This certainly qualifies as one of the worst threads in the history of the AZB forum.
It opens with a simple question, which is answered by many people with fairly vast experience in and around the game. Many of them have been mocked and belittled by the admittedly knowledgeable and ambitious initial poster as being clueless and uninformed.
It's my turn now, and while I won't be surprised if I'm belittled and discredited after I've had my say, I'm going to be courageous.
Let's start by saying this. Although I am a fan first and foremost, I am very knowledgeable about pool's demographics in America, having played many different roles over the years in our sport. I have probably spent over ten years in my life in Europe, including a lot in recent years. I am not familiar with the Asian pool scene, other than what I've heard.
America
From my vantage point, the correct answer to the question posed in the original post, as Joey in Cali pointed out in post #2 of this thread, is demographics. ESPN ratings for pool, as I'm sure the original poster knows as well as anyone, were not terrible until one considered which demographic group was being reached with those telecasts. It was an older than average, lower income than average viewer that was typically the one watching, not the viewer with great spending power and not the one that is attractive to most top marketing concerns. Pool's negative image has helped feed the negative demographics that have, at times, obstructed pool from building relationships with outside-of-the-industry sponsors. This is not meant to state as a fact that such sponsorship is outside of pool's grasp, but pool's demographics have made it an uphill struggle.
Europe
I've spent years of my life in Europe, including about one month a year since my retirement in 2008. I've played in the pool halls of the UK, the Netherlands, France, Belgium and Germany over the years. I cannot say, based on my own limited experience, that pool attracts a very different demographic in Europe than that in America. During my visits, I haven't see substantial growth in pool in Europe. The only place in Europe where pool seems really well organized is Germany, where the league system is a shining example of how good things can be in our sport. On the pro scene, the sport seems to be growing only as a result of Matchroom's efforts, but the growth is slow and the future uncertain.
Asia
I simply have nothing to offer here. With the growth of pool in China, perhaps this is an untapped market that offers some possibilities.
....... so let's not pretend that there aren't barriers to attainment of the kind of sponsorship pool would like to have. Our initial poster is ambitiously putting together a business plan for moving pool forward, and I'm among those that wishes him every possible success, and if and when he does succeed, he'll have my unswerving support.
I'm keeping an open mind.
