MatchRoom's response to the WPA player sanctions:
- Thread starter The_JV
- Start date
Two jocks cannot occupy the same space.
I am 100% support of Matchroom in this issue. The WPA has failed for decades to improve the sport of Pool for professional players. They have focused solely on receiving sanction fees from promoters and doing little to nothing for the players. In the cases of promoters who have failed to pay promised prize money the WPA has been totally ineffective, while at the same time collecting their sanction fees. They had their chance and they failed the players and the sport!
Meanwhile Matchroom has stepped up and created for the first time a real Professional Pool Tour that gives pro players a chance to make a decent living and become well known sports figures. They tried to work in concert with the WPA, who only had their hand out for more money! After years of attempting to work in harmony with the WPA, Matchroom had no choice but to forge through on their own, and more power to them for making this difficult decision.
I think Emily chose her words well and made her point quite clearly. Matchroom has a track record of success with other sports and I have no doubt they will duplicate that here with 9-Ball pool. For aspiring players the choice is obvious. Stick with Matchroom and you may get somewhere. Leave past affiliations behind. They got you nowhere!
For a long, long time the WPA and all it's affiliated associations focused on getting pool in the Olympics, when they would have been better served in creating a pro pool tour, something that has enhanced the visibility of many other pro sports. Now thanks to Matchroom, something is being done to get pool out of the dark ages and into the light of day where the general public will see what we are all about, who the great players are and the skill it takes to excel at this most difficult game. Pool once again has a chance to accomplish this and the players need to make the right decisions this time.
Meanwhile Matchroom has stepped up and created for the first time a real Professional Pool Tour that gives pro players a chance to make a decent living and become well known sports figures. They tried to work in concert with the WPA, who only had their hand out for more money! After years of attempting to work in harmony with the WPA, Matchroom had no choice but to forge through on their own, and more power to them for making this difficult decision.
I think Emily chose her words well and made her point quite clearly. Matchroom has a track record of success with other sports and I have no doubt they will duplicate that here with 9-Ball pool. For aspiring players the choice is obvious. Stick with Matchroom and you may get somewhere. Leave past affiliations behind. They got you nowhere!
For a long, long time the WPA and all it's affiliated associations focused on getting pool in the Olympics, when they would have been better served in creating a pro pool tour, something that has enhanced the visibility of many other pro sports. Now thanks to Matchroom, something is being done to get pool out of the dark ages and into the light of day where the general public will see what we are all about, who the great players are and the skill it takes to excel at this most difficult game. Pool once again has a chance to accomplish this and the players need to make the right decisions this time.
Last edited:
They are bending the knee.
Yep.... milking the cow.
I Feel the same way about getting my pro level referee certification, takes year$$, and airfare and Hotel$$ and NV food price$$ & it's old $$chool.
It's not what you know it's ''Who you know''.
I'm with yah 100% on this Jay.
I immediately responded to Ms Frazier.... thumbs UP.
bm
Thanks for sharing your opinion.
In case you have not noticed, though I am sure you have, almost 100 percent of the AzB-ers responding to recent threads on this topic have no horse in the race, which does not have much leverage as far as support or nonsupport of MR and/or WPA and/or the federations.
Interestingly, without naming names, there are a few federation-sponsored pros that have remained mum on this topic. That speaks volumes.
I'm personally torn on this. I don't know which side to be on. It's all unfortunate I think. I think in my ideal scenerio, the WPA (and all its member federations) would still exist and organize national and international competitions, and MR (or anyone else) could do whatever they want as well.
The #1 thing I'd be behind is no entity has ANY authority to ban ANY player, ever, because of playing in a non-sanctioned event.
I can't stand MR calling everything else "amateur". All of the current and past WPA world championships were amateur events? Give me a break.
I can't stand WPA for banning players.
Bending the knee is right, however you look at it.
The #1 thing I'd be behind is no entity has ANY authority to ban ANY player, ever, because of playing in a non-sanctioned event.
I can't stand MR calling everything else "amateur". All of the current and past WPA world championships were amateur events? Give me a break.
I can't stand WPA for banning players.
Bending the knee is right, however you look at it.
Last edited:
Maybe not a horse, but at least a pony, ey? As a high level player, with boots on the ground, I would be interested in what you have to say about this.
It's important to remember that the WPA also includes all of the people in the national federations. Those are the people that implement most of the programs that promote pool. I think Matchroom has no interest in helping them other than the indirect benefit of a positive image pool may get from more top tournaments.
What do you get when you bend the knee? Bloody, either from the knees or the stump above your shoulders
Has any pro declared their allegiance to either side yet?
This ship has never Really sailed, Camel had it going, but Cigarettes did em in.
I'm not torn, I've supported/played in 3 pro tours since the 70's and not One of em went anywhere.
