BCA numbers are up - VNEA NUMBERS ARE DOWN

[HudsonSmith]

Since Mark Griffin bought the BCA leagues in 2005 and the BCA league split, about 50-50, half ACS and half staying with BCA. I'm not sure of that percentage. I'm just using that percentage for this scenario. The BCA has been on the incline and has probably equalled or passed in league players and the numbers at nationals.
BCA nationals is all about pool. You play pool, you can watch different divisions that are superior than your own. You can watch the pros both during singles and the team events.
We who love pool it would seem that the 10 days or so of BCA Nationals would be similar to the old days of tournaments like Johnson City and more recently for the Derby City Classic. The one big difference I see is it's the BCA nationals is not predicated on or for only the tournament players but for the league players.
Now the VNEA what used to boast numbers of 6000-7000 league players at nationals has dropped to some 350 open teams and 75+ womens teams.
I may be off on the numbers but I went to the tournament board in each division as they have it listed in their brochure and counted.
Now this year is the 30th annual you would think it would be a big deal. I had heard somewhere from last year's tournament that they may have a pro tournament this year. That didn't happen but they are raffling a motorcycle.
And yes there are more tables here at VNEA than at BCA but there are far fewer players.
A couple of nights ago, I think Monday they had free beer and fireworks when they crowned the singles champions and I know they ace a big party/banquet at the end. I don't know how much the fireworks, the fireworks and the banquet cost to put together but I'm sure that amount of money which might be in the tens of thousands of dollars might serve them better to add the money to a pro tournament or at the very least the prize fund of all the divisions because when you compare the payouts VNEA comes up short.
I talked to some players who were here 10-20 years ago and they told me about the 5000-6000 players that were here. So I could be wrong about everything as far as the numbers go in the past.
The one thing the VNEA did change and someone told it was last year and it was a green fee. The good thing about that is you don't have to carry rolls of quarters or get tokens especially in the middle of a match.
There's something special about thinking you are getting a free game of pool when you are playing all night long. You can just play, play and play some more. And I guarantee you I have played more than 35 games which is the cost of the green fee at $1 a game.

I'm sorry I may have ranted a little but my question is this which league do you like and why?
What does your league do at nationals that is or would be better?

Hudson Smith

 

[randyg]

I think that split number was around 80/20. With dual sanctioning the ACS has grown very nicely.

I had to choose and the BCAPL won for me......SPF=randyg

 

[tucson9ball]

First off, I would like to point out that when the BCAPL broke away from the BCA, most players stayed with the BCAPL. The ACS was waaaaay smaller than the 50% you suggested. The first year the ACS had their national tourney in Reno, only 4 Master teams showed up. The team from New York was so upset, they forfeited and flew right back home. The team from Tucson took home a 3rd place trophy and never won a match.

The 2nd year the ACS nationals were in Vegas and I played on an open team. There were not even enough teams to fill up the 128 team brackets. I beleive there were about 96 teams. After that tourney, I said I would never play on a ACS league ever again.

In Tucson, the VNEA is probably the biggest league in town. It also has the biggest payouts locally.

I prefer the BCA just because of the Pro tourney at the Nationals. It just boils down to personal preference I suppose.

 

[IbeAnEngineer]

I have played in Vegas for both VNEA and BCA for the past few years and I can't make a statement that I prefer one tournament over the other. There is enough of a difference in the "feel" of the tournaments that keeps me coming back and playing in both.

BCA is Bigger, has a pro tournament and seems to have a more formal feel to it than VNEA. I seem to live, breath and watch pool the entire week. There are more folks there so there is more vendors.

VNEA is smaller which can be taken as a plus or a minus depending on your perspective. When walking through the tournament room in VNEA you can move around without being bumped or shoved or having some player that has not had a shower in three days violating your air space (maybe it is the team shirts everyone has to wear in BCA and they don't get washed - buy some febreeze folks).

There is a ton of great pool being played at both. Both tournaments are very well run and I plan on giving both leagues my business for years to come.

 

[IbeAnEngineer]

I have played in Vegas for both VNEA and BCA for the past few years and I can't make a statement that I prefer one tournament over the other. There is enough of a difference in the "feel" of the tournaments that keeps me coming back and playing in both.

BCA is Bigger, has a pro tournament and seems to have a more formal feel to it than VNEA. I seem to live, breath and watch pool the entire week. There are more folks there so there is more vendors.

VNEA is smaller which can be taken as a plus or a minus depending on your perspective. When walking through the tournament room in VNEA you can move around without being bumped or shoved or having some player that has not had a shower in three days violating your air space (maybe it is the team shirts everyone has to wear in BCA and they don't get washed - buy some febreeze folks).

There is a ton of great pool being played at both. Both tournaments are very well run and I plan on giving both leagues my business for years to come.

 

[cardiac kid]

Hudson,

My primary residence is in Upstate New York. There is NO VNEA league active in the entire State! Just look at their home website. When I travel to Vegas over the Winter, there is no VNEA there either.

I know of a few ACS leagues in the Northeast. None in Upstate. My Vegas league co-sanctions with the BCAPL (or visa versa). The only things I notice different between the leagues are; the size of the National tournaments, who runs them and the playing table brands. The rules are virtually identical. The ACS adds a "Standard" division but offers no Masters 8 Ball teams. The BCAPL has Open 9 Ball, the ACS is handicapped 9 Ball.

After looking at the partial results from the VNEA, I was struck by the shear number of catagories available. No wonder the payouts appear to be so small. Way too many events available and too little money paid out in each.

Given the opportunity to choose between the various sanctioning bodies, I've voted with the BCAPL. I normally play in six leagues in Rochester and two in Vegas.

Lyn

 

[rackmsuckr]

It makes sense for those figures, because Diamond bar boxes are on the increase, replacing Valley tables.

I only qualified once for Valley Nationals (and took 2nd) because there were no local places to qualify after that year. It was a blast with around 6000 players, but if I had to choose one over the other, it would be BCAPL all the way.

I've posted these pics before, but the flag ceremony was pretty cool at VNEA because all these different nations were represented.