'The Hustler',' The Color of Money", now the question is what's the next thing?
Posted 10-08-2012 at 06:39 PM by CJ Wiley
You guys are making some impressive points about why pool's not as popular now as it was in the 90's when Millions of people watched pool on ESPN. The fact is when 1000 random people were recently polled only 2% said they would watch pool on TV, and the reasons appeared simple.
It didn't matter how much money was involved or even what type of pool game it was. On the other hand when ask if they would be interested in watching pool if they knew the player and had heard them tell interesting stories about gambling at pool and life on the road, it jumped up to over 70%. Then when ask if they would gamble on their favorite players the numbers jumped up to over 80%. And the older demographic was 90%.
This puts a big hole in the stories saying "pool's not successful because of the image of gambling and hustling". It's quite the contrary my pool friends, the fact is pool can not be successful without the image of hustling and gambling.
This is the "powder" in the magic bullet and the key that unlocks the door to understanding the real reason pool has declined in the past 15 years. After all the waves were all made by 'THE HUSTLER' and 'THE COLOR OF MONEY'.
I road the last wave and did very well until about 10 years after the release of the 'Color of Money' (1986 Movie starring Paul Newman and Tom Cruise). I cringe every time I hear about the image or the game its self being the problem. In fact the solution is using the strength of pool, which is the underworld characters.
Finding a way to bring out the gambling action in an exciting, classy, tasteful way and positioning it to maximize entertainment value. Mixed martial arts recently did this, World Wide Wrestling and Texas Hold'em are doing it. And our very own Minnesota Fats took on the role of a movie character and did it years ago. The Game of pool is fine, it's the personalities that need the special attention and the character building.
This can be strategically done with the help of true acting professionals and a well scripted pool plot and theme. It's been proven twice that the masses will enjoy the allure of pocket billiards. 'The Hustler', then 'The Color of Money", now the question is "what's the next thing to captivate America, a documentary, a reality show, or another movie? Maybe we need to get ahold of Tom Cruise.
It didn't matter how much money was involved or even what type of pool game it was. On the other hand when ask if they would be interested in watching pool if they knew the player and had heard them tell interesting stories about gambling at pool and life on the road, it jumped up to over 70%. Then when ask if they would gamble on their favorite players the numbers jumped up to over 80%. And the older demographic was 90%.
This puts a big hole in the stories saying "pool's not successful because of the image of gambling and hustling". It's quite the contrary my pool friends, the fact is pool can not be successful without the image of hustling and gambling.
This is the "powder" in the magic bullet and the key that unlocks the door to understanding the real reason pool has declined in the past 15 years. After all the waves were all made by 'THE HUSTLER' and 'THE COLOR OF MONEY'.
I road the last wave and did very well until about 10 years after the release of the 'Color of Money' (1986 Movie starring Paul Newman and Tom Cruise). I cringe every time I hear about the image or the game its self being the problem. In fact the solution is using the strength of pool, which is the underworld characters.
Finding a way to bring out the gambling action in an exciting, classy, tasteful way and positioning it to maximize entertainment value. Mixed martial arts recently did this, World Wide Wrestling and Texas Hold'em are doing it. And our very own Minnesota Fats took on the role of a movie character and did it years ago. The Game of pool is fine, it's the personalities that need the special attention and the character building.
This can be strategically done with the help of true acting professionals and a well scripted pool plot and theme. It's been proven twice that the masses will enjoy the allure of pocket billiards. 'The Hustler', then 'The Color of Money", now the question is "what's the next thing to captivate America, a documentary, a reality show, or another movie? Maybe we need to get ahold of Tom Cruise.
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