Well-written article. Thanks for sharing. I enjoyed the read!

BTW, I didn't acknowledge that the antics of the Pro's certainly don't help!

On the other hand, how many NFL, NBA, MLB, etc. players are irrascable, unreliable and otherwise unworthy of any significant amount of respect? Lots of 'em ...

The difference is the NFL, NBA, MLB spectator spends a lot of $$dough$$ on food, beer, cars, viagra, etc., etc,. etc.

Don't forget that the sponsors generally GIVE stuff to the pro's, the pros are NOT their customers ... Your average pool player is their customer.

Pool has few sponsors because too many pool players are still squeezing the first nickel they ever touched. Just ask a few bar, tavern and parlor owners.

I'm started some new pool leagues in a wide geographical area and in many places, the ONLY thing on the players' minds is whether they will pay $5 or $7 a week and what % is paid back. Add this to the fact that 80% of them drink water or endless coffee refills all night. Yeah, these guys/gals will make EXCELLENT retail customers.

When is the last time you went to a movie, paid $10 or so per head to get in and then got $9 [or even $1] back when you walked out the door to go home?

As an advertiser/sponsor, who wants a Pool of Paupers as a client base.

Next time you're out shooting pool, buy something and encourage your friends to buy something. After all, the local bar isn't supposed to be a homeless shelter.

billiards hasn't gotten the attention it should since the early sixty's when it was on TV every weekend! been some shady promoters ever since!

Promoters have the responsibility of finding sponsors. They need to keep working harder and find the sponsors that exist in other sports. Here’s the problem:

Pool tournaments in this country are being ran by amateurs. Every single event in the US isn't run with a grain of professionalism as a MBL, NBA, or NFL game is. That is the problem in pool, which is why no major sponsor wants to sponsor events. Everything is being run by amateurs, all of these people are players or involved in the game for a life time, and think they can run an event. No. It takes a real business person and a professional event planner and massive marketing firms to put together a world class event.

People thought they had that in Galveston, but it just wasn’t even the camera work for the live stream table wasn't fit for a regional event. It was terrible.

Pool needs a media company to step in and take hold of professional events, hire a tournament director to run the event, and have a consultant from Diamond Tables help with the layout of the tables, but leave the rest to a professional event planning and marketing organization.

Also each event should have an additional 50-75K allotted to have ESPN record the event, something we must pay for. Then eventually if the viewership is high enough maybe for ONCE we will have a viable product worth selling to the American people and fans. Thus selling commercials ect… Otherwise we have nothing, so since we have nothing who is being hurt? The players. That is why I support the players efforts and feel they should be given their money on time with no question. These guys travel around the country and world playing, many of them cannot afford to have money tied up for an extended period of time.

Without professional people running these alleged professional events, there will never be a major sponsor in pool

You know it is a funny game we play it in solitude one player against another. Everyone has won and everyone has lost. Everyone has given and taken a beating. Everyone has had an issue at one point or another. It is not a situation that fosters a community like team play. It is no wonder there is so much infighting even as to the direction to take or who is going to represent that direction.
I understand the ABPs issue but do not take down the most prestigious 9 ball event to get that message across. Perhaps the ABP's mission needs to focus on fostering growing the sport rather than protecting the players. If the sport is vibrant the money will come.

The trouble is there is no overall governing body, so there are no sanctions for bad behavior, what ever form that takes. Until there is one the problem will be ever present, if only we could get someone like Matchroom to take over the game.....................oh well

Bravo for Mike for telling it like it is!

Professional pool is indeed "getting worse and worse," just like a nightmare!

Thanks for the report Mike.

Billiard enthusiasts have been asking each other for a great many years, "why isn't our game on prime time and our champions pulling in the big bucks" and the answers given thus far have yet to include the fact that, in general, the USA Billiard Community has been an unethical group. More so than many of us would imagine.

I applaud all like AZHousePro here for exposing unethical conduct whenever and wherever found in our billiard world for in so doing they are striving to make things so much better for the rest of us.

for a more ethical and better billiard world,

Eddie Robin

The streaming was great - I really appreciate the opportunity to see more of the competition than just the last 4! Thank you