PPVs

peteypooldude

peteypooldude

I see Edges
Silver Member
I am a big fan of the streamers and I love the big matches But.....
The price of PPVs are pricing people like me out of watching them.
$40 to $50 ? Dana White don't get that kind of money for multiple matches . If you have that kind of money to throw at them then that's great but to me it's out of line
I know I'll catch sh1t for this but oh well.....
 
  • Like
Reactions: JAM
I agree with you. Like almost everything else in pool, it's over priced. From tables, cues, cloth and balls to table time in some rooms. Only thing that's priced right is most chalks. Johnnyt
 
I was thinking the same thing for the SVB vs Shaw match. $25 a day and $40 for both is steep. I will be watching the Mezz West State tour stream.

Something else has been bothering me about streams. I never have time to watch them. If I do I am usually hitting balls instead of watching. The only time I get to watch is when work is really slow, which is hardly ever, or the 15 minutes i take to eat breakfast in the morning. My family life keeps me way to busy to find time at home to watch.

I wonder if anyone else feels this way?
 
I agree, there has been some great matches that I would have loved to watch, but just could not afford it, but I am happy for those who can.
 
I think TAR had the pricing down great. It was about $30-$35 for the entire 3 days of the match. I agree $40 is a little steep for 2 days of pool. I honestly think that the guys who are streaming the SVB vs Shaw match are going to miss out on some money because people will be turned away with the $40 price tag. I personally would price it at $25 for both days and take on a bunch more viewers opposed to very little at $40. This of course is just my opinion, and I wish them the best of luck.
 
Yeah personally I feel like they could better offer it at half that price and have more than double the viewers. I would love to watch this match but 40 is just a bit high.
 
I agree

$40 is too much. I love to watch Shane and have paid to see most all of his challange matches but $40 is too much coupled with a Sat afternoon start. I couldn't watch then anyway ....... is it being looped?
 
Pricing a product is very difficult in any business.

Sure, I'd like to see streams at lower prices too. But the small business graveyard is full of bankrupt businesses that said "Let's lower our price and make it up on volume." Doesn't always work out that way.
 
bdorman said:
Pricing a product is very difficult in any business.

Sure, I'd like to see streams at lower prices too. But the small business graveyard is full of bankrupt businesses that said "Let's lower our price and make it up on volume." Doesn't always work out that way.
Click to expand...

That is a valid point, and one to consider. With that said, is the business looking for repeat customers? If so, then the product should be priced to not just sell, but sell again and again. If pushing the "too high" threshold you risk never seeing a customer come back unless their product is stellar... Forty for two days is doable, but a download of the steam should be available with that price tag.

I'm already assuming the presentation will be accu stats quality (announcers, multiple camera angles, HD video, etc) but the magic of accu stats is that it's around for multiple viewings because you own it so I'll order two dvds for forty bucks and know that I can watch and learn from repeat viewings. A steam is still just a stream, and that should be kept in mind.
 
Charlie Hustle said:
I think TAR had the pricing down great. It was about $30-$35 for the entire 3 days of the match. I agree $40 is a little steep for 2 days of pool. I honestly think that the guys who are streaming the SVB vs Shaw match are going to miss out on some money because people will be turned away with the $40 price tag. I personally would price it at $25 for both days and take on a bunch more viewers opposed to very little at $40. This of course is just my opinion, and I wish them the best of luck.
Click to expand...
Exactly, TAR had it right. Even though I never have time to watch streams I bought 3 or 4 TAR matches.

Also I noticed it is cheaper to watch this match in person than by stream.
 
Last edited:
center pocket said:
Exactly, TAR had it right. Even though I never have time to watch streams I bought 3 or 4 TAR matches.

Also I noticed it is cheaper to watch this match in person than by stream.
Click to expand...

I bought at least 10 TAR matches. And good point, I didnt even think about it being cheaper to watch live.
 
I thought the price was a little on the high side too, but I would still be willing to pay it except for a couple reasons. 1. I don't think this match will be all that competitive. 2. I really really love pool but race to 100 10 ball is A LOT of weekend hours spent in front of the television when I could be doing other things.

If these were shorter races that started in the early afternoon and were done by 5 or 6 in the evening I'd be sold.
 
