Bar Box on TV?

P

poolhustla61508

Yea....That just happened
Silver Member
What does everyone think the chances are that an everyday joe would watch the pros playing on a bar table? I think if they put bartable 9 ball on tv, even with alternate the break there would be packages galore and alot more offense than defense. The average person doesn't appreciate the deffensive side of the game they just want to see great shot making.

Most amateur players(league players especially) play only on the barbox so I think theres a better chance of them watching the pro's play on the same tables they do.

Has there ever been any barbox matches on TV?
 
I would definitely watch that!!

The skill level of these pro's playing 9-ball on a bar box would be fun to watch. But I would also love to see it be a race to 11 at least and winner's break. You know someone like Corey, SVB, Mika and others, could just run an 11 pack on someone in a heartbeat!! The other player might lose the lag and it would be their only visit at the table. That would be awesome!!
 
Brozif said:
I would definitely watch that!!

The skill level of these pro's playing 9-ball on a bar box would be fun to watch. But I would also love to see it be a race to 11 at least and winner's break. You know someone like Corey, SVB, Mika and others, could just run an 11 pack on someone in a heartbeat!! The other player might lose the lag and it would be their only visit at the table. That would be awesome!!
Click to expand...

Definitely a race to 11 on a barbox, alternating break would take about the same if not less than a race to 7 on a nine foot.
 
poolhustla61508 said:
What does everyone think the chances are that an everyday joe would watch the pros playing on a bar table? I think if they put bartable 9 ball on tv, even with alternate the break there would be packages galore and alot more offense than defense. The average person doesn't appreciate the deffensive side of the game they just want to see great shot making.

Most amateur players(league players especially) play only on the barbox so I think theres a better chance of them watching the pro's play on the same tables they do.

Has there ever been any barbox matches on TV?
Click to expand...

This subject is getting funny. It doesn't matter what game is played or what size table. Weather they are pros or amateurs, it just doesn't matter. The audience it just not there. Pool is NOT a spectator sport. Beyond the trick shot stuff that gets some peoples attention with the novelty value, pool can't be sold to the general public. Heck most pool lovers would much rather play then watch. Except for a couple tournaments a year that draw pretty good like the US Open and the Derby that are more of happenings then tournaments, few people want to watch pool. That is just a fact. The average pool room who puts on a tournament can't even get it's own customers to pay anything to watch. I don't think the jury is out anymore on this and sponsors are not stupid. Pool is a very, very small subculture with some hard core followers and that is it.
 
Someone just hasn't come up with the right combo yet. Look at poker. I'd laugh my a$$ off if it was the bar box that went over big. Take it a little further and play the old shoot out with a time clock. Need good people in the both to add to the exitment and drama. Johnnyt
 
macguy said:
This subject is getting funny. It doesn't matter what game is played or what size table. Weather they are pros or amateurs, it just doesn't matter. The audience it just not there. Pool is NOT a spectator sport. Beyond the trick shot stuff that gets some peoples attention with the novelty value, pool can't be sold to the general public. Heck most pool lovers would much rather play then watch. Except for a couple tournaments a year that draw pretty good like the US Open and the Derby that are more of happenings then tournaments, few people want to watch pool. That is just a fact. The average pool room who puts on a tournament can't even get it's own customers to pay anything to watch. I don't think the jury is out anymore on this and sponsors are not stupid. Pool is a very, very small subculture with some hard core followers and that is it.
Click to expand...
I disagree. There are some people who play very little if at all that I know of that will watch pool for hours. I don't know many, but a few. I also only know a small percentage of the population. There are more.
Now to think pool would pull more people to watch than a baseball game is tough to fathom. However, there was a time in America's history where it was our largest sport. It is the largest sport in the Phillipines. I can't tell you how many people play pool in leagues.
World Classic had a fair amount tune in. I know of a lot of pool players that didn't even know about that. It can happen.
 
Although I don't prefer it, I believe you have to go with what people can relate to. Bar box 8 ball has to be the game that most people on the planet can relate to.

I've felt for a while now that bar box 8 ball should be the game of choice on television. No alternate break. Let people see huge packs run off, let them see what real top notch play is. It's something they can easily relate to and feel motivated to attempt. I can see it creating discussion between people who might have some interest in pool or may not.

At the local pool hall, bar, wherever people might be shooting.
A: "Man did you see those guys on TV last night?"
B: "Yeah, that Corey guy broke and ran 6 in a row, that's crazy."

