Re: Decline of OKBridge reply

j.blubaugh wrote

>I guess I don't understand that logic. If that is true, there would be a
>McDonalds or Kentucky Fried Chicken on every corner because no matter how
>many they build, the market will expand to accommodate them. I think there
>is a finite number of bridge players. More services means the same number of
>players will be spread out over the services. There is no reason to expect
>an increase in players.
>
>Your analogy of more roads meaning more cars is different. Some people are
>not owning cars because of the congestion. I doubt there are many bridge
>players who are not playing because of the low number of services available.

  Sadly, that attitude is one of the biggest things wrong with the ACBL
today.  There is an enormous market out there - it is called every human
being on the planet - and some organisations, like the Dutch Bridge
Federation and BBO, are gaining market share, and others like the ACBL
and OKB are losing market share.

  But the number of bridge players is not static, and it is only limited
by the number of human beings, and go-ahead organisations should realise
this.

  Consider this: how many bridge players are going to hook up to the
internet in 2004 for the first time?  Are you suggesting they are not a
potential market for OKB, BBO and whoever else?

  As for McDonalds, suppose they had had that attitude 30 years ago.
Supposing they had been told that only one person in 25,000 ate
hamburgers and the market was static.  What would have happened?
Fortunately [or unfortunately, depending on your point of view] they did
not believe it.

  There are a few markets in certain items that may be saturated, but
they are few and far between, and certainly bridge is nowhere near its
potential limits, whether OLB or F2F.

-- 
David Stevenson               Bridge   RTFLB   Cats  Railways    /\ /\
Liverpool, England, UK        Fax: +44 870 055 7697               @ @
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>         ICQ 20039682     bluejak on OKB   =( + )=
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