I agree as well.Should be a great match but it's too much for me as well.I'll sit this one out and wait for another to come along
 
A lot of good points already made. I would emphasize those and add my own thoughts as follows;

The prices have moved in a direction where they are no longer good value in competing for the discretionary, entertainment related dollars that one has for spending. I sometime feel that the streamers place a higher value on my dedication and love for all things pool than I do.

Many of the tournaments, challenge matches etc. take place over a number of days for several hours a day. For my part I can schedule my work around something I really want to see (i.e. the Mosconi Cup) so that I can see it all. I will not do this for every event but if the price was more competitive I would subscribe and watch when I could. I appreciate that some of the streams try to minimize scheduling conflicts of the fans by providing a looped stream of the days matches for a short time but that is not always convenient or feasible.

When there are problems with the stream it often becomes a frustrating nightmare to resolve. Add to this the times that, during a tournament, the main table has two non contending players while a much better choice is at another table the frustration only builds. I know that the streamer will say that the TD picks who will play etc. but that is of no comfort.

Peteypooldude used a comparison to UFC and makes a valid point. I would also add that the broadcast and the spectacle are network quality.

I would like to expand on the Mosconi Cup model. I have watched this for a few years now. The first time I subscribed to their stream it was $5.00 for the event. The stream was choppy and it was not pleasant to watch. All attempts to resolve this through the streamer did not improve it. Finally, near the end of the first day I linked to a free stream of this event and the quality was great. I watched the rest of the event on this link. The next year I subscribed again, for $5.00 again, and at the first choppiness went to the free link. Last year I went to the free link, seen it was up and running, took the time to go to the official link and pay $5.00 before returning to the free link. My point in bringing this up is that I do not want to rip anyone off; I just want to see the event. I was happy to pay the price even though I did not really have to as I believe that the organizer/promoter/streamer should get paid their due.

Streamers should be looking to expand the audience base. Some hard core fans may pay this kind of price but some won’t. This approach will shrink the fan base.
 
The cost can be reasonable IF you have a few friends over to watch and everyone pays some money.

The best value for me is, Apple TV. I will use my iPad and find a match and put it up on the big screen and then shoot pool.

There are plenty of good matches on Youtube that everyone can get for free, and then watch them.

Same thing for the "free stream" events. I normally use the Apple TV ($100) and put it up on the screen, put on mute, play some blues music, shoot some pool, drink some beer. :cool:
 
What happens when the unstoppable force meets the immovable object?

You realize that one of them was named wrong!

The streamers are needing to raise their prices just to break even, and the viewers are dwindling because of the new higher prices.

It would be great if reducing the price would increase the number of paying viewers, but history tells us that it just doesn't really happen. At least not very reliably.

As far as I know, the only fix for all these things we keep talking about is more people playing pool. Lots more. If each of us could get just one person to take up the sport each quarter or even each year, the sport would grow at an alarming rate.

We need to recruit!


Royce
 
I love watching streams and buy almost all of them whether I can watch or not, but I will not be buying this one. Price is too much.
 
I too feel that $40 for two days is too much. There are a lot of ppv pool streams these days and I don't want to spend $50 plus a month to watch pool...sorry...I have enough bills.

The WWE network costs $10 month (all ppvs included), the UFC fight pass is $10 month (no current ppv though, but I can watch all the older stuff), and netflix is $10 month, so why am I going to pay $50 plus a month for my pool fix?

I think for this event they should have split the day into two $10 sessions that way I can watch the night sessions for $20 which I would do...right now I plan on not watching at all. I would rather go play pool in the afternoon, not watch it. And for those willing to shell out $40, they can watch the whole thing.
 
I don't think you can compare a ppv of a pool match to something like UFC, boxing, WWE, etc because those things have a much more widespread appeal an larger audience. Pool is a specialty product and those usually come with a premium price in order to finance it. It's just a little bit of a debate over what that should be. Is 35 or 40 ok, but not 50? etc.

I think the suggestion to split it up into different sessions at different price points is a great one. I know other streamers have used that tactic in the past. This along with other constructive suggestions like more convenient match times, shot clocks to speed up matches, predictable schedules (so the final of a tournament doesn't happen at 3 am on Monday morning etc) can only help make the experience better.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top