Will Nike ever make a pool cue?

dom_poppa said:
Can some of the professional players pitch to them about making a cue? Not only would it be a great product but it will help the game of pool.

Nike is all about making money and if they made a pool cue it would draw interest because of the brand. I know some may say it's laughable for Nike to build a cue but they make very good products. Remember when Nike first made golf clubs, people were laughing but now they are considered one of the best clubs.

They have the resources, money and R/D to make a very good cue and with a new product comes a marketing campaign to sell. This will be good for the game.

If pool is considered a sport then treat it as one and promote it to the big hitter of sports products.
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Why would Nike EVER build a pool cue. Golf is a HUGE business, that continues to grow. Pool is an industry that peaked a hundred years ago, and has been in steep decline for the last forty years. We love the sport, but we are part of a shrinking minority.

Also, how do you know it would be a great product? They are not considered one of the best clubs by anybody I play with. Most people I know play Callaway, Titleist, Taylormade, or Ping.
 
As much as the sport would be better for it. The economies of scale don't work. Nike spends more money on Post-It notes than Predator's annual sales.

Hell they even got out of bowling shoes:
images
 
one stroke said:
Uh nike only has a small piece of the pie and by no means do they have the best anything in golf unless maybe a shoe ,, just because Tiger uses them is thier only reason for success,, and aside from that I think shane playing with a cue tec archer with a scorpion has more than proven its the swordsman not the sword,,



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agreed, callaway, cleveland, titleist, taylormade are all out there and doing great, making great products.

nike came in and grabbed a piece of the pie with an ok product. but they haven't made the holy grail of golf club either.

I think golf was pretty big before Nike came around. find a pool playing tiger woods, then you got something special.
 
measureman said:
We have a winner.



if there was any money to be made doing this they would have already done it. Nike is one of the top marketing companies in the world.
And I'm sure they have pool players working for them somewhere that have probably pitched the idea.
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It's also a good bet that many of Nike's top executives have a Pool Table of their own at home. People like that can afford to buy the top end high dollar models, and they usually buy them for the Status of owning one, or for recreation and entertaining guests & clients, which means they probably get a tax write off for it!
 
DoubleD said:
Been done. Didn't work then, won't work now.

In fact, I think that beer companies coming back to to sponsorship would actually be a death rattle in pool.
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Thanks for the information. I'm new to the game and wasn't aware of it.

I fully agree that the best way to increase the game's standing (money, prestige, whatever-you-want) is at the grassroots level by getting more people involved. Here are two markets I would focus on:

1. Retirees. They're like teenagers - they have time on their hands, they're looking for social things to do and they have enough money that they can spend $50 on an enjoyable afternoon or evening. They like the fact that pool is competitive but not physically tasking. It's a big market that's only going to get bigger.

2. High-school geometry and physics students; video game players. Pool is the ultimate video game and the nerd who understands equal angles and friction will feel he/she has a chance of becoming good at it (and all teenagers want to be good at something). Real students understand the importance of practice; they won't just blow it off because they don't run the first rack - they'll keep working at it.

The 20-something barroom player market will take care of itself. Bar owners are masters of figuring out what their customers want and if the industry can be successful at #2 above they'll notice that the high-school players are now a 20-somethings and will frequent their bar to play the game.

None of this guarantees more money or awareness for professional-level pool. That's an entirely separate project, but it lays the groundwork for it.

As I mentioned, I'm new to the game and maybe all this has been tried before.
 
ClownFish said:
agreed, callaway, cleveland, titleist, taylormade are all out there and doing great, making great products.

nike came in and grabbed a piece of the pie with an ok product. but they haven't made the holy grail of golf club either.

