I know if I was promoting a sport I would hold it in the place or country that would give me the best return on my investment. The payouts to the players you are comparing to, are sports that are held in stadiums, or arenas, or civic centers, not in hotels or local pool rooms. I wonder if holding the tournament in Grand Central Station was done to try to attract a larger audience and in turn bigger sponsors ? I would also think if this is the case that after the promoter made a decent return on his investment that there should be a trickle down effect to the players....
What you say is right on, and I can understand your reasoning for coming to this conclusion.
At that particular tournament, the sponsor was a beer company, if memory serves me right. The monies received from the beer company sponsor were used to pay for the Grand Central Station venue site, the cost of which was TWICE what the pool payouts were for the tournament.
I also agree with your analysis of the situation that, of course, the promoter needs to make a profit. Why else do it? Glass City Open in Toledo, OH ceases to exist today because, after many years of giving it their all, they could not seem to make it worth it to themselves. The spectators, tournament goers, fans all complained about the high gate fees. Yet, the promoter wasn't making big bucks at all. In fact, he gave many gratuities away to many people for FREE, all in an effort to make the GCO the best that it could possibly be.
GREED has been pool's biggest problem. It seems to have raised its ugly head throughout American pool history, from what I have read and heard about from others who lived it.
There has been some back-stabbing between promoters. I know of one who disseminated untruths about another. Yet, I saw this same bad-mouthing promoter at the other one's event, having a good time and speaking nice to that promoter in front of his/her face. Yet, behind the scenes, he/she was doing everything he/she could to bad-mouth this promoter's event to anyone who would listen to him/her. It was almost as if they were jealous that one event was so successful. :embarrassed2:
You see, the problem may be greed when it comes to pool as there doesn't seem to be enough monies generated to keep everybody whole and happy.
This year, the BCA seems to be experiencing financial difficulties. Hey, that's our representative to the WPA. If they don't keep the WPA in the loop, then the WPA will be taking their efforts elsewhere overseas, maybe to China where the economy seems to be good right now and, most importantly, where pool is embraced as a sport.
Interestingly, there seems to be a Filipino pool civil war in recent times, much like the division that was created when the UPA first came to the fore in the United States. The problem there, IMO, was there seemed to be a lack of transparency, and all players were not treated equally.
As far as the players themselves, well, when you have a couple Americans today who may pocket $6,000 as first-place prize monies, as one example, for winning a tournament, after you cut out the expenses to attend that same tournament, it does not leave much on the plate. Then there's all the expenses from previous tournaments where the player did not come in first place that they expended monies for. It is the EXPENSES in pool that are so damn brutal. In pool, the 4th-place finishers on down will have trouble keeping up with the tournament trail. Whereas, in golf, tennis, or another popular sport, 4th-place monies can keep that competitor in the green. In pool, you'll go bankrupt if you don't win, place, or show the majority of tournaments you compete in. Unless one goes to two, three, and four tournaments every single month, one does not understand the expenses involved in playing pool competitively.
Non-industry corporate sponsors are damn near nonexistent when it comes to pool as a sport, and sadly, again probably because of the economy, the pool industry sponsors who do sponsor American players, I could count on one hand.
Promoters have to really be business-smart in order to figure out how to profit. I read somewhere one time that all successful businessmen/women are a**holes. So maybe nice guys do finish last.
I'm still unclear about the role that the WPA is playing in all of this. However, I am learning more about it from others more knowledgeable than me they incur mega expenses in order to promote pool and get it mainstream in the world. To see pool on the Olympics, we need the WPA. I would love to see that in my lifetime, but with the current global economy as uncertain as it is today, I don't think it is going to happen anytime soon.
