Tucson PP 78 – 10X Bonus

Tuscon Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·19m 30s·analyzed·Mar 18, 2026

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 (batch) · $0.011

TL;DR

Tucson pinball operator reflects on 10-year milestone: 301 tournaments, venue transition challenges, and using Pokémon as a casual player gateway.

Summary

The host of Tucson Pinball Podcast reflects on 10 years of hosting pinball tournaments and operating games, sharing milestone statistics (301 IFPA tournaments hosted, 2,566 total players, 140 unique players) and discussing the transition from TISC (a hockey rink) to Hot Rods as their primary venue. A major operational challenge is marketing to casual players outside the existing tournament community, with recent success using the new Pokémon pinball machine as a gateway to attract younger players. The host emphasizes the importance of venue visibility and social media presence in growing the hobby beyond core enthusiasts.

Key Claims

301 IFPA tournaments hosted across 10 years
high confidence · Host citing direct IFPA data for their own tournament record
TISC (hockey rink) experienced 44% drop in coin drop when comparing 2024 (last year at TISC) to 2025 (first year at Hot Rods)
high confidence · Host presenting comparative venue data between two locations
TISC closed on October 31, 2024
high confidence · Host stating official closure date of previous venue
Hot Rods has 3,400 followers on Facebook but hasn't posted since approximately 2022
medium confidence · Host estimating venue's social media metrics and activity level
Pokémon (the new pinball machine) is attracting children and families to Hot Rods, with multiple groups of kids observed playing during recent visits
high confidence · Host directly observing player behavior at venue over 2.5-3 hour period
New player retention rate is approximately 50% (39 out of 64 new players returned)
high confidence · Host citing IFPA data showing new player return statistics
Largest single tournament event hosted was 25 players (a Tucson Pinball League submission)
high confidence · Host referencing their tournament attendance records
TISC was located in an industrial area not visible from the street, with limited casual foot traffic potential
high confidence · Host describing venue location and accessibility challenges

Notable Quotes

“The biggest question is, is how do you find people that aren't already even aware?”
Host (referencing discussion from JBS roundtable podcast) @ ~45:00 — Core challenge identified for growing the pinball hobby beyond existing players; central theme of episode
“one of the biggest struggles, I think, the hobby faces is just letting people know that there's these other things inside an establishment.”
Host @ ~30:00 — Identifies venue visibility and marketing as systemic industry problem affecting casual player acquisition
“Pokemon just came out. I just put it out a couple days ago and it doesn't take much thought to say, hey, I wonder if this is going to bring new people to pinball.”
Host @ ~38:00 — Recognition of Pokémon's potential as gateway game for new (younger) player demographics
“If we can convince you to come out once, flip a coin whether you're going to come back, I guess.”
Host @ ~15:00 — Self-aware observation about ~50% new player retention challenge
“Pool tables get in the way of pinball machines and you can put a lot more pinball machines when you have less than one pool table.”
Host @ ~12:00 — Humorous but practical observation about space optimization in venue management

Entities

Tucson Pinball PodcastorganizationTISCvenueHot RodsvenueIFPAorganizationPokémongameTucson Pinball LeagueorganizationMetallicagame Iron Maidengame Godzilla

Signals

?
operational_signal: 44% drop in coin drop after moving from TISC to Hot Rods; indicates significant operational impact of venue relocation despite maintaining tournament organization
high · Direct comparative data provided by host: '2024 TISC to 2025 Hot Rods, that's the breakdown... There was a 44% drop in coin drop'
?
venue_signal: TISC (ice hockey rink) officially closed October 31, 2024, forcing relocation of established tournament operations
high · Host states: 'October 31st of 2024 is when the rink officially shut down'
?
community_signal: New player retention rate approximately 50%; out of 64 new players, only 39 returned to play again
high · Host reports IFPA data: 'New Players 64 and New Players Who Played Again 39. So a little bit over a 50% retention rating'
?
venue_signal: Previous TISC venue suffered from poor visibility and location in industrial area with limited casual traffic; contributed to low coin drop
high · Host details: 'The rink was not, I mean, for casual foot traffic, it was not in a good spot. It was in an industrial area, kind of in the back of that, not visible from the street'
?
product_launch: Pokémon pinball released at Hot Rods 'a couple days ago'; immediately attracting younger casual players and families
high · Host observes: 'Pokemon just came out. I just put it out a couple days ago... there were several groups of kids... that went and they played and almost all of it was Pokemon'