From a player's standpoint, I'd follow the money, and experience MR has had with niche sports.
The WPA has never created the finances and lifestyles that World Class snooker players have.
I don't see where the WPA has or can, or will put pro 9 ball on a world wide map, with many countries on ship, and have added monies and a ranking system like the PGA with many events with lots of CASH.
Nothing wrong with the WPA except...
They are too old school.
Actions are often similar to Old Politicians, who need to retire, and let youth take over.
I'm not torn, I've supported/played in 3 pro tours since the 70's and not One of em went anywhere.
From a player's standpoint, I'd follow the money, and experience MR has had with niche sports.
The WPA has never created the finances and lifestyles that World Class snooker players have.
I don't see where the WPA has or can, or will put pro 9 ball on a world wide map, with many countries on ship, and have added monies and a ranking system like the PGA with many events with lots of CASH.
Nothing wrong with the WPA except...
They are too old school.
Actions are often similar to Old Politicians, who need to retire, and let youth take over.
klikr
Member
How many players will ever be able to make a living from MR events? 128? 256? Not yet, actually. And while that might be 128 or 256 more than before, until they were where they are now they have in some way profited from federations' work.
Federations are doing the base work, at least that's what I see in Europe. Yes, we need parties like MR in the sport. But there must be a hand in hand in any case, otherwise the whole system as it is will more or less decay.
A major point of criticism needs to be fixed by all federations, obviously, and that's transparency, especially financial. Complete transparency. We need to know what they're doing with our money, otherwise trust cannot exist. They're not corporations, so no secrets...
Federations are doing the base work, at least that's what I see in Europe. Yes, we need parties like MR in the sport. But there must be a hand in hand in any case, otherwise the whole system as it is will more or less decay.
A major point of criticism needs to be fixed by all federations, obviously, and that's transparency, especially financial. Complete transparency. We need to know what they're doing with our money, otherwise trust cannot exist. They're not corporations, so no secrets...
I think pool players would be delighted to get to the level snooker players are now. I think that's a reasonable expectation if the tour continues to grow. In snooker, the 64th player on the money list has won an average of $40,000 per year for the last two years in ranking events. (He may well have other snooker-related income, for example in non-ranking events.) Below #80 it's less than $10,000/year. The money in snooker is much higher than when Matchroom took it over.
Guy Manges
Registered
Surely for the sake of pool this will be worked out... Guy
the 128 players on the pro tour also get a guaranteed £20k / year. plus as you write additional income from non ranking events, sponsorships and exhibitions
I read that as a shot at the unpaid, part time, WPA board members who have struggled in recent years. Some people at Matchroom could lose their jobs if this doesn’t work out.
I really want to support Matchroom on this. I worry they might be playing their hand a bit naively. When they chose not to sanction their events, we were headed for this collision course. I give Ishaun, Shane, Jorgen and crew some grace. They didn’t enact suspensions outright in 2022. They let it go to the general assembly. The regional federations do have some skin in this game and was always going to vote to enact suspensions.
There are players that compete internationally that do not enjoy financial support from their local federation. Those players have to choose between unsanctioned competition or sanctioned competition. Players that do receive support have the tougher choice of giving up federation support.
But ultimately the scary part is that Matchroom is growing the sport but they haven’t crossed the finish line yet. The top 5 players probably can make a living off prize funds alone. After that the rest of the players clearly cannot. I’m hoping sponsorships keep the next 10 in the game. Maybe another 20 can compete because they have outside revenue. But without federation support the WNT could lose half of their seeded/ranked players.
It seems like this all was inevitable. Matchroom could have kept on the track they are on and continued to sanction their events. Kept growing pool and played this card AFTER they’ve achieved their vision and brought enough money into pool to actually financially support the players on tour. But instead this occurs a bit premature and adds risk of undermining the entire endeavor. This could take pool back to the stone ages if it backfires.
There are players that compete internationally that do not enjoy financial support from their local federation. Those players have to choose between unsanctioned competition or sanctioned competition. Players that do receive support have the tougher choice of giving up federation support.
But ultimately the scary part is that Matchroom is growing the sport but they haven’t crossed the finish line yet. The top 5 players probably can make a living off prize funds alone. After that the rest of the players clearly cannot. I’m hoping sponsorships keep the next 10 in the game. Maybe another 20 can compete because they have outside revenue. But without federation support the WNT could lose half of their seeded/ranked players.
It seems like this all was inevitable. Matchroom could have kept on the track they are on and continued to sanction their events. Kept growing pool and played this card AFTER they’ve achieved their vision and brought enough money into pool to actually financially support the players on tour. But instead this occurs a bit premature and adds risk of undermining the entire endeavor. This could take pool back to the stone ages if it backfires.