little research on the BCA format

vgodley1

vgodley1

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hi All,

I live in the Raleigh NC area and per the local APA website we have over 4500 active members in the APA, myself being one of them. No one has offered any alternative such as the BCA and after looking on the BCA site none are registered in the area.

It looks as if anyone can start up a league but the way BCA's website reads, it seems to be geared mostly for room owners to be able to offer sanctioned league play, unlike the APA which uses a franchise based business model. I come to this conclusion by the unprotected format of their league structure.

Have any of you that live in areas serviced by BCA leagues been involved in the operation? Can a league be set up by an individual and can it be run as a profitable enterprise? I would love to talk with someone that has started one of these and get a little insight. My home market should be able to support an alternate format for those that would like something a little different, and it does seem that most of the posters on here vastly favor the BCA format.

Please don't turn this into a APA bashing thread, I am a memeber of APA, and I do enjoy it. Locally our APA has kept the better players by having a very strong Masters League, which I enjoy most, and we all play only on 9' tables here. I just feel like I would like to see something different offered as an option.

Thanks for whatever info you guys may provide.

Vee
 
Vee, why not contact the BCA directly or visit their website?. They have some valuable information there and maybe you can find a contact to call or email and ask the questions you have posted on this board.

BCA Website = http://home.bca-pool.com/
 
It used to be that anyone could start and run a BCA or ACS league, IIRC, but there might be an approval process. I ran a BCA style league but sanctioned with our independent state organization (Iowa State Poolplayers Association - ISPA) instead of BCA because of the $3 (ISPA) vs $10 (BCA) sanction fees, and because none of our players were interested in going to nationals. They just wanted to be able to play at the state championships, which is a very successful and large event for the ISPA.

The sanction fees may be different now.

Check out ACS, too. I haven't looked at any of this in detail for 4 years or so, and it seems that I read that BCA won't be having a national tournament anymore, but you would need to check on that if your players are interested in nationals.

I do know that VNEA is not an option unless you are a vendor. Then there's TAP, which is less expensive than APA to get into but still requires some up front money.
 
the bca league i play in is run by an individual not a room. contact the bca directly and they should be able to tell you what you need to do it. honestly it's a much more competitive format as opposed to the apa's rules - you must call ball and pocket etc. i play both here in ga. and like the bca a little more.
 
I run a league in Richmond VA that is sanctioned by both the ACS and the BCA. Feel free to PM me for information. The long and short of it is that anyone can run a league, there is no "territory" for anyone although both organizations attempt to keep league operators from running over each other.

If you have a local room that is willing to host the league every week, that appears to be the most popular, at least in my area. Good luck!

Brian in VA
 
Harold...The BCA has not had anything to do with league play for over two years now. Mark Griffin bought the BCA leagues, and now it's called the BCAPL. It's privately owned, but as Brian mentioned, anyone can set up a BCAPL in their area.

To the OP...do a search for BCAPL, and you'll come up who to contact. Their office is in Las Vegas, NV.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

juegabillar said:
Vee, why not contact the BCA directly or visit their website?. They have some valuable information there and maybe you can find a contact to call or email and ask the questions you have posted on this board.

BCA Website = http://home.bca-pool.com/
Click to expand...
 
Vee...IMO, the answer is yes and no. Anyone can set up and run a BCAPL. However, making a profit is dubious, at best. APA L.O.'s operate as a for-profit enterprise, and their local members understand and accept that. BCA leagues have historically been "non-profit"...as in the players EXPECT all the money to be returned to them. Right or wrong, it's this perception that undermines what you want to do. You might ask, "Why did someone buy the BCA league operation nationally, if this is the case?" The answer is easy. The BCAPL still gets membership money from every player, on an annual basis...and they run a very profitable national tournament, every May, in Las Vegas. If you can get potential league players to accept that you will be making money off running a league operation, then you have a chance to be successful in your area. Remember Rule #1...KEEP THE PLAYERS HAPPY! Best of luck!

