Does anyone have or know any statistical information about backgammon popularity growth?

Why? Planning a possible career?

You guess right.

Intersting. Best of luck with it. I have no idea about the populartiy and such. But, I hope you do well in your pursuits.

I can give you a rough history of the popularity of BG since 1920, which may be useful. Here goes:

1920-1940: first big upswing in popularity, fueled by the invention of the doubling cube and the chouette after WWI. Centered in private New York clubs, but spread out from there to become a nationwide craze. About 20 books published in this period. Ended with WWII.

1940-1964: BG pretty much disappears except in private clubs in NY, Miami, and London.

1964: Prince Alex Obolensky decides BG would be a very popular game with the right promotion and publicity. He contacts his friends from the private club circuit and runs the first major tournament in the Bahamas in February, 1964. A total of 32 players show up and Charles Wacker of Chicago defeats Porter Ijams of NY in the finals. In May, Sports Illustrated runs a long piece about the tournament, probably due to Obolensky's influence.

1965-1970: The Bahamas tournament is held again in 1965 and attendance doubles to 64. Obolensky adds other tournaments and creates a little circuit through the 1960s. He interests a lot of Hollywood celebrities (Lucille Ball, John Wayne, Polly Bergen, Jim Brown, and others) whose presence at tournaments generates more publicity. Tournaments are now attracting fields of 64 to 128 players.

1970: Obolensky hits the jackpot when he gets Hugh Hefner to take up the game. Hefner promotes the game in Playboy, showing celebrities and pros chouetting at the Playboy Mansion with naked beauties gazing on adoringly. Young men everywhere take notice. In New York, a lot of math types start to play in public card clubs, and the Mayfair Club becomes the center of the action. Paul Magriel is recognized as the up and coming superstar of the new generation.

1970-1976: Tournaments spread to Europe. Lots of new clubs open up in the US and Europe and a professional class of young touring pros starts to develop. A big tournament can now attract 200+ players, a mix of celebrities, wealthy amateurs, and pros. More articles start to appear in national magazines.

1977-1981: The peak of the boom. Tournaments everywhere. Local one-night events might attract 150-200 players. The attendance record for a major event is set by the World Amateur Championships in Las Vegas in January, 1978, with 652 players (no pros allowed) and a $380,000 first prize. The first World Championship in Monte Carlo in 1979 (earlier events were held in Las Vegas and the Bahamas) had 309 players in the Championship Division, still a record. Articles on Magriel appeared in Sports Illustrated and the Atlantic.

1982-2002: Interest slowly decreases from the peak but remains well above the pre-1976 period. Still lots of tournaments, with attendance 60% to 70% of the peak years. Local clubs and high-stakes chouettes are the real casualties of the slump in interest.

2003-2009: Everyone goes off to play poker. Backgammon players adapt well to this lush new environment. Backgammon tournaments hang on, but attendance drops 30% to 40% from the 1990s period.

2010 and beyond: I'm sensing a change in the weather. Book sales are up, tournament attendance seems to be rising, and I'm getting more requests for coaching than I have in a while. A lot of the new people seem to be poker players who want to try something a little different. Too early to be sure, but something may be happening. Backgammon is a truly great game, after all.

I believe Dan Harrington in addition to being a Poker Pro, and Chess champion is(was) also regarded as one of the top Backgammon authorities in the USA. I dont think he ever made much of a career out of the latter.

Is it just me or does this post just seem insolent after Bill Robertie's splendid potted history of backgammon?

I love backgammon, but I don't think there will be near enough action even if there is a boom/resurgence to generate an environment anywhere close to what the poker boom was like (where many talented but not world class players could make a living playing the game).

IMO, there just isn't enough luck in the game to create the appearance that anyone can win. Perhaps a few world class players can or will be able to make a living playing backgammon and maybe a few merely talented players with access to the right whales, but don't plan a career playing backgammon.

Great review of the history of the game in the US, Robertie. Hopefully more will continue to learn this game. Here in Connecticut our "club" has been growing slowly , but surely. Either way, I plan on playing for the rest of my life .

Is he mass popularity of BG really the issue? Isn't the issue whether or not you can find players and/or a community who are willing to play for high stakes?

The two issues are very separate. Amazing as it may seem, BG is a very sociable game (much more so than poker or chess) and a lot of players just enjoy the socialbility even while playing for very modest stakes. The high-stakes world is a different sort of place, although even there people usually have a good time while trying to win some money.

In BG, as in life, good players who are also friendly and open will do far better in the long run than those who grimly try to grind out a buck.

How popular is bingo? Not very. But bingo clubs seem to do alright. Why?
1. It's a social environment.
2. A chance to win money.

Ya wanna open a backgammon club? Suggestions:
Don't limit it to just backgammon. Put a couple of pool tables in there. How 'bout some chess stuff. How 'bout bingo once a week? How 'bout a big sign outside that say, "WIN BIG BUCK$"

How 'bout seperate rooms or sections for money games and non-money games?

And...uhm...I wouldn't allow alcoholic beverages in there...!!

Where in CT is your backgammon "club"?

Just a personal opinion, but the supposed highlight of the backgammon year, the Monaco World Championship, will continue to do nothing to enhance the appeal or popularity of backgammon. Shame really.

What I'd love to see is a PokerNews for backgammon, with heaps of interviews and insights. Andy Bell and the WSOP crew are doing their bit, and I'm thankful for whatever video content they produce.

Dan Harrington WON the Backgammon World Cup in Dallas years ago - certainly the most prestigious BG event.

False, unfortunately. Dan won a tournament in Washington DC in 1980 which was called the "World Cup" by its organizer. There were some problems with the tournament and he never organized a follow-up.

Kent Goulding and I organized a Master's Invitational which we called the World Cup of Backgammon in 1988 in Boston. It went well and we organized five more events, held at two-year intervals, the 1990 event being in Boston, and the 1992 through 1998 events in Dallas. Danny never played in those events. He was busy with his poker career and had less time for backgammon.

There was one!
But it never ran that good I think, I think the 'http://' was something like 'backgammon.pokernews.com' , I think even Robertie wrote some articles for them.

Yeah I knew that. What I meant was I wish there was somewhere that did live reporting and took heaps of videos, and heck, even had a vibrant forum. Stick's BGonline "forum" tilts me, it looks like something from 1995.

wish i could play better and had bigger bankroll
i know some semi fishes which have no problem playing 500 euro a point, why did i try to progress in poker instead of backgammon? sick beat

how much time would it take me to play decent backgammon? im pretty intelligent and studied physics. thank in advance for answer

I really don't like the forum style either, but it is really nice to be able to post and copy the HTML positions from XG/GNU.