          Y-O-Y SAME EVENT REGL TABLES N=77 [10/26]   
ALL OPEN SECTIONAL TABLES N=390 [10/1]
I/N TOURNEY TABLES N=112 [10/1]  
N A B C TABLES  
       
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LOCAL CLUB TABLES SINCE JANUARY 1st N=40 wks [10/13] 
ROLLING 52-WEEK CLUB TABLES N=52 wks [10/13]
ROLLING 52-WEEK TABLES AVERAGE PER WEEK N=52 wks [10/13]
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For the first six months of 2025, the overall same-event regional total tables are off by 1,579 tables (or -4.5%) compared to the same period last year. (33,262 tables vs 34,841 tables in 1H2024.) (2025's Gatlinburg TN was not only the largest regional tournament of the year, but had the largest dropoff in tables and Y-O-Y percentage; without the Gatlinburg TN results, same-event regional table counts through 1H2025 average -1.9% off last year's tournaments.) |
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NOTE That the trends in team tables are not universal across all ACBL Regionals. Below are two charts which show one chart (in green) with tournaments seeing an increase in team table percentages each year - the other chart (in red) showing tournament that have experienced a lower team table percentage each year. Overall, however, through June 15th, the 51.2% team table percentage across all of the ACBL's Open Regionals is the first time it's been above 50% in the post-COVID era (and 2019, also).   |
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Once the "hardest pigmented points to get", the ACBL has made getting silver points super easy without heading to your local sectional tournament. ("Silver Linings Weeks", for starters, which are YUUUGE money makers for the ACBL on BBO. . .even if at the cost of your local sectional tournament). |
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NOTE The "Gatlinburg Effect" which saw the largest dropoff in comparable regionals so far this year (-28.2%), is also the largest table count of any regional and thus a huge part of Y-O-Y numbers; without the 2025 Gatlinburg result, the average change in open regional tables per tournament is actually off -2.6%, not -4.4%. |
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Below that is a chart of the average tables per session for I/N Sectionals in 2025. Most of these tournaments are running 10 tables per session or less (which isn't terrible), but a few are really impressing. The 17.3 tables per session was for a one-day NLM tournament in Sauk Rapids, MN, area population of 161,000 (16.6% population is 65+) - that's almost as many tables per session as Palm Desert CA (population 374,000, where there's a much higher percentage of retirees [33.8% population is 65+]). |
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As of April 2023, the ACBL allowed an online event during your Regional (limited to the district host's players). But just as online tables in the E-clubs have crumbled in the past two years, online tables in these events have fallen sharply just in the past 12 months - and across all tournaments. A look at BBO online tables that are associated with face-to-face Regional tournaments, some tournaments are now struggling to get to the "break even" point financially with an online option (13 online tables or more). That could accelerate this online option's decline even faster. The chart to your left includes the online tables for regional tournaments held in both 2024 and 2025. UPDATE: The ACBL moved to eliminate online play associated with F2F Regionals at the 2025 Summer NABC. They claimed that tournament organizers in general "were not aware of the costs involved" and "more often than not lost money" on the event (which, looking at the chart to your left, you can understand why). And regarding the "Silver Linings Weeks" that the ACBL runs to shovel out silver points during the year; you'll note that their weekly BBO E-Club table totals are quite literally "off the chart" during those weeks. Up to 7 standard deviations above their mean weekly tables. This prompted the ACBL to add a third "Silver Linings Week" to their online schedule in 2024, even if very likely contributing to the decline in face-to-face sectional attendance. Masterpoint inflation is real, and it is spectacular. |
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