That's what has always driven me personally. I start a hobby, enjoy it, then seek out who does it best and learn from them. Just my .02
 
poolhustla61508 said:
What does everyone think the chances are that an everyday joe would watch the pros playing on a bar table? I think if they put bartable 9 ball on tv, even with alternate the break there would be packages galore and alot more offense than defense. The average person doesn't appreciate the deffensive side of the game they just want to see great shot making.

Most amateur players(league players especially) play only on the barbox so I think theres a better chance of them watching the pro's play on the same tables they do.

Has there ever been any barbox matches on TV?
Click to expand...


I'm sorry, but to pool players knowledgable about the game we would make a big deal about large packages.

A layperson who doesn't know how hard it is is going to say 2 things:

a) this is boring
b) who cares if he ran 5 racks, all his shots were easy shots.

I also wouldn't give the general public the credit to even notice the table size.
 
Last edited:
Lets face it, pool is not good on TV. Streaming is the best because it is uncut. I have not watched pool on TV for several years.
 
Bar table pool has more of a chance because it can be related too more easily by the general public. League play is huge and a ton of those folks would watch pool if it were made for them to relate to.............if they could say hey that happened the other night to me or I think I could do that, its more likely to be watched.

I do think that changing the game a bit is in order though to make the appeal stronger and part of that is not editing it as much as they do on tv. I firmly believe that pool has a larger audience and will have a longer life span via live streaming than tv because it is unedited and it is live with live audience participation in a sense via the chat.

TV producers and editors cut way too much out and try to make pool look quick and yes even boring when it is in fact not that way. Its a working persons sport so let the working person relate to it and thats when it will explode in the best way possible! Just my opinion
 
I play part time on a league and these guys have no idea about big table nine ball, one hole, or even 8 ball and they seriously could care less! Now if there were touries on TV that were on bar tables, and it was a race to one game or 3, and the guy who wins it looks like joe blow with a beard and plaid shirt on and a beer in his hand (Kinda like Charlie Bryant plus the plaid & beer). Then these guys would start to relate. Also if it came on tv at any time from 7 - 10 pm then it would take off like a rocket ship. I would invest my life savings on that.

That is the winning fomula, you better believe it.
 
Pool is shown live in Asia and Europe, full length matches too. Good camera work, good direction and commentary. Large audiences and it gets good ratings. There is no secret to the fact that pool works on TV if done properly.

One example, the Mosconi Cup will be played in Las Vegas in December. It will be shown live or tape delay in Asia and Europe by SkySports. Full length matches of course. The audience will be large and the ratings good. It will not air in the USA. You figure it out. I already know why. Pretty sad huh?
 
My 2 Cent

IMHO the best way to get American public pool interest is to start promoting pools scenes in regulator drama, action and comedy programs already on TV. The more the better. This might be the soft sell that is needed. Promoting the fact that Europe is a pool friendly place might appeal to ""Upper Crush Snobs"". If Jennet Lee would become a movie star that would really do the trick and she has the ability to do it well. And she wouldn't have to make pool movies to create interest. Media hype would do it automatic.
 
bar box on TV

Last year at the BCAPL Natinal 8-Ball event, we had the GrandMasters event.

It was awesome. We had 5 World Champions playing in the men's division. Bar Box 8-Ball on Diamond tables. Alternate Breaks.

There were some GREAT matches and we had 700 people watching for hours.

The women's division had Allision Fisher, Yu Ram and many other players. The fans loved it.

So I think it has merit to have the pros play on 7' tables. But the tables cannot be bad equipment. Some bar tabales are just too sloppy and easy. It only works to have high quality matches on high quality tables.

This is one of the reasons why I am involved with Diamond tables. You can hold events like this and the pros can play.

Keep in mind the US Bar Table Championship event in Reno has a lot of top players.

There have been discussions about several pro events on 7' tables.

Mark Griffin
 
Mark Griffin said:
Last year at the BCAPL Natinal 8-Ball event, we had the GrandMasters event.

It was awesome. We had 5 World Champions playing in the men's division. Bar Box 8-Ball on Diamond tables. Alternate Breaks.

There were some GREAT matches and we had 700 people watching for hours.

The women's division had Allision Fisher, Yu Ram and many other players. The fans loved it.

So I think it has merit to have the pros play on 7' tables. But the tables cannot be bad equipment. Some bar tabales are just too sloppy and easy. It only works to have high quality matches on high quality tables.