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.059

0:00

Playfields! Playfields! Party time! Excellent! What's up everybody? Welcome to episode 78 of the Tucson Pinball Podcast. Welcome to Wayne's World. This episode, I mean all episodes are a little delayed, but this episode especially was a little bit more delayed than intended, but that actually kind of worked out in my favor because I got a little bit more information to kind of complete the picture. So, this last year, 2025, mid-year, was our 10th anniversary as hosting pinball stuff, doing pinball operating, all the fun stuff, doing pinball. And I had some stats on the tournament side, and I thought it was kind of interesting, you know, just some of the information that was there. As of, and this is what's kind of one of the aspects that's kind of nice of having a little bit of a delay, is we kind of crossed a milestone. I'm at 301 tournaments and this is all IFPA data for now. I'll tell you when we switch over. 301 tournaments hosted. That's, that's pretty cool. There was once upon a time I was doing a weekly at TISC and that was a lot. It wasn't, it wasn't bad. Um, it was, it was a lot, but it was nice to have kind of that routine. Um, but it was, it was a little bit much, I think just in general. Um, so kind of knock that down. So now we're just doing, um, second and third Saturday. I host something and then got the novice league on the fourth week, which that doesn't even count in the IFPA event. So this is a little, this is even a little light compared to what it should be. Um, another bit of data they had is, uh, I have eight unique locations that I've hosted IFPA events. And I had to think on that and I don't even know, I don't even know what all of them are. Um, I mean, TISC, obviously, Hot Rods, obviously, uh, Black Rock Brewing had some stuff there for a little while and, uh, hosted a couple events there over the course of a year, year and a half. Something like that. D&D is probably an event location because my Super League finals I used to alternate between TISC and D&D. Same thing with Catalina Brewing. I have a feeling that league results, because we do like the first half of the year, that final is going to be at that session, We're a team of 12 people who are going to be playing a 12-month league. We're going to be playing a 12-month league, and it's the first Saturday of the month, basically, unless it's July. We start off and we go Hot Rods Catalina, Hot Rods Catalina, Hot Rods Catalina. That sixth event is at Catalina, and we do a ladder finals for Open Division and B Division, and that's what gets submitted. Because that is listed as being at Catalina, I have a feeling that's what that indicator is. And then once upon a time, I hosted an event at my house, and it was after one of our Tucson Pinball League finals. I think we called it like Pizza and Pinball or something like that, and had quite a few Phoenix players come down and my house was jam-packed full of games compared to probably the comfort level. There was, we moved the dining room table and we put four games there and although we were contending with a pool table at the time, very, very inconveniently sized piece of toy. Pool tables get in the way of pinball machines and you can put a lot more pinball machines when you have less than one pool table. So yeah, but that's what one two three four five six I have no idea what the other two locations are. I was at a KOA which is a campground chain I guess I don't know they're all over the country. This one was called Lazy Days but and we had man we had up to eight games there at one point but I never ran anything official. I showed up one day and the event manager for the The location because it it in a I mean they have like spots for you to set up an RV and also like fifth wheels and they also have some like small rental they not quite hotel rooms but it basically like a building the size of a hotel room with your amenities but yeah like you could get your mail there they had a game room you know foosball table they had a library area with some VHS DVDs and I think they had a pool table in there Anyway so like they have like it a place it like a little little town and they have a convenience store like a gas station size convenience store Really cool So anyways I walk in one day and the the like the event manager All 8 of these kids were hosting this little tournament for like, I don't know, 8 or 10 kids, and she herself, I mean, probably sponsored by the KOA location, had like a roll of quarters for each one of the kids, so like, they were paying for the kids to play the games, and it was pretty awesome, and I chatted with her for a little while, and it was like, this is really cool. So anyway, so like, but I never hosted anything official on IFPA there, so I don't know what all eight locations are. I'm sure there's a way to find out, but I'm, I'd have to click through a lot of results for that information. So IFPA says I've hosted 21 league events, which I just kind of explained how that works. So that's, that's up to like six actual events, just for one league session that I submit. The highest value thing I've done is 14.18. The average value is 3.11. And you know, that's kind of just kind of the way it is around here. We're trying, we're trying. Largest events is 25 players. And I think that was a Tucson Pinball League submission. So that was, you know, that was over the course of six months, you have to have people fully participated as they can, as they call it, which means playing half of the event or half of the event. The In the case of a league which has multiple dates so three out of the six events had to get played in order to get credit on that so I'm pretty sure that's a TPL event, because I think my largest like straight up tournament was 14, 15, 16, something in that range. Total players, 2,566, which is a pretty cool number. Unique Players is 140, which also like that's pretty cool. Where'd everybody go? New Players 64 and New Players Who Played Again 39. So a little bit over a 50% retention rating. If we can convince you to come out once, flip a coin whether you're going to come back, I guess. So, one of the things that I guess is kind of important, not important, but like relevant to this information coming at like the end of a year, not like mid-year of that, you know, our 10 year anniversary year, is that I actually have the data for the last year, last full year we were at TISC, and then the first full year that we were at Hot Rods because, You know, for 2025 we split a little bit. So was it 2025? No, 2025 was the first full year, 2024, October 31st of 2024 is when the rink officially shut down but we were out a couple weeks prior to that because they were just kind of wrapping everything up as far as the leagues and the hockey leagues and I don't even think they I don't know if they had anything going that last week, but you know, just the way the timing worked out. They just said, hey, end of October, we're done, but leagues finished up a week prior to that. So anyways, yeah, so the, that intermediate phase between in 2025, kind of throw that out. So 2024 TISC to 2020, sorry, 2023 TISC to 2025 Hot Rods, that's the breakdown. I'm going to get this one down, because 2024 is kind of like in between. There was a 44% drop in Coindrop. And it's like, oh, that really hurts. And for a long time I was kind of curious how much of the games were getting played by my regular tournament players, and how many were getting played by hockey siblings. The rink was not, I mean, for casual foot traffic, it was not in a good spot. It was in an industrial area, kind of in the back of that, not visible from the street. They didn't have, I mean, they had a sign that you could see from the freeway, but like you're on the freeway and you're probably not going to remember that, oh yeah, there's a hockey place right there, according to that giant banner on the building. But you know, the movie theater had been demoed years, actually not, I mean, the demo is irrelevant. The movie theater had closed several years prior to that and so like you wouldn even have any like casual traffic going to and from the movie theater which you could have you know they would have to pass your turn in to get to TISC and a um I was going to say an entrepreneurial business owner would probably put a sign up there but I mean entrepreneur is not really the phrase for that But anyways, an observant business owner would have probably put a sign somewhere that said, you know, like, hey, don't come play hockey, like come play hockey here. That would be great. But we also have a bar and a kitchen. And I would have probably put up a little sign that said, and pinball machines too, you know, something like that.

