Could this be the Future of Pool?

BeiberLvr

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member

There's a new golf tour (LIV) that has taken some players from the PGA, who just announced they will suspending those players.

I guess the equivalent to that would be if Matchroom starting suspending players for playing in Predator events.

Personally I think players should have options, and it should be up to the promoters to get players to play in their events.
 
I agree. The PGA does not want competition. And how do you punish a non member? That's like your boss firing you a week after you quit.

I like what Matchroom is doing for pool, but I can see them doing something like this in the future.
 
this saudi LIV tour reminds me of their soccer league, which has decent money and lots of past peak players, second rate pros..

kinda weird to see phil m going that route, he won a PGA major last year. i don't follow golf that much but if you're able to win a major you're not washed up
 
I love the idea of choices. People should be free to earn as much as they are able to. I strongly dislike the PGA's response. Like OP said, leagues should earn market share by making their league attractive to participate in rather than the threat of exclusion. In this particular instance, the people throwing the money around are rather distasteful.

It would be interesting to see which pool and/or snooker players would defect to a league run by a despot for a large check.
Imagine the Sinaloa Cartel 9 Ball World Tour...
 

There's a new golf tour (LIV) that has taken some players from the PGA, who just announced they will suspending those players.

I guess the equivalent to that would be if Matchroom starting suspending players for playing in Predator events.

Personally I think players should have options, and it should be up to the promoters to get players to play in their events.
There's also talk that the PGA will ban Mickleson et al from golf's majors!

The money put up by the Saudi leader is extraordinary--it would cost millions to do the same for pool, if fewer millions.
 
How much did Phil win last year playing in the PGA? How much did the Saudis offer for him to play LIV? There might be the answer..

$2.7m last year

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There's also a player by the name of Tyler McCumber who was 124th on last year's money list, and made just over $1m despite never winning an event.

Meanwhile the 124th player on pool's money list for 2021 was actually Efren Reyes who made about $5,100
 
There's also talk that the PGA will ban Mickleson et al from golf's majors!

The money put up by the Saudi leader is extraordinary--it would cost millions to do the same for pool, if fewer millions.
They could keep him out of the PGA Championship, but the PGA does not control The Masters, The US Open or The British Open (The Open Championship). They recognize them and count them, but they do not directly control who can play in three of the "Major" events.
 
Pool is not going anywhere so long as there are multiple organizations and multiple sets of rules.

When each body protects itself from all the others, all you have is little fiefdoms rather than a strong unified state.
 
Pool is not going anywhere so long as there are multiple organizations and multiple sets of rules.

When each body protects itself from all the others, all you have is little fiefdoms rather than a strong unified state.

on one hand competition is good, if they're constantly upping the prize money then i like that race.

on the other hand it would be better if host countries were competing this way, rather than organizations, bidding to host tournaments on one single pro tour. i hope matchroom thinks the same way, and we would have a Manila Open, a Kuwait open, etc. it kind of works that way on the snooker tour, with the newest tournament being hosted by Turkey.
 
Pool isn't big enough and sponsorship terms aren't strict enough for this to be a problem. Matchroom is openly acknowledging Predator events and incorporating them into their ranking system. No one in the pool world needs to be worried about being undermined like the PGA.
 
Pool isn't big enough and sponsorship terms aren't strict enough for this to be a problem. Matchroom is openly acknowledging Predator events and incorporating them into their ranking system. No one in the pool world needs to be worried about being undermined like the PGA.

The closest situation in pool is the WPA and if it's worthwhile for players or organizers to cough up 5 percent of the purse per tournament for WPA sanctioning. The current answer is yes for most big events, but who knows Matchroom's future.

I had hoped the LIV tour would do something unique with the format. The 4 day events struggle to attract viewers in the modern world.
 
There's also talk that the PGA will ban Mickleson et al from golf's majors!

The money put up by the Saudi leader is extraordinary--it would cost millions to do the same for pool, if fewer millions.
None of them will get all the money we're hearing about. The tour will fold inside of 2 years.
 
Pool isn't big enough and sponsorship terms aren't strict enough for this to be a problem. Matchroom is openly acknowledging Predator events and incorporating them into their ranking system. No one in the pool world needs to be worried about being undermined like the PGA.
Well Matchroom already has threatened players, and intentionally scheduled events opposite those they wished to undermine. Maybe it is not Predator they are targeting, but they sure seem to be doing some targeting -- Mark Griffin's events and Pat Fleming's also. It is an age old tactic of monopolistic pool promoters, going way back.
 
There's also talk that the PGA will ban Mickleson et al from golf's majors!

The money put up by the Saudi leader is extraordinary--it would cost millions to do the same for pool, if fewer millions.
PGATour does not control the majors. US Open is the USGA, British is the R&A, Masters is run by themselves and the PGAChamp. is run by the PGA(different from the Tour). The PGA has said they will side with the PGATour so those LIV guys will be banned from PGA Championship and the RyderCup.
 
Well Matchroom already has threatened players, and intentionally scheduled events opposite those they wished to undermine. Maybe it is not Predator they are targeting, but they sure seem to be doing some targeting -- Mark Griffin's events and Pat Fleming's also. It is an age old tactic of monopolistic pool promoters, going way back.

which pat fleming event have they scheduled over? griff us opens are events with poor payouts and dito participation, i don't see why they should be treated with more respect than a regional event
 
Pool is not organized, it does not have sponsors in place, or fan base in place. Golf pros will jump off PGA into new venue, sponsors will follow.

Do see much good for Pool until it comes under on organizing body.
You can forget any meaningful sponsorship for pool events as long as they are played in bars. The only companies really interested in pool are the manufacturers of billiard supplies and alcoholic beverage manufacturers. The pool rooms already have the major market of people buying billiard supplies and all the bars already have alcoholic beverages. Marketing pool to pool players is singing to the choir.
 
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