What would Barry Hearn do?
By Bert van Manen, January 2014
The televised final of the PDC World Darts championship, won on the first day of 2014 by 24 year-old Dutchman Michael van Gerwen, was seen by 2.000.000 people in the Netherlands (1 in 8). Van Gerwen, or "Shrekkie”, took home £ 250.000, well over $ 400.000. For many billiard players who watched it, there was a little envy mixed in with the joy. How great it would be, if 3-cushion was this popular! What are we doing wrong?
Top level darts, which was not even an international sport but a predominantly British low-brow pastime 20 years ago, is now under the supervision of sports entrepreneur extraordinaire Barry Hearn, who was widely praised in recent years for the way he breathed new life into snooker. Hearn was equally successful in his overhaul of professional darts. He understands formats, brings in the crowds and gives them what they want. More prize money than ever is being paid out, and it all comes back with interest, in the form of ticket sales, advertising, merchandising and tv-rights. TV, that is the all-or-nothing word here. Billiards has, for decades now, been unable to break out of the Catch-22: if you HAVE tv-time, you can attract sponsorship money and organize large-scale events with good prize money. But to GET tv-time, you must have a large-scale event with good prize money. Hearn, like the late Werner Bayer in 1985, is willing to take a business risk. You can’t, in all fairness, expect a billiards (con)federation to do that, as they would be gambling with other people’s money.
It’s not hard to see why crowds of thousands fill the rooms, and why tv loves darts. Most of the top players are instantly recognizable, larger than life characters, their looks and attire often outrageous. The "walk-on” girls are gorgeous and over-the-top sexy. There’s tattoos and tits everywhere you look. But to give credit where it is due, the main quality of these events is the PACE. The average leg of darts is over in less than three minutes, momentum can shift in seconds, there is never a dull moment.
Can stuffy old billiards learn from this? Can we transfer some of the appeal, the commercial potential to 3-cushion? Many think we can and should, and they are quick to pinpoint the reasons we are not attracting the young:
- the dated dress code
- the length of the matches
- the solemn silence
- the lack of excitement
I agree with a good portion of the criticism. We have been complacent for too long, we DO need to freshen up 3-cushion. But I could not live with myself if I did not argue for the other side as well.
Darts and billiards may both be skill sports, but they are not siblings, not even distant cousins. One is a video clip, the other a film. One is a comic book, the other a novel. Hotdogs have more commercial potential than truffles. We must not delude ourselves into thinking that we will ever be able to turn 3-cushion billiards into a mainstream sport. It is just too complicated, too specialist, too demanding to play AND watch, too much of an acquired taste. And let’s stubbornly be proud of that. In the last week of 2013, there was the 37th edition of an old school tournament in Zundert, on the Dutch / Belgian border. They did everything "wrong” there: group matches to 50 and a final to 75, soft music, a very modest budget for the players, stern referees in black, no tits and very few tattoos on display. Was it a disaster? A last convulsion of a dying sport? On the contrary. For four days, every seat in the house was taken. Over 2500 spectators in total, many more watching on Kozoom. Caudron won the tournament in his usual style (averaging 2.091), making the most heartbreakingly difficult game in the world look easy. I am not arguing that "Zundert” proves we can sit back and not change anything about our sport. It just shows that there is still plenty of interest in 3-cushion AS IT IS.
The major networks will not pick up this game of ours, no matter what we change. Dancing girls and party hats, a 20 second shot clock and sets to 10, to 7 or to 5 will not do the trick. Put it on a paper plate, cover it with ketchup; it will still be a truffle, not a hotdog. We have lost tv, and we’re not going to get it back. What we have instead, is Kozoom. A tailor made medium that brings billiards into your home, for a few dollars a month. I would love to see Kozoom grow (and improve here and there: the option to watch the major tournaments with or without a commentator would be great, and I wish the screen was bigger when chat is activated) but other than that, I think Kozoom is amazing value for money, the best invention since sliced bread. This is where the future of televised 3-cushion lies.
As for billiards getting older, I am not too worried. A new Haeng Jik Kim’s and another Glenn Hofman will emerge every few years. They will struggle at first, which is good. As Barry Hearn says it: "The sport is under no obligation to give players money, all it owes them is opportunities. Money is not for showing up, it is for winning.” Charles Darwin would agree.