Catalina Brewingvenue

Hot Rods (former)venue

Black Rock Brewingvenue

JBS Show / JBS Roundtableorganization

Kayla Hernandezperson

market_signal: Pokémon pinball acting as effective gateway to younger demographic (ages 12-14+) and families; stronger casual player traffic than regular tournament events

high · Direct observation: 'kid I don't know like 12 to 13 14 range... they were playing Pokemon while their... adult lady that they were with... that's actually more heavily populated than, uh, than my regular tournaments right now'

operational_signal: Host implementing grassroots marketing tactics (physical signage at intersections, social media tagging) to drive awareness of Hot Rods venue; limited response (2-3 Facebook interactions per location over 2-3 weeks)

medium · Host reports: 'I've made a couple signs that I've been putting around, uh, different intersections... I got two Facebook likes... This current location... I got in the first like couple days I got two Facebook likes out of that'

venue_signal: Hot Rods venue has 3,400 Facebook followers but has not posted since approximately 2022; represents untapped marketing channel

medium · Host estimates: 'they racked up quite a quite a strong following. I think they're at like 3400 follows on Facebook which you know if they haven't posted since like I think it was like 2022'

community_signal: Host has established substantial tournament operation: 301 IFPA tournaments, 2,566 total players (140 unique), 21 league events across 8 unique venues over 10 years

high · Host reports IFPA data: '301 tournaments hosted... 21 league events... Total players, 2,566... Unique Players is 140... eight unique locations'

industry_signal: Discussion from JBS roundtable podcast identifies core industry challenge: existing content/streaming strategies reach only players already aware of pinball; need for strategies to reach general public unaware of the hobby

high · Host references: 'on the roundtable, the JBS show... they were just talking about how do you get new players, you known interested in the hobby... The biggest question is, is how do you find people that aren't already even aware?'

content_signal: JBS roundtable podcast (hosts: Jamie, Retro Ralph, Kayla Hernandez) actively discussing player acquisition strategies and Pokémon as gateway game

medium · Host cites discussion where 'Ralph told a story about he went to go get a haircut... and he said, yeah, there's a new Pokemon that just came out... it's that level of engagement that we're gonna find more people at'

