Matchroom Multi Sport CEO Emily Frazer targets World Nine-Ball Tour expansion following another successful edition of the Sportsbet.io Mosconi Cup at Alexandra Palace.
The Sportsbet.io Mosconi Cup is a nine-ball pool tournament held annually between teams representing Europe and the United States in a Ryder cup-style format— and team Europe just won their sixth successive title this December.
Matchroom have brought the cup to life yearly since 1994, and after a successful Netflix series Matchroom: The Greatest Showmen starring Barry and Eddie Hearn, co-star Frazer is eyeing a pool of expansion.
She said: “The moment we stop trying to evolve and build, I should quit my job.
“There are people that know of the Mosconi Cup but don’t know about the World Nine-Ball Tour, which is only in its third year of growing.
“The Mosconi is the event that can build the rest of the tour and grow those events, at different opens. Two years ago we weren’t sold out like this.”
This cup is known for its darts-like atmosphere and, notably, it even shares a venue with the World Darts Championship: Alexandra Palace.
But this isn’t coincidental, nor are these the only elements of the cup inspired by darts.
Frazer said: “Why not try to copy the PDC (Professional Darts Corporation)?
“We push the boundaries to try to make it entertaining for casual sports fans. My dream in two years’ time is to have a full fans village like the darts has.
“Alexandra Palace is iconic and everyone associates it with the World Darts Championship. At the darts they are screaming when the player is trying to get that double to finish.
“We’re trying to meet darts with the nine ball pool and the Mosconi Cup is the event we can do that with here at Ally Pally.”
Box To Box Films released the Netflix series on September 17 this year, showcasing behind the scenes content of the Matchroom sport empire.
The production company covers a wide range of sports, but they are most famous for their worldwide boxing coverage.
Frazer believes the documentary has attracted a new demographic to audiences at professional pool tournaments.
She added: “The documentary is an interesting one. It’s brought a newer audience to nine-ball pool.
“A lot of people didn’t know there was a relation with boxing, darts, snooker, nine-ball pool and multi sport.
“However, the Mosconi has been running for over 30 years and it’s actually created its own buzz, its own following.”
Feature image: World Nineball Tour
Join the discussion