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

vgodley1 said:
Can a league be set up by an individual and can it be run as a profitable enterprise?

Vee
Click to expand...
 
I wish we had the BCA here. All we have is the CPA. They play with ridiculous rules (flukes count in 8-ball, the table isn't open after the break, etc). I can't handle it, so I just don't play.
 
Thanks for all the responses so far. As my area is very active in pool I didn't understand why their hasn't been any startup activity in the past for a BCA league. Scott, I think you are telling me why, the owners here are getting lots of activity and revenue from the existing APA format.

I will contact the BCA directly and get more info.
 
do it

The APA master format is pretty nice. If you do not have BCA in your area you can at the least set up a small in-house to qualify peeps for National's and maybe Regional tourneys.
 
it's not hard

Vee,

For the past 6-7 years I have run a local money league that has been in existence since the 60's. We decided to go with BCA sanctioning this season. It only costs $10 per year for each player/sub member.

That is not much considering that you can go to their Nationals if you want to (you don't have to "win" your way there). The BCA players are much more knowledgable about the game and what's going on in the pool world and you get to play on very good equipment there.

Go to www.playbca.com near top of page are green drop down screens, click on Leagues then Sanction Your League and pull up the 2 PDFs and read them.

You can play by your own rules - you do not HAVE to use BCA rules. We chose to go that way because our rules are a little tougher than BCAs and absolutely "short & simple" - no "book" needed.

An "admin" fee of 10% of the gross receipts is typically given to the person running a money league (you) plus any stationary (copies etc) costs. The rest of the money is distributed back to the teams based on final standing placements.
 
sorry - I hit "submit" by mistake !!!

It can be a little "daunting" at first but once you get organized it's really not hard.

I play 5 nights a week and 1 of those nights is in APA. I can only speak for my "area" when I say that you may be looked upon as "very undesirable" competition. My league is definately for the higher end local players so it offers ( and always has offered) something that the other league cannot.

PM me your email address if you would like me to email you some blank and sample forms to use.

Go for it and Good Luck.
 
One of the problems you might encounter is finding a room where you can get a new league started. The APA is pretty firmly intrenched in Raleigh, as it is here in Charlotte. It might be hard to find rooms willing to give up a night for a BCA league when they already know the APA brings in a good number of players every week.
I'm not saying it can't be done, just a word of caution to cover all your bases before you get too far into the project.
Steve
 
pooltchr said:
One of the problems you might encounter is finding a room where you can get a new league started. The APA is pretty firmly intrenched in Raleigh, as it is here in Charlotte. It might be hard to find rooms willing to give up a night for a BCA league when they already know the APA brings in a good number of players every week.
I'm not saying it can't be done, just a word of caution to cover all your bases before you get too far into the project.
Steve
Click to expand...

But you might say you would set up a league in an establishement on the night the APA doesn't play, but you could have problems there, too. I've "heard thru the grapevine" that sometimes APA league operators make deals with rooms that they can't have any other leagues besides the APA even on off nights.
 
That shouldn't be a problem. The problem is that a busy APA room will have leagues Sunday through Thursday. That only leaves Friday and Saturday nights, and those are usually very busy nights for room owners already.

Find a room that has an open slow night. Get 5 or 6 teams together and start out slow. As it catches on, you will attract more players and with more players, your options become greater. Room owners want people in their rooms. If you can provide the people, the rooms are going to find a place for your league.
Good luck.
Steve
 
BCAPL info

For info on starting leagues, just contact the BCPL office in Las Vegas - 702-719-7665.

Also, we have heard of several instances where a local APA operator has 'arm twisted' a pool room to not allow any other leagues. In the event that occurs, please let us know.

We feel that there is a place for all league players and formats - and will get involved with trying to 'convince' a room to allow leagues other then APA.

Please let us know if we can help in any way.

Mark Griffin
BCA Pool League
CSI (CueSports International)
USA Pool League
 
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