In this one respect I think that the IPT knew that going with the popular game of the general public that is well known in both rules and difficulty was the way to go.
9-ball did not work and 10-ball is not going to work either IMO. The rotation pool games get a moderate amount of interest from the pool players and the hardcore fans such as people on this board, but Joe and Bob at the pub are alot more likely to get interested in a 8-ball match where they understand the rules and the nature of the game, and just happen to be playing it as well on a box as they pound back Bud's and eat chicken wings.
It is that familiarity that is going to compell the sponsers to support this sport, they need Joe and Bob to have an interest in the game. Celtic on the AZBilliards and 10,000 other people on AZBilliards who play competitive pool don't mean squat, we are a drop of water in a very large bucket compared to Joe and Charlie and all those other guys who do their 8-5 job and in general spend loads more cash in the bar then the true pool players. And Joe and Bob don't play 9-ball, they don't play 10-ball, and if they wanted to try it they A) would not know the rules, B) find out the game is WAY beyond their capabilites to even have fun because the average shot is hard for people with little skill, and C) they figure out fast that playing the game on a plug table means they lose out on using the whole rack of balls and they find that dumb.
I don't mind rotation pool, but I will be honest and I will be blunt. The future of this sport if people keep trying to make 9-ball or 10-ball the standard professional game is bleak. If you want to see this sport truly grow you need to get Bob and Joe interested, and if you want to get them interested you need to give them something familiar, and in pool that is far and away the game of 8-ball. The average person out there has barely heard of 9-ball and they most definately have no clue what 10-ball is.
Heck, even the grass roots of this sport is commited to 8-ball, that is the primary game in 99% of league play in the world. And it does not help whatsoever to get people interested in pool through an 8-ball league and then show some 10-ball being played by the pro's on a TV. If you could go to a sponsor and say "look we have 1.2 million people currently playing 8-ball in league systems so the interest is out there" that helps. Those league players at the lower levels have interest in 8-ball, they like the game. I have talked to enough of those lower level players that make up the huge bulk of the playerbase of pool players though and they avoid 9-ball and would not dream of playing 10-ball because it is too hard for them to play, and these people are involved in league, with the bar hacks it is even worse.
The IPT knew what they were doing, 8-ball on a 9-foot table with fairly tight pockets and slow cloth.
If this sport wants money, which it most definately needs, it is going to need to cater to the general public/consumers that the sponsors are going to want to be watching if they are even going to think about upping the cash. And if the last 2+ decades have shown us anything it is that the general public could not care less about rotation pool as a spectator sport.
This thread was brought on by the "why pool struggles" People claimed money is th reason. They are not wrong, but why does pool not attract the sponsors? It is not appealing to the general public, and why is that? The above is a critical misstep this sport took and noone seems to have the will to put it back on the right path.
9-ball did not work and 10-ball is not going to work either IMO. The rotation pool games get a moderate amount of interest from the pool players and the hardcore fans such as people on this board, but Joe and Bob at the pub are alot more likely to get interested in a 8-ball match where they understand the rules and the nature of the game, and just happen to be playing it as well on a box as they pound back Bud's and eat chicken wings.
It is that familiarity that is going to compell the sponsers to support this sport, they need Joe and Bob to have an interest in the game. Celtic on the AZBilliards and 10,000 other people on AZBilliards who play competitive pool don't mean squat, we are a drop of water in a very large bucket compared to Joe and Charlie and all those other guys who do their 8-5 job and in general spend loads more cash in the bar then the true pool players. And Joe and Bob don't play 9-ball, they don't play 10-ball, and if they wanted to try it they A) would not know the rules, B) find out the game is WAY beyond their capabilites to even have fun because the average shot is hard for people with little skill, and C) they figure out fast that playing the game on a plug table means they lose out on using the whole rack of balls and they find that dumb.
I don't mind rotation pool, but I will be honest and I will be blunt. The future of this sport if people keep trying to make 9-ball or 10-ball the standard professional game is bleak. If you want to see this sport truly grow you need to get Bob and Joe interested, and if you want to get them interested you need to give them something familiar, and in pool that is far and away the game of 8-ball. The average person out there has barely heard of 9-ball and they most definately have no clue what 10-ball is.
Heck, even the grass roots of this sport is commited to 8-ball, that is the primary game in 99% of league play in the world. And it does not help whatsoever to get people interested in pool through an 8-ball league and then show some 10-ball being played by the pro's on a TV. If you could go to a sponsor and say "look we have 1.2 million people currently playing 8-ball in league systems so the interest is out there" that helps. Those league players at the lower levels have interest in 8-ball, they like the game. I have talked to enough of those lower level players that make up the huge bulk of the playerbase of pool players though and they avoid 9-ball and would not dream of playing 10-ball because it is too hard for them to play, and these people are involved in league, with the bar hacks it is even worse.
The IPT knew what they were doing, 8-ball on a 9-foot table with fairly tight pockets and slow cloth.
If this sport wants money, which it most definately needs, it is going to need to cater to the general public/consumers that the sponsors are going to want to be watching if they are even going to think about upping the cash. And if the last 2+ decades have shown us anything it is that the general public could not care less about rotation pool as a spectator sport.
This thread was brought on by the "why pool struggles" People claimed money is th reason. They are not wrong, but why does pool not attract the sponsors? It is not appealing to the general public, and why is that? The above is a critical misstep this sport took and noone seems to have the will to put it back on the right path.
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