Matchroom Sports Gets IT !

[oldzilla]

Link to a good article about Matchroom Sports !
http://www.billiardsdigest.com/new_current_issue/mar_11/matchroomindex.php

From page 3,
The most recent Mosconi Cup certainly fit the bill as a TV spectacle, and Hearn says he is currently prodding U.S. television executives to air the Mosconi Cup free on cable TV. It’s not an easy task.

“One market that constantly disappoints me is the American TV market,” Hearn says. “The TV people in the U.S. are short-term opportunists. They take substandard programs, rather than look at the quality of events that they can build. You can’t treat a sport like it’s a girl on an easy date. That’s what they do with pool.”

And, as with his promoting side, Hearn is negotiating for the long haul. “I’m like a toothache. I don’t go away.”

 

[gunzby]

I thought they were going to air the Mosconi over here and have been fairly aggravated that they haven't

 

[mosconiac]

More power to him...I just hope he can make some headway. He's spot-on about the mindset of TV people too...crap programming made quick & easy with a constantly revolving door.

 

[jalapus logan]

Matchroom produces the best event in pool (with a nod to the DCC, even though it is not televised and publicity is nonexistant). Mastchroom makes some interesting and, IMO, accurate observations:

"I think 10-ball is a players’ game rather than a TV spectator sport,” Riches says. “Whereas 9-ball is almost the other way. Let’s put it like this: Would the 2010 Mosconi Cup have been improved by being 10-ball? Absolutely not.”

Note how he makes a distinction between the "player's game" and a "spectator sport". Ultimately, it depends on what the spectators want to see that determines the success of the sport. That is lost on most pool players.

One thing I do know for sure is that it is going to take a team like Matchroom to bring our "niche" activity to anything that even approximates the mainstream.

If we leave this task up to the pool players, then it will fail as it always has. I have learned that if you put two pool players in one room and tell them to tie the laces on just one shoe, then no one would ever get out on the track...