Wing Shots

Blast from Past

PBT, former commissioner Mackey launch retro site.

An old, familiar brand name will be collecting content at this year’s International Open.

The Pro Billiards Tour, a staple of men’s professional pool throughout the 1990s, announced in a mid-August press release that the organization would be on site to produce supplemental video content for the nineday 9-ball, 10-ball and one-pocket tournaments scheduled to be held in Norfolk from Oct. 28 through Nov. 5. While production company Accu-Stats will remain the live streaming broadcaster of all of the event’s matches, legendary players like Mike Sigel, Kim Davenport and Reed Pierce will be at the event to provide interviews, analysis and other content usually not seen at the competition.

“Our plan is to stream content we produce on location that will look behind the scenes of the Open,” said Gary Firestone, chief executive officer of Firestone Advertising. “Some of billiards’ greatest players will be active in our efforts behind the scenes to show the audience the action that takes place with the competitors during camera offtime.”

Dormant since the late ’90s, the PBT is back as a content provider.

The Pro Billiards Tour was formed in 1991 and produced over 100 pool tournaments over a six-year period. According to a press release by the Tour, a handful of top players from that era — including Sigel, Davenport and Pierce — joined up with former PBT commissioner Don Mackey last year to launch a reconstituted PBT, with the current focus being on digitizing and remastering over 100 hours of matches televised on various cable outlets to create the “Legends of Billiards Series.” This content will then be made available on various web-based platforms and the Tour’s website, with analysis by top players of the day.

“The explosion of web-based sports marketing and distribution, virtual game play, social media and the incredible disruptive impact of blockchain technologies has revolutionized sports around the world,” said Mackey in the release. “The PBT is uniquely positioned to become the world’s leading billiards brand by leveraging all the platforms that access the global market.”