Losing Tour Cards?
- Thread starter pooltchr
- Start date
I know Buddy can't get around the table for the marathon grind of the IPT events. But does anyone know why Rempe hasn't been able to play? Is it problems with his back?
jjinfla said:
I think Earl will be there next year... I hope.
pooltchr said:
It's really unfortunate that a lot of these guys who put so much of their life into pool won't be around to collect the cash rewards.In years gone by making a living a pool was a tough proposal.Having said that it was very classy of KT to give them all a chance and some recognition.
Once the top 100 are established and the the next 50 increase the quality of the competition, this will for sure be one tough filed to compete in.Right now there are still a few too many soft matches involved.
RJ
recoveryjones said:
Unfortunately I really have not seen any rush of fans going to watch these guys play. It just appears that there is no real interest in the general public to watch pool.
I wonder how ticket sales will be for Reno. If the creme de la creme of the pool world can't attract spectators then the situation is hopeless and just becomes a question of how much money KT wants to keep tossing at it.
Did any of the IPT players really push to sell some tickets? Or are they just out to get what they can for themselves?
The early baseball players struggled to make a living, as did the football players, and NASCAR drivers. But they did finally get a following of diehard fans. Somehow, I just don't see that happening in pool.
Well, I hope that they play to a packed house every day in Reno. I don't think people will believe Deno and KT anymore when they say they are not concerned with spectators and are aiming for a TV audiance. Especially when most people can't see it on TV.
It sure would be a shame if people would not pay $20 for general admission tickets that are good all week to watch the best the pool community has to offer.
Jake
jjinfla said:
I think they are starting to realize that they need to fill the seats in order for anyone outside the "pool cult" to be interested in their TV product. Im pretty sure the "no tix at the door" thing is out the window and prices have come down too from KOTH. I spoke with an IPT member who told me they were given 10 Guest Passes each!
They are trying hard to get those seats filled to make it more exciting for TV. This shows a little flexibility on their part which is good. Im hoping for the best but i still have large doubts on the IPT's long term viability at the present scale.
Im doing my part- Ill be in Reno Wed night.
Last edited:
Here's my LONG $0.02
We speculated this to death. The IPT cannot survive on ticket sales, nor on qualifier fees. While these help - they aren't even significant from a strategic point of view. The IPT's success rests with long term TV deals. End of story. That doesn't happen...then they'd better hope the Internet video streaming does well, but I'm afraid that will only make money from die-hard pool fans and no one else. So, no TV - no IPT. Sponsors are nice, they're all signing on - but sponsors will not stick around unless they see results. The IPT won't be successful overnight, nor will they get dumped by sponsors overnight.
The reason the IPT isn't getting decent attendence is because the locations and venues so far are NOT pool-fan friendly. Heh, there's only been 1 real tournament so far. So that's a little premature. Anyhow, most pool fans are not going to travel to these cities, pay lodging etc..to watch pool. Especially when these places are expensive. KT has chosen pricy places. You'd have to have a tour stop in NYC, Chicago or somewhere in FL where pool fans will be willing to make a little drive to see it. And KT would have to settle for a less classy place in order to set up a much larger tournament floor that can seat more fans per table.
The director dude at the NAO wouldn't let me sit on the far side bleachers on the TV table matches because they wanted to pack everyone into the bleachers within the camera's view for Eurosport. The people in Europe saw a packed house. Just like people here will when it is on OLN/Versus. If they let us sit where we wanted..it would be 1/3 full at best.
The IPT is a show. Right now, in it's early stage, it is all about the appearance of success until it becomes successful. People don't jump onboard a loser. They will follow a winner. So you have to make people believe you're a winner until you can really be one. KT is trying hard to create an illusion of profitability to sponsors and others. You'd be surprised. Sponsors will try anything sometimes. They're thinking this could be the next Poker and they want to get in first before it possibly explodes into popularity. They'll be the final judge of the IPT's success.
KT and crew need to create something people will actually watch. If they can't get viewers, they can't get TV time. No TV time, no sponsors. No sponsors, no money. No money - no IPT. No IPT, less quality pool for fans, and players will go from getting massages and bottle water, to slugging it out in a smoke-filled pool room for 2 days to win $350.
So the trick is - creating something people will actually watch. How do you do that? Grassroots support while building up the image of it. Humans are bizarre. They'll like anything that everyone accepts as popular. Doesn't matter what it is. You could probably make people like turd juggling if people knew it was an established sport with a history, fans and TV.
That's what KT is counting on. His strategy of turning pool into something people will want to watch is by throwing money at it. People like things with money. If the show "Deal or No Deal" were a contest for $5,000...would anyone watch it? Nope. Humanities interest in big money looming seals the deal. Like Poker, a little bit of suspense, some theatrics and a LOT of money = fans.
KT is supplying the money. But will pool players wake up and get the picture and become interesting? I doubt it. Best character is Keith McCready by far. He's great to watch, yet he's not an asshole like some other players. Suspense? That comes down to his production crew...can they create suspense with their studio? Will the new commentator help? Poker and reality TV has participants/athletes who bring drama. Pool players are stale. Also, pool players are horrible ambassadors of the sport. They don't seem to be doing much for grassroots support. They just aren't professional type people, and they just aren't business minded. If they were, they all wouldn't be poor. Pool players with that kind of sense aren't called pool players- they own profitable pool halls, or pool-related businesses. It is going to take years to beat the "pool-player" out of pool-players. A lot of these guys are just in shock from the radical change in quality. Many of these guys are totally focused on winning the money while the getting is good. Their goal is to win the money while the IPT is still around, and to stay on the tour at all costs. Maybe in 3-4 years when they've made a ton of money and their lives become stable, then they will lose that money-starved distrusting pool-player mentality, and morph into an all-around pro-player which will be a pool-player, businessman, and representative of the IPT and the sport. Which is what KT wants.
