As is every year thanks to my BCA membership, I was once again treated to the SGMA’s annual participation report for pool and billiards. And, as is tradition, the report is anything but rosy. Numbers were once again down across the board.
To start, we can look at the “full participation” numbers. This is anyone who picked up a pool cue at least once in 2011. This is really a garbage number, because it does not give any sort of realistic picture of how many people play pool. Hitting a few balls at a friend’s house once in 2011 shouldn’t count as participation, but I’m not the one writing the report, so there it is. It does provide a nice baseline I suppose, but ultimately it makes people believe the industry is far larger than it is.
Full Participation Numbers (1+ times per year)
2007: 51,089,000
2009: 43,005,000
2011: 36,831,000
Translation, the overall number, including the most casual of casual players, has dropped by 27.9% since 2007. This is obviously a bad number, but as mentioned previously, from a true participation perspective, this doesn’t really paint a clear picture. Instead, we need to look at the true core participation numbers. These are people who have played pool at least 13 times per year. These are people who have a true interest in the game. Unfortunately, the picture is far more grim than the “all participants” number.
Core Participation (13+ times per year)
2007: 20,294,000
2009: 15,702,000
2011: 12,132,000
Over the past 5 years, core participation has dropped by 22.7% since 2009 and 40.2% since 2007 to a total of just over 12 million people. Segmenting the the core further does not paint any rosier of a picture. Those who played 13-24 times per year dropped 22.1% from 2009 to 2011:
Regular Participation (13-24 times per year)
2007: Not Available
2009: 5,574,000
2011: 4,340,000
Then there’s the hardcore players. The industry’s bread and butter. The people that play at least 25 times per year. They dropped 23.1% to an astonishingly bad 7.792 million.
Frequent Participation (25+ times per year)
2007: Not Available
2009: 10,128,000
2011: 7,792,000
So what’s the reason for the decline? Age. In 2007, core players 45 and older represented 26.5% of the total core. In 2011, that number jumped to 37% of the total core. Pool continues to get older and their aren’t younger participants coming in to the game. In 2007, kids under 17 represented 14.8% of the core participation. In 2011, it dropped to 9.8%.
Without sounding too insensitive, the core of the billiards industry is dying. The industry needs a constant influx of young players to replace the ones that pass. If we don’t start bringing youth to the table, the industry will continue to fade. And I swear, if one person blames the decline of the industry on video games, I’m gonna have a conniption. That industry isn’t exactly healthy either (not to mention that video games were around and highly accessible 20 years ago during the golden years).
Source: SGMA Single Sport Participation Report Billiards/Pool (2008, 2010, 2012)
Google+
That set of data is very sad. I think it is closely linked to the economy and increasing costs of doing business in this country today.
It is hard to make a living with the revenue generated per sq.ft. from a pool room. Especially, in the more populated, high-rent, areas of the country. The days of the old-fashioned pool room are fading away. Sad to see it happen.
Thanks for sharing.
Cheers,
Skippy
There are a number of factors driving the continuing decline of the industry. The economy certainly plays a role, but the biggest issue continues to be the fact that there isn’t a new generation of pool players coming in to replace the old ones.
If pool halls want to survive, they need to find ways to drive youth interest. Too many pool halls are filled with illegal gambling, drugs and fighting. As a parent, there are very few pool halls I’ve seen that I’d be ok with my kids going to. Hell, there aren’t many pool halls I’d be comfortable going in to.
I agree that the economy is effecting this as well as our youth being sold into over stimulating fast paced technology that doesn’t cater to classical games in the way chess, billiards, darts, etc. These are skill games that take hours of play to get good and even more, mostly frustrating
to master, when they can get points in 10 minutes on the latest Call of Duty game. Now, believe you me I like my CoD too, but I think the major problem is that kids or young adults lack any knowledge about the history of the game or have even tried it.
My father taught me how to play at the age of 9 and I was hooked. It was mesmerizing to me how he could hit something seemingly so hard that the ball would just magically stop still. That when he applied follow that the cue ball would change direction and curve around the ball he just hit although it appeared he hit it dead on. You see what my father was is an ambassador of the game and although I’ll beat the pants off him now that I am 30 and he 65, (our last outing had us at my 11 to his 2, 9 ball). He was an ambassador of the game by showing me and sharing his knowledge and by doing so he created a billiards addict for life.
My point is to many times I am at the bar watching two billiards noobs struggling to hold a stick or racking balls incorrectly and their opponent(s) who may be one of the house players and probably mostly because of competitive nature acts in a way that says I am better then you because I know what I am doing and you don’t beats the guy senseless on the table and talks a bunch of trash whilst doing it. Do you think he is helping promote or destroy the game? I bet it’s that same guy out there complaining that pool is disappearing.
Now I ain’t saying I am perfect but when I am out shooting and it’s winner stays and I am on the table if it’s a new face I ask them I say “Hey man, you ever heard of ‘ball in hand?” or some other basic pool term that almost any ‘player’ should know. If he says I got it I’ll be fine then lets shoot. If not and he’s like “Ball in hand???” I ask him next ” wanna make a bet?” most of the time they say “no.” I tell them I don’t want your money but what I am going to do is help you beat me. Now I aint going to hand you the table but if you win I’ll buy ya a beer, but if I win you have to show at least one of your buddies in the next 30 days just what I showed you. Then I show him exactly how to beat me. Chances are I am still going to win cause he might not have the technical skill to beat me. Some times it’s that bad where I just try to help him hold the cue correctly other times it might be a bank or a specific carom or safety that will leave me stuck dead. But, If I show him one thing and it works and his eyes light up like mine once had, you can bet that he’s going to be out in the next 30 days trying to show his friends.
The point is simple, I pass the torch on that my father handed to me. I try to be an ambassador to the sport I love dearly and I try to let others become better at the craft. That is how we effect and grow billiards, one on one the rest will grow from there.