Well, how would you describe Tiger's influence on golf? How has he changed golf and what were his contributions? Are you speaking in terms of race? How the game is played?
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Well, how would you describe Tiger's influence on golf? How has he changed golf and what were his contributions? Are you speaking in terms of race? How the game is played?
Does shane have a Rolex? I think that would be a good sponsor. Not that it would ever happen but I saw he has been rockin the watch with the glove.
He wears his watch Jersey Shore style
I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again. Pool doens't need a Tiger Woods figure but, instead, an Arnold Palmer figure.
By schmoozing with the corporate and wealthy, Arnold Palmer got those with money interested in investing in his sport. Arnold's efforts led to a major change in golf fan demographics, and before they new it, Cadillacs and Mercedes Benz cars could be sold to the golf fan. Before Arnie, pro golfers were like pool players, unable to live off tournament prizes and needing to gamble to supplement their incomes.
Who will be pool's Arnold Palmer? I'm not sure, but until that person comes along and makes those with financial means interested in pool and convinced of the revenue ot might generate, there is no need for a Tiger Woods, who merely built on the super-strong foundation that Arnold Plamer and those who followed in his footsteps built.
By schmoozing with the corporate and wealthy, Arnold Palmer got those with money interested in investing in his sport. Arnold's efforts led to a major change in golf fan demographics, and before they new it, Cadillacs and Mercedes Benz cars could be sold to the golf fan. Before Arnie, pro golfers were like pool players, unable to live off tournament prizes and needing to gamble to supplement their incomes.
Who will be pool's Arnold Palmer? I'm not sure, but until that person comes along and makes those with financial means interested in pool and convinced of the revenue ot might generate, there is no need for a Tiger Woods, who merely built on the super-strong foundation that Arnold Plamer and those who followed in his footsteps built.
Well it sounds like we need a wall street guru who can play world class pool! Now that person will 1. know how to run a business or at least knows how businesses work 2. Will be a world beating pool player at every game. and 3. can find the right businesses/ investors to become sponsors of a US men's professional. And most importantly that person will know how to speak business and conduct business.
Is that what US mens professional pool needs?? Vegas used to be run by the mob- everyone had a hand in the till. Now its run by corporations and more organized..Pool in the US may not be run by a mob but, there are alot of hands always wanting to put their hand in the till. Not to say that a corporations aren't full of money grubbing people....
Shane Van Boeing is a good person and I doubt he is intentionally looking to be the "Tiger Woods" of the pool world. Pool players should just play and let the business of mens pool be. Nothing has changed since the 80's. Other than the rest of the world catching up in talented pool players. Just win Shane just win....
Is that what US mens professional pool needs?? Vegas used to be run by the mob- everyone had a hand in the till. Now its run by corporations and more organized..Pool in the US may not be run by a mob but, there are alot of hands always wanting to put their hand in the till. Not to say that a corporations aren't full of money grubbing people....
Shane Van Boeing is a good person and I doubt he is intentionally looking to be the "Tiger Woods" of the pool world. Pool players should just play and let the business of mens pool be. Nothing has changed since the 80's. Other than the rest of the world catching up in talented pool players. Just win Shane just win....
Jude,
As someone who re-discovered pool in the last 4 years after 20+ plus year hiatus, I apparently missed out of the best years of her game. Thanks for filling me in. My view on her success in marketing and promotion of the sport still stands. Others can take a lesson or two from her on that.
As someone who re-discovered pool in the last 4 years after 20+ plus year hiatus, I apparently missed out of the best years of her game. Thanks for filling me in. My view on her success in marketing and promotion of the sport still stands. Others can take a lesson or two from her on that.
IMO the is no audience for pool in the USA except for pool players.
No audience equals no sponsorship. As great a game as pool is, no one but pool players care.
Beer drinkers watch football - not pool, except for beer drinking pool enthusiasts. So no sponsorship there.
You have to make it exciting like if a player misses, he blows up or something like that!!
Real estate is so expensive in the US that not many pool halls will emerge. Pool halls close.
Pool is dead in the US except in our hearts and minds.
As good as SVB is and as nice a guy as he is, he won't be able to attract anything but side action.
It is sad but true!
--Jeff
No audience equals no sponsorship. As great a game as pool is, no one but pool players care.
Beer drinkers watch football - not pool, except for beer drinking pool enthusiasts. So no sponsorship there.
You have to make it exciting like if a player misses, he blows up or something like that!!
Real estate is so expensive in the US that not many pool halls will emerge. Pool halls close.
Pool is dead in the US except in our hearts and minds.
As good as SVB is and as nice a guy as he is, he won't be able to attract anything but side action.
It is sad but true!
--Jeff
A very good point and i thought we had a shot at that when Segal got so close to Trudeau. Their numbers were not realistic though and it cost everyone dearly. i feel the game will feel the effects of that venture for a long time. Who on the outside wants to invest now?
pro pool now is almost a taboo subject and especially her in the USA! hardly anything at all positive came from the IPT.
"We" are supposed to be the biggest supporters and audience of the game and we almost lynched him from an Oak Tree before one single ball was hit.
With the internet now and the streaming, I don't see what would make the game attractive to many investors. There is no talk of numbers and coverage to make it attractive.