We speculated this to death. The IPT cannot survive on ticket sales, nor on qualifier fees. While these help - they aren't even significant from a strategic point of view. The IPT's success rests with long term TV deals. End of story. That doesn't happen...then they'd better hope the Internet video streaming does well, but I'm afraid that will only make money from die-hard pool fans and no one else. So, no TV - no IPT. Sponsors are nice, they're all signing on - but sponsors will not stick around unless they see results. The IPT won't be successful overnight, nor will they get dumped by sponsors overnight.
The reason the IPT isn't getting decent attendence is because the locations and venues so far are NOT pool-fan friendly. Heh, there's only been 1 real tournament so far. So that's a little premature. Anyhow, most pool fans are not going to travel to these cities, pay lodging etc..to watch pool. Especially when these places are expensive. KT has chosen pricy places. You'd have to have a tour stop in NYC, Chicago or somewhere in FL where pool fans will be willing to make a little drive to see it. And KT would have to settle for a less classy place in order to set up a much larger tournament floor that can seat more fans per table.
The director dude at the NAO wouldn't let me sit on the far side bleachers on the TV table matches because they wanted to pack everyone into the bleachers within the camera's view for Eurosport. The people in Europe saw a packed house. Just like people here will when it is on OLN/Versus. If they let us sit where we wanted..it would be 1/3 full at best.
The IPT is a show. Right now, in it's early stage, it is all about the appearance of success until it becomes successful. People don't jump onboard a loser. They will follow a winner. So you have to make people believe you're a winner until you can really be one. KT is trying hard to create an illusion of profitability to sponsors and others. You'd be surprised. Sponsors will try anything sometimes. They're thinking this could be the next Poker and they want to get in first before it possibly explodes into popularity. They'll be the final judge of the IPT's success.
KT and crew need to create something people will actually watch. If they can't get viewers, they can't get TV time. No TV time, no sponsors. No sponsors, no money. No money - no IPT. No IPT, less quality pool for fans, and players will go from getting massages and bottle water, to slugging it out in a smoke-filled pool room for 2 days to win $350.
So the trick is - creating something people will actually watch. How do you do that? Grassroots support while building up the image of it. Humans are bizarre. They'll like anything that everyone accepts as popular. Doesn't matter what it is. You could probably make people like turd juggling if people knew it was an established sport with a history, fans and TV.
That's what KT is counting on. His strategy of turning pool into something people will want to watch is by throwing money at it. People like things with money. If the show "Deal or No Deal" were a contest for $5,000...would anyone watch it? Nope. Humanities interest in big money looming seals the deal. Like Poker, a little bit of suspense, some theatrics and a LOT of money = fans.
KT is supplying the money. But will pool players wake up and get the picture and become interesting? I doubt it. Best character is Keith McCready by far. He's great to watch, yet he's not an asshole like some other players. Suspense? That comes down to his production crew...can they create suspense with their studio? Will the new commentator help? Poker and reality TV has participants/athletes who bring drama. Pool players are stale. Also, pool players are horrible ambassadors of the sport. They don't seem to be doing much for grassroots support. They just aren't professional type people, and they just aren't business minded. If they were, they all wouldn't be poor. Pool players with that kind of sense aren't called pool players- they own profitable pool halls, or pool-related businesses. It is going to take years to beat the "pool-player" out of pool-players. A lot of these guys are just in shock from the radical change in quality. Many of these guys are totally focused on winning the money while the getting is good. Their goal is to win the money while the IPT is still around, and to stay on the tour at all costs. Maybe in 3-4 years when they've made a ton of money and their lives become stable, then they will lose that money-starved distrusting pool-player mentality, and morph into an all-around pro-player which will be a pool-player, businessman, and representative of the IPT and the sport. Which is what KT wants.
Purdman
Banned
jjinfla said:
It ain't the $20 ticket Jake. It's the 2000 miles, 6 nights hotel and 6 days of eating out. That probably comes to around $2,500 in my book. I could take my wife to Amsterdam for that. Which would you do?
Purdman
I already know the answer Jake! You would take my wife to Amsterdam!!!LOL
You are absolutely right Purdman.
But when they had it in Orlando very few "locals" went to see it. Most of the people there were in the business.
How many pool players/fans live in and around Reno? Will they come out? Do they even know about it?
It will be interesting to see what kind of turnout they have in Chicago. A lot more people up there.
What will be interesting is to see how many people will sign up for the $6 per month membership. A thousand? A million?
AOL is down to $7 a month with 24 million subscribers and they are having financial troubles. I would think that an income of 168 million/mo would be pretty substantial.
But when they had it in Orlando very few "locals" went to see it. Most of the people there were in the business.
How many pool players/fans live in and around Reno? Will they come out? Do they even know about it?
It will be interesting to see what kind of turnout they have in Chicago. A lot more people up there.
What will be interesting is to see how many people will sign up for the $6 per month membership. A thousand? A million?
AOL is down to $7 a month with 24 million subscribers and they are having financial troubles. I would think that an income of 168 million/mo would be pretty substantial.
