WNT, WPA and 2026

[jbart65]

Which brings us to the present. In some ways, WNT and Predator/WPA seem to be cooperating. For the most part, the dates of their big events aren’t in direct conflict.

Predator has not planned any big events around the timing of the UK, Arizona, U.S. and Philippines opens or the WPC (likely late July).

The smaller-scale Predator-sponsored Eurotour did overlap with the start of the European Open, but some players still played in both.

Predator has an event scheduled in Rome during the same time as the Florida Open, but it hasn’t said what will be included. It will probably have a men’s 10-ball event and draw away some big names (Filler, Ouschan, Polish players).

The Reyes Cup appears free of conflict, but the Philippines Open overlaps with the first qualifying stage of the Qatar 10-ball tournament sanctioned by the WPA.

Last year, top players who qualified for the second stage of the Qatar Open were able to play in both the 2024 Philippines Open and the 2024 Qatar Open.

The biggest surprise to me was Predator scheduling a large event in San Antonio in late November that overlaps with the first three days of the Mosconi Cup. Ominous sign of things to come, or just an innocent scheduling conflict? The Mosconi date used to seem sacrosanct.

Not a big deal, one would think, because there are only 10 players at the Mosconi. But this is the second year in a row a Predator event overlapped with Mosconi. Definitely some competition for viewers.

TBC

 

[jbart65]

I think Predator and Matchroom will try to avoid obvious toe-stepping on scheduling, but there’s bound to be more conflicts given their bigger ambitions. They are competing to build out their tours and surpass each other, and they want the best dates possible.

The competition has been especially intense in Vietnam, one of the best new markets for pool. Predator has locked in mid to late September with the World 10-ball championship.

The first two years of the Hanoi Open, WNT scheduled the event in early October and had free rein. WNT also worked with Peri to hold the Peri Open right before Hanoi.

But in 2025 Predator scheduled the World 8-ball Championship in Bali at the same time as Hanoi. It has another event in Bali this year in early October, too.

Matchroom has not scheduled an event for Hanoi this year, and there’s speculation it’s going on hiatus. Last year’s event suffered from flooding and some of the best players were in dreamy Bali instead. The WNT might be better off finding a different spot on the calendar.

Florida and Texas also seem to be becoming hotspots for competition, but WNT and Predator have spaced out their events in those states.

TBC

 

[Island Drive]

Why did Predator choose to become a competitor to Matchroom?

Maybe it planned to become the sport’s biggest promoter before it knew what MR was really up to?

Maybe it thought Matchroom’s ambitions were too limited (no women’s pool).

Maybe it thought Matchroom’s ambitions were, instead, too big and would crowd Predator out.

Maybe it felt its influence over players as the sport’s biggest sponsor was being threatened.

Maybe it was simply a case of bad blood.

We just don’t know.

Whatever the case, Predator chose a very different strategy than Matchroom. Cooperation rather than confrontation. Predator had good relations with the WPA and the federations around the world. It chose to work within the system.

One could look at the Predator/WPA relationship several ways. Perhaps Predator saw the WPA as an ally it could use as a stalking horse in its coming confrontation with Matchroom. When the WPA ban took place, Predator’s fingerprints were nowhere to be found.

The WPA and federations, for their part, saw Predator as an ally to fight back against Matchroom’s effort to marginalize them. Maybe they are even funding Predator’s Pro Billiard Series to prop up their own position in the sport. It’s a big mystery to me how Predator has been able to sharply raise prize funds in the past few years.

However they are aligned, Predator and the WPA appear to have mutually benefited.

TBC

At first I didn't like the predator format tho I enjoy their production now, ALSO disliked MR changing the format.
MR on FB, all I see is this young beautiful smiling woman traveling the world, hanging around MEN her age.
I too would smile like she, if I was running MR women's events in my youth world wide.

But at the crux.... is the Sport itself.
I've played in it twice in my youth, 17-24 both times.
The format that Barry used created HOF players.
DBL elim.

The cost to travel/room/food/entry fees is Huge NOWADAZZZZZZZZE for broke pool players for one event.
Having a format where you'll have to get minimum 2 nights room THERE every event doesn't help.

