It's a bit long winded.
Thoughts?
Darren's take on prize money
- Thread starter couldnthinkof01
- Start date
It's a bit long winded.
Thoughts?
he just rambles all around . no one is going to be a regular at his site unless he gets it to be interesting.
and of course prepares before what he is going to say so it comes out smoothly. and has content that is useful.
other wise his site has no real value.
and of course prepares before what he is going to say so it comes out smoothly. and has content that is useful.
other wise his site has no real value.
Influencers with no charisma gotta work harder.
Darren argues that professional pool is a growing sport with entertainment possibilities, but its tournament economics are not sustainable for the majority of professional players. And I agree 100 percent. It's the same old battle cry I've been saying for decades.
His criticism isn't simply that there isn't enough prize money, though. He believes the payouts are distributed poorly. A $40,000 winner's prize, as an example, sounds great, but if a player spends 2- to $3,000 to enter a tournament and receives only $350 after an early loss, the tournament is financially disastrous, even for the strong pros in the top 20.
His proposed philosophy is to lower the extreme top-end payouts , pay more players, cover more of their real expenses, create a stable calendar, and most importantly, make professional pool a financially viable career.
He repeatedly acknowledges the improvements in production, venues, international events, and investment, but he believes the organizers like WNT, WPA, and Predator Pro Billiards Series need to coordinate better.
The underlying message is optimistic that pool has enormous potential, but the industry needs to build a sustainable ecosystem around the pro players who actually make the tournaments possible. Without them, there is no future in pool. Darren made some valid points, but me personally, I think the promoters care more about pleasing the industry members (sponsors) than they do the future careers of pro players. Without the sponsors, there is no future in pool. What a quagmire!
What I make of all this is investors with no fight in it, happily shell out seed money; sponsors included. Something gets traction, slurp up the trickle. Something actually hits, reap. All the buyins bomb? Go buy something else.
Rinse.
Repeat
Rinse.
Repeat
Unfortunately, the proposition that the hundredth best player must make a good living at pro pool cannot be accepted as gospel. We would all like it to be that way, but in the end, whether the sport grows has little to do with the economics of being the hundredth best player. Even the proposition that there is no pro pool product without the players is arguable. Yes, there are some players whose absence would be highly visible were they to disappear from the pro pool scene, but there are not many, and even some of the more capable players are near invisible and are very replaceable.
Like Darren, I hope for better times for the players, but compensation of the players must track revenue growth in the sport. If payouts are raised before revenues merit such increases, we'll have a repeat of the 2006 IPT, which folded under its own financial weight in its first year. In truth, the growth of our sport is as much in the hands of the pro players, who must project the right image and offer must-see entertainment, as it is in the hands of the event producers, who must make the business model work.
How committed are the players to the game's future? For me, it did not bode well when a few years ago, Predator established the US Pro Billiard Series with good prize money and very few of America's best even participated in its events. That tour, to nobody's surprise, folded in its second year of operation. This year, Predator established a new International Pro Billiard Series, and we will see whether the players support it to the point needed to make ends meet. We all remember how the Ultimate 10ball event was discontinued when the players failed to sufficiently support it.
How the money is distributed, to me, is a very small issue. What matters is growing the sport, and while it seems that far too many players feel that they have already made pro pool a premium product that can be sold easily if marketed properly by the event producers, it is simply not true. Pro pool is still seeking the formula for success, and there is still a lot of work that lies ahead. Grow the sport enough and the prospects of the hundredth best player will be bright.
There are more big paydays out there than ever before. There's the WNT, the Predator Pro Billiard Series, the Ultimate Pool Tour, and some major tours in Asia such as the Duya 9ball tour. The money available to players in their cue deals has skyrocketed, too. In America, there are significant regional events seemingly every week of the year. It is getting easier, not harder, to earn a living at pool, but we all want it to be even easier.
There's no such thing as "what the players deserve to earn" other than that they will earn to the extent that the revenue growth of those who produce events allows.
Like Darren, I hope for better times for the players, but compensation of the players must track revenue growth in the sport. If payouts are raised before revenues merit such increases, we'll have a repeat of the 2006 IPT, which folded under its own financial weight in its first year. In truth, the growth of our sport is as much in the hands of the pro players, who must project the right image and offer must-see entertainment, as it is in the hands of the event producers, who must make the business model work.
How committed are the players to the game's future? For me, it did not bode well when a few years ago, Predator established the US Pro Billiard Series with good prize money and very few of America's best even participated in its events. That tour, to nobody's surprise, folded in its second year of operation. This year, Predator established a new International Pro Billiard Series, and we will see whether the players support it to the point needed to make ends meet. We all remember how the Ultimate 10ball event was discontinued when the players failed to sufficiently support it.
How the money is distributed, to me, is a very small issue. What matters is growing the sport, and while it seems that far too many players feel that they have already made pro pool a premium product that can be sold easily if marketed properly by the event producers, it is simply not true. Pro pool is still seeking the formula for success, and there is still a lot of work that lies ahead. Grow the sport enough and the prospects of the hundredth best player will be bright.
There are more big paydays out there than ever before. There's the WNT, the Predator Pro Billiard Series, the Ultimate Pool Tour, and some major tours in Asia such as the Duya 9ball tour. The money available to players in their cue deals has skyrocketed, too. In America, there are significant regional events seemingly every week of the year. It is getting easier, not harder, to earn a living at pool, but we all want it to be even easier.
There's no such thing as "what the players deserve to earn" other than that they will earn to the extent that the revenue growth of those who produce events allows.
i like darren but there's no chance i would listen to him rambling on for 50 minutes
Sorry about that. Next time I will do better.
on what trip?
Thanks so much, JAM.
And Stu for your thoughts.
I'd just say that for now, the top end prize money isn't so much that spreading it around would make a real difference attempting to help dozens of more players. Hopefully one day it will be enough, but folks have been hoping that for a long time.
I am interested to see what getting the US Open onto ESPN this year does for the game. Most non-players I know, and even many bar bangers, lower level league players, and occasional players have no idea there is a pro pool tour. How many of them will notice it and take an interest from seeing it on TV?
The one thing I will say about playing on tour and doing well is that it raises player's visibility to make of that what they can, whether in giving lessons or arranging money/challenge matches, or like Daz, getting people to your social media/youtube. That obviously isn't the goal of the tour, but it does help.