OX Gives 75% of Its Profits Back to the Local and Global Cue Sports Community
OX Billiards opened August 28th, 2021. The nine months before opening saw hundreds of thousands of dollars disappear due to COVID forcing the closure of BAIZE Snooker club. More than the money, a dream was on death’s doorstep. The vision of what was possible was in a lurch and never getting a chance to fulfill the vision was heartbreaking, exhausting, and frustrating. The fact that it was no one’s fault made it seem like a run of the mill everyday occurrence because, it was. Myriad people and lives were suffering along with us, and we were saved by friends and supporters. We were lucky.
Partnering with Christian, Phuc, and Jaime was a life-line to keeping the dream alive. Retail Therapy owner, Wazhma tipped me off about the basement space that OX lives in. Loads of friends helped move the snooker tables in the rain on a busy Saturday night in Capitol Hill. And Mike E designed the perfect logo that fits our story and our goal of bringing different cue sports under one roof in a professional setting in order to raise the standard of cue sports.
In OX’s first full year of being in business we already saw a profit. We have also been noticed by the pool and snooker world from a local and global scale. Our commitment to local and global support for cue sports is spelled out in our mission statement and proved in how we dealt with the profit and the attention. A whopping 75% of our profits were spent on supporting local players and tournaments, other clubs’ and bars’ tournaments, a professional snooker player, pool associations, creative work for WBCA, behind the scenes work for the NW Cup, behind the scenes work with the United States Snooker Association, collaboration with WPBSA, hosting the first snooker ranking tournament in America with WWS, free lessons for beginners, upkeep of our equipments for better player’s experience, helping start other clubs in the area, sitting on the board of directors for NWPA, and on and on.
Yes, 75% of this small and local start-up’s profit is a huge contribution considering how young we are. Add in the free labor and volunteer hours and you’ll see a large portion of our free time is dedicated to the community. It is a labor of love. Think about the hundreds of thousands of dollars that was lost and how easy it could have been to make OX a highly profitable club by packing in more tables, selling liquor (stop being all ages), not maintain our equipment, keeping all the profit, and fill the room with greasy food. But that is not who OX is. We remember the original dream and vision that we pulled out of the fire. We are here for the community and want to see people reach their goals and fulfill their dreams and vision.
If you are a regular at OX, thank you, and thank you for being a member as well. However, if you have been hesitant to visit OX, please know that your support of OX translates to supporting the local and global cue sports world. We are always looking for volunteers because we know people have our same vision. We will play to your strengths and put you where you want to be. If you have been asked by OX for sponsorship, please consider how we use the money we collect. Let’s keep OX alive.