Strategy..... Single Elimination.... best 3 outta five sets races to 5 would work, or something along those lines.
You could attend and not get a room and leave if you lost....
The MANDATORY have to stay at this Hotel situation SUCKS.... hurts ALL.... especially the young up/coming players.
I think the format must change.
AND MAKE THE 5 BALL ORANGE AGAIN.

I don't think Any American player would ever consider changing the colors of the numbered balls on a Snooker Table.
Why??????????????

 

[jbart65]

... The early days of euphoria having worn off, WNT might have a bigger mountain to climb. It’s lost influence with players. The Mosconi Cup is withering on the vine. And stiff competition from Predator has narrowed Matchroom’s path for financial success.

The biggest mistake Matchroom and Frazer made was to underestimate the influence and power of Predator.

Predator is the most influential company globally in the pro pool. It sponsors more top players than any other cuemaker. And it has close ties to the most powerful regional confederations. Make an enemy out of the pope and you might not get to heaven.

The dispute with Predator also reversed Matchroom’s rising influence with the game’s best player, another critical mistake. Joshua Filler’s removal from the Mosconi undid all the effort by Matchroom to make Filler the centerpiece of the WNT tour.

MR created a Joshua Filler Junior Open in Germany in early 2024, for instance, and his wife was also the first woman to be invited to the WNT Pro Tour.

Yet his Mosconi removal upset fans and other players who tried to be neutral between the WPA and WNT. Matchroom clearly erred in not accepting Filler had obligations to Predator he could not ignore.

The blowback got worse after Filler and SVB were left off the Reyes World Team. MR took a lot of heat, and before you know it, word was let out that both players would qualify for the Mosconi. I’d call that a Matchroom unconditional surrender ...

TBC

 

[jbart65]

... Where are we now?

Pro pool is growing, but it’s hard to say its overall popularity as a viewing sport is growing. Nor is pool attracting a lot more sponsors or a lot more money.

Competition is also increasing, and not just between Predator and Matchroom. Heyball and Duya 9 ball have taken off in Asia, for instance, and Ultimate Pool is expanding in the U.S.

The WPA, for its part, no longer has the power or authority to manage the global pool schedule as a disinterested party. It’s not a disinterested party, for one thing, and it lacks the expertise and financial muscle to organize and run events in a global game.

The only entities that do are private entities - right now that’s Matchroom and Predator ...

TBC

 

[jbart65]

... MR did a better job getting most of its schedule out early this year, but it’s still a big problem. The European Open was only announced Jan. 30, just nine weeks before the event. It also partly conflicted with the EPBF Euros and Griffs in the U.S.

Frazer said at the 2025 European Open that the event would take place again in Sarajevo in 2026. So why did it take so long to set the date for 2026? I imagine there is a good reason, but this can’t keep happening if the WNT wants to build a successful tour in the long run.

Scheduling aside, Matchroom has to fix the Mosconi. To its credit, it’s trying to do so by scheduling more big events in the U.S. And why not? The U.S. still is the most lucrative pool market in the world outside of China. And as Florida showed, there is fan interest in it.

This year, the WNT brought back the Florida Open, added the Arizona Open and Phoenix Open, moved the US Open to Texas and contracted for a record number of smaller affiliated events.

What about prize money?

WNT is slowly raising its prize funds, but Predator has stepped up bigtime and sometimes pays more than Matchroom. I wonder where Predator is getting the money. Do their events cost less because they are smaller? Do they simply try to break even?

Frazer constantly says there’s no money in pool. Are its events too big and too expensive to raise the prize funds more aggressively?

Matchroom is definitely in the pool business to make money, so maybe it needs to rethink its formats. Recently we have seen a turn toward 128-player single-elimination fields. Maybe 256-player opens are too big and expensive ...

TBC

 

[Cord]

ESPN and the like are already irrelevant in 2026. But Prime Video already has a "live" BilliardsTV channel (maybe other streaming services do, too; idk.) Seems to me someone ought to be taking advantage of that, and then spending some $ to push it up the algorithms.

Realistically, pro pool of any discipline is never gonna reach even PGA or NHL level interaction, nvm NFL or NBA. So, no lucrative TV deals. But so what?? Online presence is, I think, the path forward, especially internationally. Clicks/views/interactions = revenue. I think the first pro tour to cash in on this will do quite well. I think Predator and Ultimate Pool are both ahead of Matchroom in this race.