10:22

Just a lot of lost potential for eyes, you know, and that's, that's one of the biggest struggles, I think, the hobby faces is just letting People know that there's these other things inside an establishment. If you don't want to go to the bar or whatever, then, you know, there's just to go to the bar, like, hey, there's amusement there as well. And so I think that's that's one of the struggles, just kind of getting John Q. Public aware of what's inside the building outside of, you know, what they see on the marquee. And so that's kind of going towards one of the things I've been working on, or a few of the things I've been working on. Just been trying to get some social media presence and tagging the bejesus out of hot rods on everything I post. But unfortunately they're not really enthusiastic about doing anything on social media. So unless you like follow, I don't know how it works, the follow the hashtag or follow, you know, depending on whether it's Instagram or Facebook that you see it, I think it comes from different stuff. But one of the former bartenders actually did mention one time, he's like, you know, when you do tag the location, I do see that. Even though it's not Hot Rods, like sharing that or anything like that. So he sees it somehow. So I imagine other people do see it. But yeah, Hot Rods themselves, That's not really big on social media, it's kind of a bummer because uh prior to their uh hiatus uh they racked up quite a quite a strong following. I think they're at like 3400 follows on facebook which you know if they haven't posted since like I think it was like 2022, which is kind of rough, I'm 100 certain that there's people that Even if it was 90, 80% of that, like that is definitely a valuable thing. So, um, to kind of do, do my own thing and kind of, uh, support my, myself, as far as the, the outreach and marketing goes, um, I've, I've made a couple signs that I've been putting around, uh, different intersections. And I think the first one actually got taken, which is fine. Um, I, I have four of them, so I expected them to disappear. In some fashion. So, however, that one disappeared. That's a bummer, but it's okay. I have more. I'll move it a little bit more frequently just in case there was a little bit more of a, an official capacity that it was removed as opposed to a mischievous one. So, try to keep the assigned police from getting upset, I guess. But yeah, just the first time, first treat, first street that I put it at. I got two Facebook likes in the first week and a half, two weeks it was there. And this current location, it was there for two and a half weeks and I got in the first like couple days I got two Facebook likes out of that, or follows. But who knows, you know, who all saw that and is not on social media or whatever, just kind of note to self, hey let's let's go play some games over there. I'm going to go check out Hot Rods and see what's up. Also kind of relevant to the current timing is Pokemon just came out. I just put it out a couple days ago and it doesn't take much thought to say, hey, I wonder if this is going to bring new people to pinball. And it's not a, they're not going to know it by driving down the street like, hey, I have this like sirens call. I'm not going to go in this building because something is in here that is curious to me. No, like they actually have to see it. But you know, in the lobby of Hot Rods, a customer that would walk by, a bank of Metallica, Iron Maiden, and Godzilla, there was kids when I was working on stuff this last weekend, I was upstairs after the tournament and there were several groups of kids over the course of the two and a half three hours I was there that went and they played and almost all of it was Pokemon And one of them was the kid was playing kid I don know like 12 to 13 14 range I based on like conversation, like in their, their, their voice, um, they were playing Pokemon while their, their mom, aunt, guardian, whoever, you know, adult lady that they were with. So, I think it's already doing what it is potentially able to do. It's not the only capacity that the game exists, but it's certainly a very strong gateway potential for new players. So, step one, get them aware of where we're at. Step two, try to get them in the door. Id thrilly

15:58

Um, every, every year it might be a player, it might be a player every two seasons, you know, whatever it is. Um, but that's, that's actually more heavily populated than, uh, than my regular tournaments right now. And that's kind of, kind of the goal, um, is to kind of focus on that and, and kind of find a lot more casuals in the area. You know, the, the tournament players, um, they're more of a long-term stability. You know, they're going to keep playing for years and years and years. And the casual player, it's just trying to get them to give it a go. And, you know, once they're interested, see kind of where that's going to take them. And if they just want to stay playing novice, great. If they want to expand and get into the Tucson Pinball League or do some, you know, the weekly tournaments, whatever you want, we got it. We'll kind of approach that on a one-on-one basis and see how everything goes. But yeah, so 10 years, we've learned a lot, we've tried a lot, and a lot has not worked, and a few things have worked and, you know, learned quite a bit. Most of the electrical knowledge I have is from working on pinball machines. But yeah, so from a business standpoint, we're just keep on trucking. And from a player-based standpoint, we're trying new things in a new scenario and situation, and a few things are working better than others, and that's kind of where we're at. It's kind of interesting, on the roundtable, the JBS show, it's a cool podcast that Jamie Virtual Retro Ralph, and Kayla Hernandez do. This was they were just talking about how do you get new players, you know, interested in the hobby. And a lot of is a lot of it is like, well, who's going to pick up the daily streaming banner that you know, Jack Danger used to do and, you know, the streaming of tournaments and, you know, I'm going to post, you know, five times a week instead of three times a week. And it's like that's that's all just presentation to the people that are already in it. The biggest question is, is how do you find people that aren't already even aware? You know, Ralph told a story about he went to go get a haircut and he was talking to the lady cutting his hair. And, you know, they've they've talked about video games, but never really about pinball. And he said, yeah, there's a new Pokemon that just came out. And and she's like, you know, yelling to the guy next door that she works with. And he's like, they still make those, you know, like it's, it's that it's that level of engagement that we're gonna find more people at. It's just, you know, trying to do that without just walking around with a sign that says, talk to me about pinball or something like that. But anyways, 10 years, we're having fun. Thanks for listening. We're gonna just keep on doing fun stuff. And if the general public wants to join us, that's great. But if If not, we've got our group and we're gonna just keep having fun. So party on. Party on Wayne! Party on Garth! It's Wayne's World! Wayne's World! Party time! Excellent!

19:23

And... we're clear!