Posted on behalf of Barry Behrman
IPT Jeopardizes 2006 US Open 9-Ball Championship and More
In its most recent announcement of tournament dates for 2006, the International Pool Tour has scheduled a $3 million event in Reno, NV on the same dates as the previously scheduled U S Open 9-Ball Championship, pool’s longest running and most prestigious title.
"I’m shocked and very disappointed," said Barry Behrman, US Open 9-Ball founder and promoter. "I received a call from the IPT office on Tuesday morning notifying me of their schedule and without delay a press release went out, leaving us absolutely no time to react or reschedule. Our fans are already calling upset and frustrated. At this time, we’re not exactly sure what we’re going to do."
Not only has the IPT taken the US Open dates, which were released in September of 2005, it has scheduled its largest prize money event against the U S Open 9-Ball. The IPT has left no doubt as to where it wants the attention of the pool world to be in September 2006.
"The US Open 9-Ball Championship is about more than just money, it’s about tradition and prestige, and the IPT just walked all over that tradition without notice," lamented Behrman, who is now scrambling to find new dates and possibly new venues in other markets. However, moving the event somewhere other than Chesapeake, VA is highly unlikely. "Wouldn’t it be a sad situation for this great pool tradition, for the sponsors, for the players and of course for pool’s greatest fans in the world who attend the US Open 9-Ball Championship religiously every year, if we were forced to cancel the event?"
With more spin than a spotted cue ball, the IPT announcement states that they "have done everything in their power to work around other promoters’ tournaments whose schedules have been announced. The IPT also claims to have contacted all major promoters, who have been overwhelmingly cooperative and understanding with regard to the tournament date clashes." It appears that the authors of Natural Cures are hard at work at the IPT.
"Contrary to the IPT press release, we were not contacted in advance, we have not been given the chance to be cooperative and we do not understand this move, which is a complete slap in the face of the US Open 9-Ball tournament," said Barry Behrman. "The only other dates available at the Chesapeake Conference Center, where we have held the event for the past 8 years, are Dec 22 – Jan 1. This really doesn’t leave us much choice now does it? Thank you Mr. Trudeau."
Ironically in November 2005, the Chesapeake Conference Center offered Barry Behrman the opportunity to move the 2006 event to October, in order to avoid the hurricane season. A decision on the new dates needed to be made quickly. However, after easily checking several industry resources and consulting with the WPA, it was discovered that the October dates conflicted with the Tian-Xiang Cup in Taipei that promised guaranteed prize money for top players. As a professional courtesy to the players, Barry Behrman made the decision to hold the published September dates for one more year, regardless of the annual threat of hurricanes.
The US Open is not the only event with previously scheduled dates that the IPT is compromising. Several events in the WPA schedule are also in jeopardy due to the IPT 2006 schedule. They are, the Asian Tour stop #4, the World Pool League, the Euro-Tour in the Netherlands, the WPA World 8-Ball Championship, the Super Cup in Taipei, and the Mosconi Cup.
John Lewis, a North American director on the board of the World Pool-Billiard Association, was contacted and added, "The WPA is a consortium of over eighty national pool federations and six continental bodies representing the players, organizations and volunteers who can more efficiently communicate under one umbrella body to help unify the international pool sport. We are recognized as the world governing body of the pool sport under the structure of the International Olympic Committee. Our 2006 sports calendar has been available online for months. We were never contacted by the IPT regarding scheduling of events prior to their release of a 2006 IPT calendar. If the IPT intention was to provide more opportunities for the players, they have now succeeded in limiting their opportunities - not expanding them - by conflicting with so many international events. The IPT has the potential to very positively impact the sport; but if the IPT continues to do business in the manner they display, should the IPT move away from pool after a couple years, there may be no structure of communication and action remaining at the international level to continue progression of the international sport."
Unfortunately, the effects of IPT’s scheduling decisions are much more far-reaching than the US Open and the WPA events. If the US Open is canceled, TV schedules and sponsorship contracts will be in serious jeopardy, which means millions of pool fans worldwide will miss one of the sports crown jewels. The US Open 9-Ball Championship has received more broadcast hours than any other pool event in history. Presently, the 2005 US Open 9-Ball TV series is airing on regional cable networks with national distribution on satellite networks Dish and DirecTV.
"The IPT shows great promise for the billiard industry, but they’re not scoring many points with the promoters who have been instrumental in the sport’s survival over the past decade," commented Rob Sykora, president Billiard Club network, the producer and distributor of the U S Open 9-Ball TV programming. "At this point we can only hope that the IPT will make amends in some way by supporting the events that are now forced to suffer through unwarranted changes and be more aware of existing schedules in the future. The realty is, the IPT can do whatever it wants, because it has the resources to do so. But, that doesn’t mean we all have stand up and cheer and support their effort. Frankly, they should issue an apology to the event promoters and events they’ve just stepped on."
To contact Barry Behrman, visit www.usopen9ballchampionships.com. To contact the WPA, visit www.wpa-pool.com.
