Is it just me/my local area?

caff3in3

caff3in3

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I took a 10 year leave of absence fromy the game due to other commitments. Since coming back I noticed a LOT less tournaments, a lot of the serious pool rooms closed and a our local league went from (I think it was 32 teams) down to 21. That last part is significant as each "team" represents a pool hall or bar so each missing team is a closed pool hall or bar that can't find 16 players.

Curious if this is just a local thing. Also, I don't have cable (stream everything) so I'm not sure if there is a lot less pool on. Also, correct me if I am wrong but has the prize money in big tournaments dropped a lot as well?

If this isn't just local, what is different? What made your average person want to get into pool then but not now?

Cheers,

Chris
 
My local leagues are sporting fewer teams. The average league player is older. The younger generation is not interested in getting serious about pool. Its the Playstation generation.
 
It depends where you live really. When I moved from northeast Ohio pool was drying up and that was twenty years ago. Now it's near dead compared to where it was a few years before I moved.

I live in NC now and there are pool halls everywhere, you can find a tournament most any day of the week and there are quite a few serious players here and in the near area. For a time quite a few top males including Earl as well as Allison and Kelly Fisher, Monica Webb and Kim Shaw called this state home.

Pool has just fired off in some areas and stayed strong in others
 
When everything went to hell in a hand basket in 2007/2008, the face of pool changed forever. The housing bubble burst and left a lot of trades people, who were pool players, without jobs. Without a steady paycheck they walked out of the poolroom.
Consequently, with a drop in revenue, poolroom owners cut back on tournament play and reduced, or eliminated added monies. Others simply closed their doors for good.
What we have now, at least where I live, is one yearly tournament with no added money and a high entry fee. The poolroom it is held in is no longer called a poolroom (or a pool hall), but a sports bar and grill. If it weren't for the binge drinkers, on Friday and Saturday nights, it too would probably close.
The future I envision is bars and bar tables. The pool rooms as we knew them will be a thing of the past. Social pool (leagues) will be all that is left, and you can call in an order to the bar with your smart phone. Cheers.
 
Thanks for the replies. That makes sense tramp. Being from Canada I didn't think of that at first. *

So the second part of what I to discuss is how do we drive more interest in pool (for folks with some disposable income)? Will the show "the hustlers" help get more people involved? Help get more sponsors for big tournaments? Get more big tournaments televised?

I know watching the color of money got me excited about playing when I first started playing.‎
 
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