This is one of the reasons why I am involved with Diamond tables. You can hold events like this and the pros can play.

Keep in mind the US Bar Table Championship event in Reno has a lot of top players.

There have been discussions about several pro events on 7' tables.

Mark Griffin
Click to expand...
You having said all that, I don't recall ever seeing one line in any main stream publication about it. Not one AP report on the wires. Not one mention on any sports report. In fact I think someone would be hard pressed to find a mention of any pool event played anywhere mentioned in any main stream media anywhere.
Who is to blame for this? Not me, I am just a guy who like to play pool. Not the players in the tournaments, they have already done their part. So who is it that keep the pool world hidden from the general public? I have a friend who was a sports editor for our local paper and I asked him about this. He told me he would consider publishing them but he didn't recall ever seeing anything coming over the wires ever regarding pool. Whose fault is this?
 
poolhustla61508 said:
The average person doesn't appreciate the deffensive side of the game they just want to see great shot making.
Click to expand...

I don't agree with that. 6-ball tournaments with buckets for pockets did not exactly bring in a stream of viewers and popularity to the sport.

Making the sport look super easy is not the answer. People want to see pro's do things they cannot, making 9-ball outs on a bar box is way too easy and the top 1000 players in the world are all flipping coins on who would win the match in a race to 9 pretty much. That would murder pool.

As to what Mark was saying, 8-ball on a diamond changes things, that was high offense world class pool. 8-ball is alot harder of a game on a box though once a person has rudimentary shape and potting skills.
 
Last edited:
macguy has a point. I help run the Iowa State Poolplayers State Championship Tournament every year. We provide a news release every year after the tournament and i have yet to see any of that info ever published anywhere.

The tournament has been in Davenport, Iowa for a few years now and last year the local news paper ran a three or four day feature on our tournament. That was very good for our tournament in the Quad Cities, but if you didn't wake up in the Quad Cities that week, you probably never saw any info on that tournament or any other Pool Tournament anywhere.

A couple of years ago, I had some friends that won the BCA Mixed Scotch Doubles Tournament in Las Vegas and a couple more friends that placed second in the same event...both teams were from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. I made a call to the local news paper sports editor and asked if he was aware of this and he said no. He told me he wasn't interested. Although, a couple of weeks later, there was an article in the local news paper...someone must have over-ridden that editors opinion.

Look in any news paper sports section and you 'll see local golf leagues, local bowling leagues, local baseball leagues, local volleyball leagues statistics listed every week...never seen anything about the local pool leagues. I have made that suggestion, but alas, to deaf ears I'm afraid.

I'm not pointing fingers, but seems like pool is still treated as a ditry four letter word by the press (maybe the general public too). But it also seems to me that there isn't too much the industry (tournament directors, tournament promoters and sponsors, etc) are doing to broadcast results in a favorable manner. Pool players, tournament promoters and the press seem like oil and water. Just doesn't seem like they will ever mix...unless agitated a lot. I am not knocking the coverage by the Pool Industry Magazines and web sites, they are doing a good job, but who reads those publications?...Pool Players...not John Q. Public...and John Q. is the 'spectator' that makes the difference.

The question remains...what can we do?

L8R...Ken
 
macguy said:
You having said all that, I don't recall ever seeing one line in any main stream publication about it. Not one AP report on the wires. Not one mention on any sports report. In fact I think someone would be hard pressed to find a mention of any pool event played anywhere mentioned in any main stream media anywhere.
Who is to blame for this? Not me, I am just a guy who like to play pool. Not the players in the tournaments, they have already done their part. So who is it that keep the pool world hidden from the general public? I have a friend who was a sports editor for our local paper and I asked him about this. He told me he would consider publishing them but he didn't recall ever seeing anything coming over the wires ever regarding pool. Whose fault is this?
Click to expand...

Interesting point here. When I put on the Los Angeles Open's in the 1990's, I spoon feed info to the local media. I sent out press releases to ALL media prior to the event and FAX'ed results daily to the sports editors of local newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times. And I called all the sports editors and told them about the event and alerted them to the coming releases. Guess what, we got coverage!

Three television stations put us on the news, with one coming out to the tournament site. The LA Times actually did a feature story on Loree Jon Jones and carried our results daily in the section for major sports results. We were also listed each day in the section announcing local sporting events.

It can be done! It's not rocket science. :grin:

P.S. We did the same thing for the Bicycle club tournaments and got similar coverage for them. All these events enjoyed crowds of appreciative spectators every day!
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top