 

[JAM]

Thanks for that. I was one of a small minority, but not the only one. I was lambasted by more than a few for the views I expressed at the time. I was astonished at how many piled on to Matchroom's ritual undressing of the world's best 9ball player.

I was also one of the small minority with you on this subject.

That said, I really admired the way Joshua and Pia Filler handled the social media cyberbullying by not responding to the Negative Nellies and kept on keeping on their pool journey. Thankfully, that Filler bashing, hopefully, is in the rearview mirror for those two. I admire them both.

 

[JAM]

... Matchroom had created several big pool events over the years - the World Pool Masters (1993), the Mosconi Cup (1994) and the World Cup of Pool (2006). But that seemed to be the extent of its ambition.

Then … MR decided to expand. Barry Hearn always had a dream of creating a global pro sport out of billiards. It’s a true passion of his.

Barry Hearn has pretty consistently positioned himself as someone trying to professionalize cue sports, structured tours, bigger prize funds, media rights, and making it viable as a full-time career. That’s the same playbook he used in snooker and darts, make it TV-friendly, sponsor-driven, and commercially stable.

Traditional pool culture has heavy roots in action, gambling, and backroom money. Modern pro pool (especially via Matchroom Sport) is trying to look polished, sponsor-safe, and mainstream, yet many of the big-money sponsors are betting companies or gambling websites. Gambling built the culture of pool. Without that money, prize funds likely don’t jump the way players want.

Should pool lean into its roots more? Somethings needs to change if it's going to survive.

 

[JAM]

... Matchroom is definitely in the pool business to make money, so maybe it needs to rethink its formats. Recently we have seen a turn toward 128-player single-elimination fields. Maybe 256-player opens are too big and expensive.

TBC

I have to say, this is one of the best threads I’ve read on AzBilliards in a long, long time. You’ve really hit the nail on the head with a lot of your observations, and it's generated a great deal of shared wisdom nuggets by some of AzBilliards' best pool scholars.

At the end of the day, those of us who are passionate about pool—whether we’re pro players, social shooters, railbirds, podcasters, journalists, or part of the industry—we all want the same thing, for the game to succeed. We may not agree on the path forward, but the goal is shared.

I don’t pretend to have the answer. I just hope I’m around long enough to see it happen. My expiration date isn’t getting any farther away.

 

[jokrswylde]

Barry Hearn has pretty consistently positioned himself as someone trying to professionalize cue sports, structured tours, bigger prize funds, media rights, and making it viable as a full-time career. That’s the same playbook he used in snooker and darts, make it TV-friendly, sponsor-driven, and commercially stable.

Traditional pool culture has heavy roots in action, gambling, and backroom money. Modern pro pool (especially via Matchroom Sport) is trying to look polished, sponsor-safe, and mainstream, yet many of the big-money sponsors are betting companies or gambling websites. Gambling built the culture of pool. Without that money, prize funds likely don’t jump the way players want.

Should pool lean into its roots more? Somethings needs to change if it's going to survive. Even golf has non-golf industry sponsors, like the recent Cologuard Classic for senior pro golfers.

To piggyback your point about the recent Cologuard classic...one of the biggest characters of the generation in pro golf is john Daly. John Daly who smokes like a chimney, drinks like a fish, can still hit it a mile and tells great stories. Golf fans LOVE him. The biggest highlight of the recent tournament was him hitting a shot from the rough and falling and rolling down a hill...

If you sterilize pool to the point that the true characters are phased out, it would be a shame, IMO. Current players are already described as "Robots" when it comes to things like stroke mechanics and pattern play.

Sure, there is a certain percentage of folks who love to hear about Fedor's latest Social Media merchandise offer, or this pro's workout regimen, or that pro's favorite drills, but I would wager there is a larger portion who loves to hear a good CJ Wiley or Keith road story, or about the time this pro scored big and the time that pro lost it all...THOSE stories are the ones that build personalities and legends that make people interested.

 

[jbart65]

... Predator, unlike Matchroom, is not trying to make a profit. Fans can attend for free and matches are aired free on social media. The goal is to get as many eyeballs as possible to please advertisers and maybe earn a few extra bucks.

