I view myself as a fan and a student of pool. I enjoy watching it played at the highest level. I have travelled to professional tournaments and to tournaments where professionals are mixed with, well, I guess we could call them semi professional player like those that attend Turning Stone. When streaming became available I bought what I needed to get the best quality that I could and also enable me to put it on my large screen TV. While streaming is still relatively in its infancy and needs to find its way, I believe that it may be able to fill the void that broadcast television has created in respect of pool.
In the past I would only see the Mosconi Cup some months after it was over and often not in a proper sequence via the television network that was using it to fill dead time. This year I was pleased to see a posting on Facebook indicating that I would be able to see it live via a FREE link. In going to the Matchroom web site I discovered that they were streaming it via PPV for $4.99. I chose to pay rather than use the free link for two reasons. First was that I feel that those of us who want to see more events like this, as they happen so to speak, should support them by paying. Secondly, and I cannot stress this enough, THE FEE WAS REASONABLE! I would continue to support this event provider, Matchroom Pool (and have since bought other events) because, in addition to a reasonable cost, when there was a problem with the stream I had an email contact that answered within a few minutes and resolved things.
Compare this experience to the PPV for the U.S. Bar Box Championships. Cost $50.00. I felt that in comparison to my Mosconi experience the PPV fee was a little high but certainly less expensive than going there. While I might second guess some of the matches that made the stream table and some that didn’t, overall it was a pretty good selection. However, the ending was not only a disappointment it was unprofessional. Although I would have thought that the mens final should have been the main event and the final match I found out that the final match would be the woman's final. No, surprised as I was at this, it was not the reason why I said it was a disappointment and unprofessional. The following was;
The woman’s final deteriorated into a farce with one of the contestants clearly trying to throw off the rhythm of her opponent by slowing down the match. She would stand and stare at the table for so long I thought that the stream had frozen. The same commentator that had been quick to come from behind the mike and tell other players not to pattern rack etc. now became speechless. Instead of putting these girls on a clock he started to say that he was having “audio difficulties”. The chat stream quickly responded saying “No, Ken, we can hear you fine.” In spite of this, with perfect audio, he announced that he had to step out of the booth so the audio difficulties could be resolved. We were now left with a PPV stream that had no commentator and a player taking so long between shots that you were left wondering if the stream had frozen. What did TAR do? Eventually they quit changing the score that was shown on the screen, went to one camera where you could see the actual scorecard in the background and appeared to abandon ship with Ken. No attempt to get an answer by email or via chat was responded to. I have not subscribed to a TAR event since, even though they have had some very good events.
Compare this to AccuStats. I went to the January Turning Stone event and through some lack of thought booked myself from Thursday to Sunday. If I had taken a few seconds to think this through I would have booked through Monday. I realized on Saturday that by the time the finals happened Sunday that I would have a long return trip with a very late start. Because AccuStats was streaming it, I decided to leave Sunday morning, got home by noon and watched the stream for the rest of the day. I then made a point of subscribing to their PPV at Derby City. Both of their streams were good, both commentaries were great, the Derby City PPV was really, really, good (like watching a television production) and the cost was reasonable. I would subscribe to an AccuStats production without hesitation as long as they kept the cost reasonable and the production value as professional as they do.
Also, there is Inside Pool who comes up with some really fine, free streams. While production value is not top tier, the commentary is and they do develop a base of interest in watching pool being streamed that, I believe, helps to grow this area overall.
Finally, many leagues now stream some of their matches, playoffs and championships. Our local APA affiliate does a good job in this regard and many lower level players are starting to see the entertainment value and the potential for learning that this offers. They represent a vast untapped source of future viewers to the above organizations. In my small way I have attempted to influence them to watch more streams and of the value of watching the major events on PPV (although I realize that my effort pales in comparison to the ongoing, tireless support of Upstate Al and Alison Fischer).
I believe that it is a combination of free streams, PPV priced to reach more than just the hard core fan (think of the number of league players and bar players that could be brought into the fan base) and the building of real celebrity in terms of Star players that the fan can relate to. By way of full disclosure, my background is in the entertainment industry and I have more than a small amount of knowledge in terms of star power and what it takes to develop an artist into a Star.
At this stage pool as entertainment is in its infancy and needs exposure and marketing to expand the core base of fans. I do not feel that the problem for organizations such as TAR is the threat of the free streams as much as it is getting a larger audience to buy into their brand. Watching Alex, Shane, Mike, Earl, Busty, Efren et al. play each other or others in a tournament does not compare to seeing them play in a race to 100 or in 3 separate disciplines as an event. The excitement generated in the Mosconi Cup, US Open, US Bar table championships is not diminished by seeing some of the same players via free stream at Turning Stone. In fact, had I believe that Turning Stone helped to showcase Jayson Shaw to a wider audience and along with a few subsequent events has helped in building the stature he needs for a TAR event. However, to attract a larger audience for that event he would have to become more known to that larger audience.
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I recognize that I am a little more enthusiastic for this than the average pool fan and view pool entertainment as a primary activity in which I use disposable income to indulge myself. However, after factoring this in, I hope that I have been able to provide a little insight that will help the pioneers such as TAR, AccuStats and Inside Pool to grow the streaming of events in this industry to full potential.
