I am certainly no expert but seems to me, it's like someone said in this thread, it's about marketing. Whoever said sex sells is right, too. Always does. If it's sexist, sorry, but I def watched several matches with Pan Xiaoting, "Queen of 9 ball." That woman is movie star gorgeous and fun to watch; her skill is incredible. She probably doesn't care about her image over here, lol, but if she would show some emotion, she would grab a million fans over here. Jasmine Ouschan, a looker as well. Def watched several with her, she's a great player. She does show some emotion.
I think the marketing should include some explanation of how pool is a sport anyone can enjoy and is an incredible challenge. And some soundbites and clips of energetic crowds!
Whoever said tv golf is boring might be right, lol. And I have been a very serious golfaholic, love the game and played at a pretty high level. I don't know what it is but it puts me to sleep except for major tournaments; I never get bored watching those for some reason.
Tiger Woods is the greatest ever IMO, and he showed emotion. And flat grew golf bigtime. Now, it's going the other way. I guess due to cellphones, lol.
Then again, a goal to grow pool may all be for naught. I have no clue if a sport like pool can grow in today's society. Young people (actually everyone!) are def glued to their phones. But, pool is fun to youngsters, it was to me anyway. My first exposure to pool was when my dad took our family to visit his brother's family a thousand miles away on a vacation and their town had a family games center. I had never seen one, it was like being in Disneyland or something to me. I was young, probably ten or so. My dad and my uncle let me play and I coerced them to play more when they wanted to quit and I begged them to take me again the next day and they did. I wonder what would happen if they put a pool table in every school! And make it a competitive sport among the schools.