###
IPT Jeopardizes 2006 US Open 9-Ball Championship and More
In its most recent announcement of tournament dates for 2006, the International Pool Tour has scheduled a $3 million event in Reno, NV on the same dates as the previously scheduled U S Open 9-Ball Championship, pool’s longest running and most prestigious title.
"I’m shocked and very disappointed," said Barry Behrman, US Open 9-Ball founder and promoter. "I received a call from the IPT office on Tuesday morning notifying me of their schedule and without delay a press release went out, leaving us absolutely no time to react or reschedule. Our fans are already calling upset and frustrated. At this time, we’re not exactly sure what we’re going to do."
Not only has the IPT taken the US Open dates, which were released in September of 2005, it has scheduled its largest prize money event against the U S Open 9-Ball. The IPT has left no doubt as to where it wants the attention of the pool world to be in September 2006.
"The US Open 9-Ball Championship is about more than just money, it’s about tradition and prestige, and the IPT just walked all over that tradition without notice," lamented Behrman, who is now scrambling to find new dates and possibly new venues in other markets. However, moving the event somewhere other than Chesapeake, VA is highly unlikely. "Wouldn’t it be a sad situation for this great pool tradition, for the sponsors, for the players and of course for pool’s greatest fans in the world who attend the US Open 9-Ball Championship religiously every year, if we were forced to cancel the event?"
With more spin than a spotted cue ball, the IPT announcement states that they "have done everything in their power to work around other promoters’ tournaments whose schedules have been announced. The IPT also claims to have contacted all major promoters, who have been overwhelmingly cooperative and understanding with regard to the tournament date clashes." It appears that the authors of Natural Cures are hard at work at the IPT.
"Contrary to the IPT press release, we were not contacted in advance, we have not been given the chance to be cooperative and we do not understand this move, which is a complete slap in the face of the US Open 9-Ball tournament," said Barry Behrman. "The only other dates available at the Chesapeake Conference Center, where we have held the event for the past 8 years, are Dec 22 – Jan 1. This really doesn’t leave us much choice now does it? Thank you Mr. Trudeau."
Ironically in November 2005, the Chesapeake Conference Center offered Barry Behrman the opportunity to move the 2006 event to October, in order to avoid the hurricane season. A decision on the new dates needed to be made quickly. However, after easily checking several industry resources and consulting with the WPA, it was discovered that the October dates conflicted with the Tian-Xiang Cup in Taipei that promised guaranteed prize money for top players. As a professional courtesy to the players, Barry Behrman made the decision to hold the published September dates for one more year, regardless of the annual threat of hurricanes.
The US Open is not the only event with previously scheduled dates that the IPT is compromising. Several events in the WPA schedule are also in jeopardy due to the IPT 2006 schedule. They are, the Asian Tour stop #4, the World Pool League, the Euro-Tour in the Netherlands, the WPA World 8-Ball Championship, the Super Cup in Taipei, and the Mosconi Cup.
John Lewis, a North American director on the board of the World Pool-Billiard Association, was contacted and added, "The WPA is a consortium of over eighty national pool federations and six continental bodies representing the players, organizations and volunteers who can more efficiently communicate under one umbrella body to help unify the international pool sport. We are recognized as the world governing body of the pool sport under the structure of the International Olympic Committee. Our 2006 sports calendar has been available online for months. We were never contacted by the IPT regarding scheduling of events prior to their release of a 2006 IPT calendar. If the IPT intention was to provide more opportunities for the players, they have now succeeded in limiting their opportunities - not expanding them - by conflicting with so many international events. The IPT has the potential to very positively impact the sport; but if the IPT continues to do business in the manner they display, should the IPT move away from pool after a couple years, there may be no structure of communication and action remaining at the international level to continue progression of the international sport."
Unfortunately, the effects of IPT’s scheduling decisions are much more far-reaching than the US Open and the WPA events. If the US Open is canceled, TV schedules and sponsorship contracts will be in serious jeopardy, which means millions of pool fans worldwide will miss one of the sports crown jewels. The US Open 9-Ball Championship has received more broadcast hours than any other pool event in history. Presently, the 2005 US Open 9-Ball TV series is airing on regional cable networks with national distribution on satellite networks Dish and DirecTV.
"The IPT shows great promise for the billiard industry, but they’re not scoring many points with the promoters who have been instrumental in the sport’s survival over the past decade," commented Rob Sykora, president Billiard Club network, the producer and distributor of the U S Open 9-Ball TV programming. "At this point we can only hope that the IPT will make amends in some way by supporting the events that are now forced to suffer through unwarranted changes and be more aware of existing schedules in the future. The realty is, the IPT can do whatever it wants, because it has the resources to do so. But, that doesn’t mean we all have stand up and cheer and support their effort. Frankly, they should issue an apology to the event promoters and events they’ve just stepped on."
To contact Barry Behrman, visit www.usopen9ballchampionships.com. To contact the WPA, visit www.wpa-pool.com.
###
