jdxprs
Banned
There's just no interest. No demand for it.
I have stepped away from the game and away from the pool world for long enough periods of time where I could clear my mind and get a proper perspective.
That said, no one really cares about pool. There are local or region tours, like the Seminole Tour (Florida Pro Tour). How many people show up to that? Hardly any. Even among all the amateur players and lovers of the game - only a fraction, a small one at that, shows up to watch these events. And that's when it's local. Forget having to drive out someplace, pay for lodging etcetera.
What you see at major events is nothing more than all the hard core enthusiasts and lovers of the game. Such as at the SBE, events in Vegas, or big tourneys. Many of whom are some how tied to the industry. Which in my opinion, disqualifies them as being categorized as fans. The idea being, pool needs support by a fan base other than industry people. There's no rush at the door of any professional event in pool.
Imagine 25,000 people wanting to attend the US Open, but there's only room at the event center for 10,000. Would be quite a venue. Ticket prices would climb. It would be large enough to get TV coverage at the least on some cable channel as a rerun at worst. Someone would sponsor it other than billiard industry. The cable sports channel would pay to have it, rather than get paid to run it. Pool pays for pool on TV which is why 100% of the commercials during televised pool are billiard industry commercials. The influx of fans would generate business for local hotels/motels, restaurants etcetera. Who would then get on board....Another thing, if 25,000 people wanted to show, that means 10x as many or more WILL BE watching it or wanting to watch it on TV. For every 1 that shows, there's at least 10 that want to see it on the tube.
You can talk big sponsors all you want. Choose any big corporation. Why would they spend their money sponsoring pool? They sponsor sports because it's an advertisement for them. For advertising to work, it requires exposure. How many eyeballs are going to see a sponsor's banner at a pool tournament? Not many. I don't care if you stream it on the web.
It's not enough eyes to justify the kind of money you folks are talking about. That money is better spent on sports that get on TV or have huge following.
That's what I'm talking about when it comes to perspective. Too many people in the "pool world" get their mind clouded up thinking pool is a lot bigger than it really is. It isn't. It's small.
The fact remains, money has to come from somewhere. In all other sports, it ultimately comes from the fans. A sport needs many paying fans for sponsors to jump on board. Those sponsors aren't doing it for free. When they sponsor, they advertise. They expect those ads and that sponsorship to translate into profits/sales. Fans buy their products or services.
So, where are all the pool fans? Hardly any.
A note on participation - that is what dooms pool. It's the easiest game to participate in. Also the cheapest. Just drive to the local pool hall and pay your $8/hr on a Friday night prime time. That's dirt cheap peanuts compared to anything else.
While we the players understand the eliteness and excellence of what top play is like and how hard it is to achieve, the average person has no clue.
Therefore, pool has no "awe" to it. People tend to follow and ultimately worship sports and athletes that do things they consider super human. It gets into the psychology of sports and sports history going all the way back to the ancient Olympics.
Pool is one of the hardest sports (or games) to gain an understanding for its difficulty. Also, people don't respect a table game in a bar or pool hall in the same way, one that they can play themselves whenever.
Even if they haven't played pool, it looks easy or silly to them. In the psyche of the masses, it doesn't appear difficult or something that requires a lifetime of training to reach an elite level.
Whereas, these same people probably tossed a baseball around even if they didn't play organized baseball as a youth. They know it's something special to be able to throw a 100mph fast ball AND hit the strike zone. They know how impressive it is for a golfer to drive the ball hundreds of hards AND be that accurate or to nail a 45ft putt on a slanted green. Or to kick a 52 yard field goal.....
The examples go on and on.
Finally, there's the excitement factor. Pool just isn't exciting for the average person. The same can be said of golf, but golf has it going in one critical area that makes up for the lack of items below - it has an incredible perception among the masses of being an extremely difficult and skilled game. Which it is. So much so, that becoming a pro, in the view of the fans, separates you in talent and qualities as a human being. Getting back to that super human ability perception. A tiny bit of that can be found in pool - only among hard core pool fans (the average banger has no clue who these people are)...such as amazing play by Efren Reyes, huge straight pool runs by Schmidt, 3-cushion play by Sayginer...There's no doubt many of us in the pool world feel that these people possess something that we will never possess. Now, take that feeling and multiply it by millions and you have the fans of golf, tennis, baseball, football, basketball.....
this is a well written, intelligent and well thought out response. i bet if we search hard enough we could find an almost identical post in a poker forum somewhere, written about 10 years ago.
the fanbase has to be grown. the way to do that is through exposure. just like poker has done. maybe you pay espn to air it for the first couple years. then maybe the ratings come, and espn starts paying the tour for the right to air the events.