Is it Time For The U.S To Copy Asia Pool?

Johnnyt

Johnnyt

Burn all jump cues
Silver Member
For more than a half century Asian countries have copied the U.S in just about everything. Being that top Asian pool players have millions of adoring fans and 100 million watch pool finals on TV, maybe it's time WE copy what they are doing in pool.

When you look at what the top women make in purse money a year in Asia it's not that much more than top U.S players, but just taking the top women, they all have big deals with major companies to be spokeswomen and do magazines and TV ads for them. They have to be rolling in money.

They are all humble and respectful at all times. They dress well and are groomed to a tee. If are players dressed and acted more like them maybe they would be on TV and do ads for major companies. Johnnyt
 
Johnnyt said:
For more than a half century Asian countries have copied the U.S in just about everything. Being that top Asian pool players have millions of adoring fans and 100 million watch pool finals on TV, maybe it's time WE copy what they are doing in pool.

When you look at what the top women make in purse money a year in Asia it's not that much more than top U.S players, but just taking the top women, they all have big deals with major companies to be spokeswomen and do magazines and TV ads for them. They have to be rolling in money.

They are all humble and respectful at all times. They dress well and are groomed to a tee. If are players dressed and acted more like them maybe they would be on TV and do ads for major companies. Johnnyt
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Ever seen the Wizard of Oz?
 
I think your missing something. Different regions have different popular sports/games. It's usually based on the physical makeup of the people in a given region. That's one of the huge reasons American football isn't popular in china, or anywhere else for that matter. Soccer is a universal game because pretty much everyone anywhere has. The makeup to compete.
A lot of countries don't have as many options as America. Asian countries chiefly. America has a ton of exciting sports and games to watch. Pool isn't really one of them. Along with chess, and bowling, and a ton of others. At one time these games were exciting to America, until we got games that really are interesting.

Something working well to the masses in Asia probably isn't evidence of a good model for America, if anything, it may be evidence to the contrary.
 
Johnnyt said:
For more than a half century Asian countries have copied the U.S in just about everything. Being that top Asian pool players have millions of adoring fans and 100 million watch pool finals on TV, maybe it's time WE copy what they are doing in pool.

When you look at what the top women make in purse money a year in Asia it's not that much more than top U.S players, but just taking the top women, they all have big deals with major companies to be spokeswomen and do magazines and TV ads for them. They have to be rolling in money.

They are all humble and respectful at all times. They dress well and are groomed to a tee. If are players dressed and acted more like them maybe they would be on TV and do ads for major companies. Johnnyt
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Personally, I think you've missed the mark here. The following is an adaptation of a post I made months ago in a different thread:

I think a key factor omitted from consideration is the income attainable from pool relative to the average income in the country in which one lives. Average income is often measured by gross domestic product per capita.

For a full consideration of gross domestic product per capita as measured on 1/1/11, use the link: http://www.indexmundi.com/g/r.aspx?v=67

What you'll find is that the GDP per capita, in $$, is as follows:

United States $47,200
Mainland China $7,600
The Philippines $3,500

The fact is that, relative to others living in one's own country, a pro pool player clearing $15,000 net of expenses is doing extremely well if they are Filippino, quite well if they are Chinese, but quite poorly if they are American.

These numbers, at least in part, explain why pool is a more attractive career in Asia than in the United States, and this needs to be considered as one of the driving forces behind continuing Asian dominance in pool, both men and women. There is simply less motivation to consider pool as a career if you are an American.

In short, the prospects for the re-emergence of America as the top pool playing nation are bleak for the simple reason that pool offers very poor income prospects relative to other possible ways of trying earn a living in the United States."

Sadly, the trend of which you take note will likely continue.
 
Another thing different in Asia is pool doesn't have the seedy image that it does in America, so companies don't have any reservations against using a pool player to promote their goods.
In the US, the "hustler" connotation along combined with lack of public recognition give little incentive for any non-pool company to use them in any way. Making American pool pros wear collared shirts and bowties and play nice with each other won't change any of that.

In the past, we had superstars like Mosconi and Mizerak, and even Minnesota Fats, who knew how to promote themselves and come off as bigger-than-life. I think of the current players, Jeanette Lee has done it the best. In Asia, being well-groomed, polite and good-looking will sell products, but in the West, I think more than anything it's the larger-than-life persona that sells.
 
Johnnyt said:
Don't you dare bust my bubble on women's pool in Asia. :( Johnnyt
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Ok, then don't pay attention to the man behind the curtain. :-)

Actually on some level you are right, SOME of the women here have it good with real deals advertising for mainstream products. Most don't.

The thing is that there are a LOT of Asian companies that are willing to pay for any sort of exposure more as a sign of face than real advertising value. The sponsors of the tournaments you see are often property development companies with projects in the hundreds of millions to billions of dollars. They don't get any real bump from their advertising at pool tournaments but they can show off that they did it.

This land is very naive when it comes to advertising. Very much like the 80s in the USA. So to put it another way, they are able to find companies with a lot of money to burn and what pool tournaments ask for is a drop in the bucket for those companies.

In there is nothing to copy from China. You won't find large companies willing to sponsor pool tournaments with 200,000 dollars. Nor will you find any big companies willing to sponsor pro pool players, nor will get pool shown on any channel with live coverage for up to 8 hours a day. In the USA we ALREADY produce better pool tournaments and already have better video presentation. What we don't have is ANY interest whatsoever from corporate America in sponsoring pool.

Lastly pool ALSO has the reputation in China as being a gambler's activity. Pool is not always seen as a pure and clean sport. It's looked at both ways. But for the most part people in the pool rooms who play pool could care less that the World Championships is happening in China right now.
 
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