Without the money the players are going to continue to get more and more childish as they have over the past 10 years.
Shane, IMO, is one of a kind. He doesn't beg or complain much and only asks for what was advertised. he is a gracious and humble winner.
i don't think it is a charisma thing ....but it is a domination thing. For this to work SVB would have to win every pool tournament he entered for 2 years. Then you would get some attention. He would have to create matches for a lot of money ....like 100k matches winner take all. maybe a celebrity pro-am type thing with mixed doubles .....who the hell knows maybe run a tournament like highstakes poker .....
but lets face it ....to the average spectator pool is very mundane and boring. At least with golf you have the nice scenery to look at. No one wants to watch a guy take apart a puzzle over and over again which is essentially what pool is ....and unless you play pool at a somewhat high level or at least have an understanding of what playing at a high level would be; then it is just not fun to watch....
everyone knows how hard golf is ....but you ask people if they can play pool ...and everyone will say ...yeah I play great when you get a couple beers in me ....it just doesn't get the respect that golf does.
I also think commentators for pool take a lot of things for granted in their audience .....the lay person just gets confused and gives up.
fact is career money leader in 1997 was Greg Norman with just around $12 million .....
since tiger woods has come in he has one $94 million ....prize money clearly had a direct correlation with advent of Tiger Woods ....
so while Arnold is a nice guy ....he didn't make millions playing golf and he certainly didn't raise the prize money like tiger did....
ask any progolfer what they think about tiger woods ....and they will say at the very least he brought tons of money to the game and thus to them ....
Think you misunderstood me. Not making light of Tiger's huge contribution.
Just taking note of the fact that golf was like pool until Arnie. Prize money did not pay the bills and most of the pros, and Sam Snead spoke of it often, had to hustle on the side to make ends meet until Arnie raised the sport's profile.
Arnie built the strong foundation on which the house called pro golf stands. Tiger deserves much credit for the way he subsequently elevated the sport, but there were dominating golfers before Arnie. Byron Nelson once won eleven PGA tour events in a row, but it didn't matter, because he played a sport that had no credibility and no real following. Until Arnie and others who followed his lead made golf credible and attractive to sponsors, no amount of domination within the sport was enough to deliver pro golf from obscurity.
Pro pool does not have a storng foundation, and even if someone, just like Byron Nelson, manages to dominate the sport (and, it can easily argued that Immonen did just that in 2009), it won't be enough.
Fix the foundation, then build the house. It was that way for golf, and so it must be for pool.
Thanks for your insights.
This is a good observation but I have to think that there was a larger influence in the early to mid sixties to the growth of golf and its acceptance by sponsors.
My guess is that the greater use and the adapting of the emerging technology available at the time,in this case television,was a bigger factor in attracting larger scale sponsors than the charisma of any single individual,even Arnold Palmer.
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Pool needs a lot more than a Tiger Woods. As far as I can tell, kids today don't even know what pool is. Every pool hall around me has gone out of business over the last five years. The few sports-bars with pool tables that remain at a distance survive by catering to APA leagues and sports bar fans.
Discussion
Arnold Palmer did make millions because he bought a Learjet, and since I worked for Learjet for 18 years, I know how much they cost, and cost back then. And you guys left out one of the all time great golfers by not mentioning Jack Nickolas, he won 19 majors.
SVB is a great player, but he is not charismatic. He is soft spoken, and all business. There is NO MAGIC BULLET for Pool, get that through your heads.
Pool will continue pretty much the way it is until a Naionally recognized and validated governing body is appointed. And after that, it will take a lot of work on their part to make Pool significant again. Pool is too fragmented right now, with lots of small fish each doing their own thing.
Arnold Palmer did make millions because he bought a Learjet, and since I worked for Learjet for 18 years, I know how much they cost, and cost back then. And you guys left out one of the all time great golfers by not mentioning Jack Nickolas, he won 19 majors.
SVB is a great player, but he is not charismatic. He is soft spoken, and all business. There is NO MAGIC BULLET for Pool, get that through your heads.
Pool will continue pretty much the way it is until a Naionally recognized and validated governing body is appointed. And after that, it will take a lot of work on their part to make Pool significant again. Pool is too fragmented right now, with lots of small fish each doing their own thing.
I really think most pool rooms that are closing are due to the fact of the economy in that area. I not saying this is that way with all,but when the economy was booming a lot of businesses got saturated we had four car lots at every intersection multiple restaurants in each strip mall etc. we just had to many people doing the same thing and a lot of the excess has thinned out. we have a dozen big rooms in our area and another is scheduled to open after the first of the year.
now are these rooms breaking any records with revenue No because we have so many rooms compared to 10 years ago where in a couple rooms that had over 20 tables might have a waiting list 4 nights a week from 8 pm till 12. Pool is still growing the problem is people getting in to the industry is just growing at a faster rate :grin: I'm not saying this is a bad thing because competition always makes a better product for the end user
I have another question does any one think all of this negativity is making things better?
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yeah millions ...how about $2130239 not too impressive when you look at the amount of tournaments he won....62....
in fact he won more on the senior tour ...2.7million then he ever did on the PGA......
one thing about pool i do question is why do womens and mens tournaments have to be seperated? I think the good female players would do fine against men ....and lets face it women are the ones that bring the crowds and interest to the game .....