Obviously, Predator doesn’t and can’t afford to lose money. It’s not a financial powerhouse. That’s why it operates more like a nonprofit in the broadcast arena. Whatever it earns from its Pro Billiard Series it can plough right back into it.

The key to out-competing Matchroom, then, is for Predator to keep increasing prize funds. There’s no surer way to attract the best players.

As it refines its “business” model, meanwhile, Predator is also putting on a good show and experimenting to see what works. Hence the move to tennis-style sets instead of single races to 9-10-11.

What makes Predator a potent WNT rival is not just its numerous player sponsorships. It’s the scope of its tournaments, as I mentioned earlier. By focusing just on 9 ball, Matchroom has ceded everything else to Predator.

Predator has become the chief sponsor of major women’s tournaments, men’s 8-ball and men’s 10 ball. It also holds events for bank pool, doubles and team play.

Which organization is the WPA and the regional associations likely to support most? Predator, no question. All these new events have naturally pleased the players, too.

What about fans? There’s no clear winner that I can see.

Is there room enough for Matchroom and Predator in pro pool? If both were nonprofits, perhaps.

Yet if one company’s commitment depends on making a profit – and its biggest rival eschews profits - I’m not sure the current economics of pool can support both in the long run. There's just not enough money to go around.

THE END

 

[jbart65]

I have to say, this is one of the best threads I’ve read on AzBilliards in a long, long time. You’ve really hit the nail on the head with a lot of your observations, and it's generated a great deal of shared wisdom nuggets by some of AzBilliards' best pool scholars.

At the end of the day, those of us who are passionate about pool—whether we’re pro players, social shooters, railbirds, podcasters, journalists, or part of the industry—we all want the same thing, for the game to succeed. We may not agree on the path forward, but the goal is shared.

I don’t pretend to have the answer. I just hope I’m around long enough to see it happen. My expiration date isn’t getting any farther away.

Thanks, JAM. I am sure I am missing the boat on some things. And obviously, if anyone had the answers for how to make pro pool succeed commercially, it would have already be done.

I think there is room for both Predator and Matchroom to have moderate success given their different spheres of influence, but I see little hope of success absent far more cooperation. It's an exciting, tumultuous and uncertain time for pro pool all at the same time.

 

[Kris_b1104]

The business models are very different, too.

Matchroom sells tickets to its events. It runs a paid subscription viewing service. And it has scattered deals with TV stations around the world. It's trying to make money, or at least generate more money.

Predator generally doesn't sell tickets - it opens its event free to viewers and airs them for free on YouTube. Nor does it have any TV deals at all.

And yet, Predator is shelling out a competitive amount of money. The prize fund for the men's 8-ball world title in St louis in early April is paying out $300,000 - more than what the WNT paid for the Euro Open, the upcoming Florida Open and the Florida Open.

Where is Predator getting the money? The company does not appear to be trying to earn profits on airing pool tournaments. It can't afford to lose money, either. So it has events with smaller fields and it keeps its production simple to minimize costs. The YouTube video quality is good, but these are no-frills events.

While I enjoy reading most of your posts as they are informative and unbiased, I do think you are severely underestimating Predator as a brand. They have been in business for over 30 years, and a majority of that time their shafts and cues have been selling like hotcakes, in an already small niche sport. Their sales from their cues/shafts alone dominate the market and probably generate more money than any other cue-making company.

Back in the days, almost every amateur wanted to or played with a Predator cue/shaft, even if they couldn't run 3 balls in a row, due to Predator's marketing and elite shafts like the first generation 314, 314-2 and Z2. It's only been recently that they are getting competition with other brands now making CF. At one point, they had the most amount of sponsored pro players ever, maybe still do. Their hold on the amateur market is very telling as well.

Predator makes A LOT of money in this niche sport. The only other pool company that I can think of that rivals them is Diamond when it comes to revenue. Any APA 3 knows who Predator is. Some have never even heard of Matchroom or WNT or even follow pro pool, but they for sure know Predator.

 

[Jerry R]

While I enjoy reading most of your posts as they are informative and unbiased, I do think you are severely underestimating Predator as a brand. They have been in business for over 30 years, and a majority of that time their shafts and cues have been selling like hotcakes, in an already small niche sport. Their sales from their cues/shafts alone dominate the market and probably generate more money than any other cue-making company.

