As applications for the 2011 Inc. 500 | 5000 pour into our offices, we thought it would be worthwhile to shine a spotlight on some of the companies that are vying to appear on our ranking of the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. (For more information and to apply, go to http://www.inc.com/inc5000apply/2011/index.html.) One that caught our eye was the Lake St. Louis, Missouri-based American Poolplayers Association.
Originally popularized in the mid-1800s by the French and subsequently enjoyed by all European nobility, billiards has made its way into the mainstream here in the states. Last year, nearly 40 million Americans played pool at least once, and over the last three years, wholesale revenue of billiard equipment reached $521 million in the U.S., according to a report by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA).
Prior to 1979, however, pool had difficulty gaining traction as a money-maker in the U.S. There was no standardized system of play, no standard set of rules, no handicap system, no stars of the sport, and no existing league system to compete against other players. Without any structures in place, there was simply no money in the game.
Professional pool players Terry Bell and Larry Hubbart changed all that. Bell and Huppart had traveled around the country on the professional circuit noting how each city would have a slightly different interpretation of the game.
“[Terry and Larry] believed that to have fans, you have to standardize things,” says Rene