A bigger question is if any of these governing bodies and their many rules help or hurt pool. Perhaps pool would be better off not trying to make the Olympics and letting commerce (Matchroom, etc) drive the sport. Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't think Matchroom's recent efforts were aided in any way by the WPA.
Yes, you're missing something.
The WPA, which in its current form dates back to the 1980's, was not formed to advance pool's entry into the Olympics. Yes, it's true that this became a priority about twelve years after its formation, and although those efforts failed, pool did manage to get into the World Games, which can be a stepping-stone to eventual inclusion in the Olympics, so the dream isn't dead.
While I'm sometimes a detractor when it comes to the WPA, I am one of those that understands that they still add a lot to our game.
First, the sanctioning fees collected by WPA are reinvested in world pool concerns (no, I don't know the details) and this has contributed to the globalization of the sport, especially over the past twenty years.
Second, the WPA oversees the world pool calendar. Sanctioned events don't overlap because once an event producer secures sanctioning, their event's days are blocked out on the WPA calendar. What if another event producer wishes to put on an event the same week as the US Open 9-ball (or any other WPA sanctioned Matchroom event) with good prize money? In theory, they could do it, but in practice they could not, because they can't gain WPA sanctioning. If a player that signed the WPA contract skipped the US Open 9-ball and played in an unsanctioned event instead, they will have breached their contract with the WPA and will be disciplined, and very likely suspended. Event producers know this, so they understand they'll be denied access to the top players if they try to compete with a sanctioned event by running a concurrent event. I feel that the WPA calendar still adds a lot of value in our sport.
Third, by setting prize fund minimums for events to be eligible for sanctioning, WPA motivates event producers to offer better prize funds, which in turn helps pro players earn a living.
Fourth, WPA oversees substance abuse monitoring, and that's important, too.
Contrastingly, the WPA world rankings have become almost worthless, as the list of events that award ranking points doesn't make sense anymore and because players who sat out events due to COVID saw their rankings go down the toilet.
Of course, in theory, business concerns could perform all of these same functions if they wanted or chose to, but the presence of a world governing body for pool still makes sense and adds value in our sport. If pool's business concerns performed all these functions, they'd have to police each other, and that would not happen without some complexities and tension.
Similarly, the biggest business concerns in pool could try to operate independently of the WPA. Kevin Trudeau tried to do just that with his IPT in 2006. It is not altogether inconceivable that major pool concerns could operate independently of the WPA at some point in the future, but I have to wonder if that's what they really want, and I also wonder whether it would be good for pool.
Yes, I'm one of those that still appreciates what the WPA adds for event producers, professional players, and the infrastructure of pool worldwide. The WPA is far from perfect, but they continue to play an important role in our sport.