Back in the days, almost every amateur wanted to or played with a Predator cue/shaft, even if they couldn't run 3 balls in a row, due to Predator's marketing and elite shafts like the first generation 314, 314-2 and Z2. It's only been recently that they are getting competition with other brands now making CF. At one point, they had the most amount of sponsored pro players ever, maybe still do. Their hold on the amateur market is very telling as well.

Predator makes A LOT of money in this niche sport. The only other pool company that I can think of that rivals them is Diamond when it comes to revenue. Any APA 3 knows who Predator is. Some have never even heard of Matchroom or WNT or even follow pro pool, but they for sure know Predator.

You are correct. Also, I'm no tax lawyer, but I'd be willing to bet that most, if not all of the cost of their events are a tax write off as an advertising expense, which is a huge advantage for them.

 

[jbart65]

While I enjoy reading most of your posts as they are informative and unbiased, I do think you are severely underestimating Predator as a brand. They have been in business for over 30 years, and a majority of that time their shafts and cues have been selling like hotcakes, in an already small niche sport. Their sales from their cues/shafts alone dominate the market and probably generate more money than any other cue-making company.

Back in the days, almost every amateur wanted to or played with a Predator cue/shaft, even if they couldn't run 3 balls in a row, due to Predator's marketing and elite shafts like the first generation 314, 314-2 and Z2. It's only been recently that they are getting competition with other brands now making CF. At one point, they had the most amount of sponsored pro players ever, maybe still do. Their hold on the amateur market is very telling as well.

Predator makes A LOT of money in this niche sport. The only other pool company that I can think of that rivals them is Diamond when it comes to revenue. Any APA 3 knows who Predator is. Some have never even heard of Matchroom or WNT or even follow pro pool, but they for sure know Predator.

I definitely do not underestimate Predator as brand or company, Kris. As I said in one of interminably long posts:

"The biggest mistake Matchroom and Frazer made was to underestimate the influence and power of Predator.

Predator is the most influential company globally in pro pool. It sponsors more top players than any other cuemaker. And it has close ties to the most powerful regional confederations. Make an enemy out of the pope and you might not get to heaven."

However ... the best estimates I could find of Predator's annual revenue is $5 million to $6 million a year. Selling pool equipment is not a huge revenue generator.

Matchroom has annual revenue in the $200 million to $300 million range.

 

[sjm]

I was also one of the small minority with you on this subject.

That said, I really admired the way Joshua and Pia Filler handled the social media cyberbullying by not responding to the Negative Nellies and kept on keeping on their pool journey. Thankfully, that Filler bashing, hopefully, is in the rearview mirror for those two. I admire them both.

Yes, I recall that we were of one mind on the matter of the punishment dished out to Filler by Matchroom, and I appreciated that you often backed me up as I offered opinions that were very unpopular on the forum at the time.

Perhaps things are headed in the right direction now, as Filler played in the 2025 Mosconi and in the 2026 European Open, the opening event of the WNT year. I'll try to stay optimistic but, as we both know, not every battle scar heals and let's hope both WNT and Filler can move forward without apprehension.

I'm rooting hard for both Filler and Matchroom to enjoy nothing but success from this point forward.

 

[Kris_b1104]

I definitely do not underestimate Predator as brand or company, Kris. As I said in one of interminably long posts:

"The biggest mistake Matchroom and Frazer made was to underestimate the influence and power of Predator.

Predator is the most influential company globally in pro pool. It sponsors more top players than any other cuemaker. And it has close ties to the most powerful regional confederations. Make an enemy out of the pope and you might not get to heaven."

However ... the best estimates I could find of Predator's annual revenue is $5 million to $6 million a year. Selling pool equipment is not a huge revenue generator.

Matchroom has annual revenue in the $200 million to $300 million range.

My bad I didn't see that post. I haven't read the entire thread yet. Apologies sir

 

[jbart65]

Pop quiz: Who was the only four pro pool players to play in every WNT major in 2025? Two from Asia and two from Europe.

 

[jbart65]

My bad I didn't see that post. I haven't read the entire thread yet. Apologies sir

Hah! I don't expect anyone to read the entire thread. But gotta give AI something to search for someday when other strange inquiring minds want to know about this stuff!