaking it. Say what you will, but if KT's plan could have worked, it could have attained goals in Pool that many of us have never seen before in Pool.

Perhaps, people in Pool organizations should be paid on a commission, by how well they attain the goals set for the organization on a 1,2,5 year basis? And 25-30% of the goals have to be for the general benefit of Pool as a whole sport within our country.
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If KT had been honest and taken some advice from people in the pool world other than Mike Sigel, things might have worked out differently. That's a lot of IF's.

Mike was looking to help Mike first....and last! And he did too.
 
jay helfert said:
If KT had been honest and taken some advice from people in the pool world other than Mike Sigel, things might have worked out differently. That's a lot of IF's.

Mike was looking to help Mike first....and last! And he did too.
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Jay,
I agree with this 100%, but IF the IPT had been started by someone other than KT, it would have had a chance. He has a past of being a scheister and a con man, so while MS was looking out for himself, KT had already beaten him to that. KT is for KT and thats that. JMO.

Southpaw
 
Tim5000 said:
Well, I hate to bring this organization into this discussion but here goes...

What about the IPT? They had top notch production values, camera work, editing, lighting, location, and big prize money (at least everyone thought so at the time) But each event failed to fill the seats, and major sponsorship never came to be. It was just a big money pit.

Jay, you say it's not boring. I agree it's not boring to you and me, but what about the average Joe TV viewer who might play pool once every year or two? Do you think he can sit for 2-3 hours and watch a match and not be bored? It's like chess, would you want to sit and watch that for hours on end?

I'm on your side, I wish pool was more mainstream in this country, but I don't think it will happen in the near future.
Click to expand...

I hate to butt in when you are addressing Jay but.........


The IPT missed the boat. Had KT put on those same venues but with a concept like AH's Super Billiards Expo he would have really been on to something. If he would also have included an affordable regional feeder system that would have been accessable to the masses like being able to qualify through a group of satellite events he would have owned the billiard world and every tour player, league player and bar ball banger alike would have been more interested in watching which in turn would have made it more appealing to major sponsors.
 
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