I think golf was pretty big before Nike came around. find a pool playing tiger woods, then you got something special.
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well thats a nice thought but unlike every other sport /game in the world they have made easier for more offence , pool has gone the other direction
with tripled shimmed pockets and such slowing the game down to a snails pace , I dont ever see a tv market for that and no tv , no major sponser


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One Stroke mentioned that it's the Swordsman not the Sword, this is so true, as back in the mid 90's I was in CJ's in Dallas and saw this young kid come in, (he was barely old enough to legally be in the room) and take the most warped house cue off of the rack (if it had a tip on it at all, it just barely had one) and challenge and beat everyone in the room that was willing to play him. (CJ wasn't there, he was still playing the tour at the time) He walked out of there that night with a big wad of money in his pocket and at least 2 $1000.00 + custom cues he took off of his challengers.

and no, I didn't play him, I knew better. But it was entertaining as hell to see those hot shots with their high dollar cues get their ass's handed to them on a silver platter.
 
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Dick helmstetter (adam cue) created big bertha

Who says golf companies or Nike can't make pool cues? Dick Helmstetter of Adam Cue in Japan conceived the Big Bertha club for Callaway. If Nike put its money behind cue making they could have some of the best designed and playing cues in the world.


"Dick Helmstetter has been in Ely Callaway's spotlight a thousand times. Helmstetter, a former pool cue maker, is the chief club designer for Callaway and the man who conceived the Big Bertha driver. He has been enticed by the force of Callaway's personality. "Ely has an unequaled ability to focus on you when you're talking," says Helmstetter. "That's an extremely powerful personal tool. Some guys' eyes wander. If a phone rings, some guys have to pick it up. When Ely is talking with you, he's talking to you alone. Nothing else matters except what you're telling him, or he's telling you."

http://www.cigaraficionado.com/webfeatures/show/id/7287
 
ClownFish said:
agreed, callaway, cleveland, titleist, taylormade are all out there and doing great, making great products.

nike came in and grabbed a piece of the pie with an ok product. but they haven't made the holy grail of golf club either.

I think golf was pretty big before Nike came around. find a pool playing tiger woods, then you got something special.
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And it will be around long after Nike ,, I hear people all the time compare pool to golf , thier is no comparison on any level



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find a pool playing tiger woods, then you got something special.[/QUOTE]

I would think SVB might be the equivalent of Tiger in the pool world.
 
A company lie Nike entering the billiard scene may, by itself, generate increased interest in the sport by the mainstream. Lord knows we could use it. I think its a great idea. A great idea, but a tough sell to a company like Nike. Very little upside for them I fear. Initially I dont think they need to produce a product, but it would be interesting to see them sponsor some large events. It would be a great way for them to gauge interest, and hopefully their findings would support further investment in the sport.
 
Hopefully if Nike does find the interest and a guy like me to promote the sport....in 5 to 10 years the sport will grow into the mainstream.

Nike has a history of bringing things to the next level. It would not cost much money compared to what they are making every year to promote or sponsor pool tournaments.

The revenue may be small compared to what they are making but it's a game changer in terms of bringing an old sport back to it's prominence.

Let's say they don't have to dabble much money into the sport but a simple request from the best pool player today, for a cue, will get their attention. Not only would they say, "hey, who's this guy asking us for a cue", they would probably show interest in the market.
 
Nike

Nike sponsored my wife
She has a pick load of Nike shoes .
Its no fun getting my wife mad I cant run fast enough to get away.
MMike
 
Nike should buy Cuetec. Rebrand it and they get Svb as their main man. That's a goid deal. Wonder how much Cuetec wants for their biznizz?
 
one stroke said:
Uh nike only has a small piece of the pie and by no means do they have the best anything in golf unless maybe a shoe ,, just because Tiger uses them is thier only reason for success,, and aside from that I think shane playing with a cue tec archer with a scorpion has more than proven its the swordsman not the sword,,



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you're so smart...
 
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its going to take the "tiger woods" of pool, to ever get Nike's interest in the sport. someone that can fly their flag proudly, that's going to attract an abundance of fans. nike golf was absolutely nothing before tiger, if a young player breaks on to the pool scene, that isn't pulled from the same mold of a traditional billiards player, then that's where the interest would grow from a big company looking to expand into another sport
 
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