Pool Fan in 2025!

JAM

JAM

I am the storm
Silver Member
I've seen a transition from the American tournament trail to the golden years of the road warrior to today's international pro pool culture. Before the advent of the internet, the aperture for a pool enthusiast was quite narrow. Word of mouth was more current than pool newsletters and magazines which reported happenings after the fact. Each played its role, however, and thanks to the pool's fourth estate, it created a pool archives of historical data. Pool forums on Billiard Digest, AzBillards, RSV on Google's alt.sport.pool gained popularity and became a gathering place for like-minded pool folks to network. Accu-Stats and Billiard Club Network provided a way for people to enjoy pool from home. Live streaming pool happenings took off with PoolActionTV, TAR (The Action Report), UpState Al, and many more.

And then along came Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Several years ago, an admin of a pool organization asked the pros to be more relevant on social media in an effort to promote pool, and many followed suit. Whenever the pro recognizes a fan with a Facebook like, it grows the fan base for that particular pro. Winning tournaments garners more fans, of course, and social media is the main way to stay current on pool-related events. It's not like these great pool happenings are going to be on the sports page of The Washington Post.

Today when SVB posts about catching a big fish or Fedor Gorst offers pool memorabilia to fans, the Facebook likes grow within literally 1 or 2 minutes to over 1K, and it keeps on growing. Fans enjoy this back-and-forth, getting to know the pros on a more personal level. It is the juniors, however, like Savannah "Roadrunner" Easton, D'Angelo "Jaws" Spain, Sam "Ryno" Henderson, and Sofia "The Pink Dagger" Mast and others who really put in an effort to stay in touch with their fan base, as do the lady pros like Kristina Tkach, Kelly Fisher, Rubilen Amit, Pia Filler, Chezka Centeno, and so many more who continue to have a strong presence on social media, and their fan base is growing and growing, and growing because of it. In fact, I'm paying more attention to the juniors and ladies in recent times.

I'm excited to watch pool, snooker, and read all about the latest developments. I'm not sure what the future holds for pool, in particular, but I think and I hope the best is yet to come.

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I was searching for a post from last year and came across a section that said "Members online." AzBilliards Discussion Forum, of course, has been around over 20 years and is a great place to read about the latest news.

I found it interesting that AzBilliards Discussion Forum at the time I looked at it this morning had 643 people online, but only 45 of them are AzBilliards Members, while 598 of them are guests. We must have a lot of lurkers here. :)
 
Social media has been great for pool! It gets the information out there sooner and more accessibly and lets us follow our favorite players much more easily.

I live in Wisconsin and recently there was a WPBA event in conjunction with a local tournament. I didn't even know about it until some of the female players I follow (Kristina, April, Savannah) posted that they were arriving in Wisconsin. But once I saw that I looked into it, got the details, and made the 2 hour drive on a Saturday morning to watch them play in person (had front row seat for matches with all 3 of them, was awesome!). I was very grateful I saw their Instagram posts about it otherwise I wouldn't have known. All three of those ladies post frequently with interesting content, they're great follows if you're not already.
 
Great post. Even at pro events, you can see the difference. Did you see how many people mobbed Fedor after he won the US Open 9ball. He has connected in a very special way with his fan base. Even wilder was how many fans mobbed Jayson Shaw when he won the 2023 Hanoi Open.

I approached Fedor during the International to offer him an apology for failing to congratulate him after his US Open win. I explained to him that the receiving line was very long and that I had a dinner appointment.

Bob Dylan was right - the times, they are a changing.
 
JAM said:
I've seen a transition from the American tournament trail to the golden years of the road warrior to today's international pro pool culture. Before the advent of the internet, the aperture for a pool enthusiast was quite narrow. Word of mouth was more current than pool newsletters and magazines which reported happenings after the fact. Each played its role, however, and thanks to the pool's fourth estate, it created a pool archives of historical data. Pool forums on Billiard Digest, AzBillards, RSV on Google's alt.sport.pool gained popularity and became a gathering place for like-minded pool folks to network. Accu-Stats and Billiard Club Network provided a way for people to enjoy pool from home. Live streaming pool happenings took off with PoolActionTV, TAR (The Action Report), UpState Al, and many more.

And then along came Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Several years ago, an admin of a pool organization asked the pros to be more relevant on social media in an effort to promote pool, and many followed suit. Whenever the pro recognizes a fan with a Facebook like, it grows the fan base for that particular pro. Winning tournaments garners more fans, of course, and social media is the main way to stay current on pool-related events. It's not like these great pool happenings are going to be on the sports page of The Washington Post.

Today when SVB posts about catching a big fish or Fedor Gorst offers pool memorabilia to fans, the Facebook likes grow within literally 1 or 2 minutes to over 1K, and it keeps on growing. Fans enjoy this back-and-forth, getting to know the pros on a more personal level. It is the juniors, however, like Savannah "Roadrunner" Easton, D'Angelo "Jaws" Spain, Sam "Ryno" Henderson, and Sofia "The Pink Dagger" Mast and others who really put in an effort to stay in touch with their fan base, as do the lady pros like Kristina Tkach, Kelly Fisher, Rubilen Amit, Pia Filler, Chezka Centeno, and so many more who continue to have a strong presence on social media, and their fan base is growing and growing, and growing because of it. In fact, I'm paying more attention to the juniors and ladies in recent times.

I'm excited to watch pool, snooker, and read all about the latest developments. I'm not sure what the future holds for pool, in particular, but I think and I hope the best is yet to come.

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A proper orange 5 😍

Thanks JAM, nice write up. I’m looking forward to 2025. The first half of the 20’s was kinda rough. Let’s hope the next 5 years are going to be amazing-looks favorable to me. Lots to look forward too on pool.

Best
Fatboy 🧡🧡
 
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