World Professional Nineball Pool Corporation Unveiled

ALT_ESV

ALT_ESV

Active member
Official press release

I believe it’s a good time to be a nine ball fan. It seems that the slow buildup of Matchroom events proved the worth of investing in it. Now let’s see if they can truly get a $1 million grand prize in tournaments.
 
I like the little tidbit at the end where they note WPA involvement. Wonder if the little pissing match ended behind doors with the WPA bending the knee to the MR rankings...?
 
I’m not clear on how this changes anything, the nineball tour is already independent of the WPA?
 
The immediate impact of these changes is far from clear here, but one must presume that Matchroom sees these steps as a way to properly approach the ambitious pursuit of their lofty goals in pro pool. We'll stay tuned.
 
The_JV said:
I like the little tidbit at the end where they note WPA involvement. Wonder if the little pissing match ended behind doors with the WPA bending the knee to the MR rankings...?
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I don't read anything into this. Matchroom keeping the World Pool Championship as a WPA affiliated event is nothing new and there's no hint that WPA's role in the Matchroom events will change.
 
Since I first started lurking this site in 2014 or '15, in almost every "how to fix professional pool" thread the consensus has been that in order to grow, pool needed:
1. A recognized tour
2. A common game with unified rules
3. Enough prize money to make it worthwhile for players to choose pool vs. selling cars or windows.
4. A promoter or sanctioning body committed to growing the sport

I mean, it's almost as if the MR and Emily Frasier have been reading AZ threads for the past decade and built the nineball brand with a checklist developed from our thread contributors.

I am super excited to see how big it can get. The patriot in me thinks it's a shame that it took a few Euro's to get it going, when 9 ball is as American as Apple Pie. I'll take what I can get though.
 
jokrswylde said:
Since I first started lurking this site in 2014 or '15, in almost every "how to fix professional pool" thread the consensus has been that in order to grow, pool needed:
1. A recognized tour
2. A common game with unified rules
3. Enough prize money to make it worthwhile for players to choose pool vs. selling cars or windows.
4. A promoter or sanctioning body committed to growing the sport

I mean, it's almost as if the MR and Emily Frasier have been reading AZ threads for the past decade and built the nineball brand with a checklist developed from our thread contributors.

I am super excited to see how big it can get. The patriot in me thinks it's a shame that it took a few Euro's to get it going, when 9 ball is as American as Apple Pie. I'll take what I can get though.
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Very well said. More than any event producer of this century, Matchroom has the sense, the plan and the management team to deliver pool from its doldrums.

They've come a long way already and have a long way to go, but things look very promising.
 
For completeness, Matchroom also released their open letter to WPA. It can be found here.

It’s curious of an approach to say WPA is focused on amateurs. My layman’s view of only having one championship per pool game (when they do occur) doesn’t really prioritize the amateurs.

Obviously if I play in a tournament I’m out in the first round so it doesn’t appeal to me, but if Matchroom builds out more then eventually there could be feeder tournaments. And that standardization and production value gets eyes and dollars in.
 
measureman said:
A $1 million grand prize in pool?
Thats a stretch.
Not gonna happen.
But I hope they do well.
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Totally understand. I’m referencing a quote Emily Frazier had with one of the CBS 60 Minutes Interview.

To be honest I think they could do it now but with cutting out some tournaments and making the pays top heavy. They are already paying that out now just spread out.
 
ALT_ESV said:
For completeness, Matchroom also released their open letter to WPA. It can be found here.

It’s curious of an approach to say WPA is focused on amateurs. My layman’s view of only having one championship per pool game (when they do occur) doesn’t really prioritize the amateurs.
...
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The members of the WPA are continental confederations. The members of those continental bodies are national governing bodies.

The continental bodies, like the EPBF (Europe) are responsible for overseeing/running tournaments on their continent, including continental championships. The EPBF also organizes the Eurotour.

The national bodies are responsible for running national championships and creating sports development programs. A good example of the latter is Poland where pool is offered as a sport in high schools.
 
Bob - Great points. That’s great insight and shows that the US side may be lacking in comparison. If the WPA is just responsible for a true World Championship, then I’m okay with being wrong. Kinda like the World Baseball games where there’s just one big deal. I guess I approach this stuff from a top down approach where the WPA would hope/expect the area confederations to do things as a part of being a member.
 
About 20 years ago, actually 2004, I was at the Skins Billiards Championship in Atlantic City. I got a chance to chat with a few of the competitors, one of which was a kind of shy Thorsten Hohmann. I asked him if there was a lot of money in pool in Europe, and he shook his head no. He said he likes competing here in the States, stating there were more opportunities available to a professional player like himself. I inquired of him further about the infamous lucrative Asian tourneys that Alex, Efren, Bustie, and the rest of the Filipino players enjoy, and he said most of those Asian tournaments are only open to Asian players, which I found curious.

Seems like pool is on the rise in Europe now. With travel costs being so high, it is going to be quite challenging for American pro players to attend pool events outside of the United States with the current payouts as they are. One must win, place, or show to break even at most events due to expenses, and they may be stuck from previous competitions that they did not win, place, or show, meaning they can't profit in the long run because of costs.

I am not knocking the multitude of opportunities that Matchroom is going to bring. Rather, I am stating the juice may not be worth the squeeze, resulting in players, even Shane Van Boening by his own words, having to pick and choose which tournaments to go to.

Pool payouts today are the same as in the '80s, yet cost of living in most places around the world has quadrupled.

Thorsten.JPG
 
Here’s my open letter to the WPA…

Dear WPA,

Stay out of the way of Matchroom. Let them try what they are attempting. Don’t resist it. Don’t go into self preservation mode. Don’t attempt sanctions. Don’t apply restrictions. Coexist independently as best you can.

Sincerely
A pool fan
 
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