Lets face it pool players are NOT smart. Imagine Tiger asking Phil if he would like to throw $1M into a pot and play a match for the pot. They could invite NBC to televise the match and make millions. One will win $1M and one will lose $1M. Yea I can see that happening. And I'm the one lacking brains here.
If they are not getting any part of the proceeds then I will not pay to view it even though I would like to see that match. I don't care what expenses are incurred by promoters or any other parties making money from it. Doing it without paying the participants some part of profits is exploitation even if the participants are stupid enough to agree to it.
I like how you make assumptions about things you know nothing about.
Just for you I will explain how we used to do things and how we do things now.
When we started we made a deal with the players to split net DVD revenue 50/50 with the players and pay their hotel expenses or a percentage of the gate at the venue whichever was more. In almost all cases the hotel cost more so thats what they got. Our reasoning for this model was twofold. One reason was that we did not have a lot of cash so the dvd revenue was a viable option. The other reason was that we thought by making the players partners with a vested interest in DVD sales they would help push them. For numerous reasons this model did not work.
So we decided to pay the players an appearance fee for playing the matches. It is simpler and they like it better that way. The fee depends on what kind of audience we think the match will draw. Each match is different. We make an offer and the players either accept or reject it. Pretty simple.
We do not and as far as I am concerned will not ever give up a piece of the PPV revenue. That is what allows us to survive, pay off debt, and invest in future events. We dont make the players sign any kind of non compete contracts so if someone wants to put together matches and offer them better deals they of course are free to do whatever they like.
In many of our matches the players entry is staked. The players have a free roll basically. The people who rarely receive any thanks or attention are the backers who make these matches possible. They are the main sponsors so to speak. But unlike most tournament sponsors whose only hope for recouping anything from a sponsorship is some publicity these guys have a chance to make some money if their team wins.
In our matches there are only two people who are GUARANTEED to make money and that is the players. We are usually $3000-$5000 in the hole walking in the door to do a match. This does not include the tens of thousands of dollars of gear we risk when flying or shipping it to events. If the internet connection fails during a match and we have to refund PPV buyers the players still get paid. If a $3000 camera goes tits up and has to be replaced the players still get paid.
We take risks and work hard to create unique events. I do not think it is unreasonable to try and make a profit from that work and those risks. I assure you if doing these matches were extremely lucrative other people would be doing them all the time. After three years I have yet to see another serious competitor in this market. I like to think its because we are pretty good at what we do but deep down inside I think its because most people are probably smarter than us.