I do not understand why the sanctioning bodies,can not pay for all table time at these big tournaments.as much money as they make through out the year off all of their players,rape the local payouts so their "vegas" nationals can have a good payout,make the players and teams spend a ton of money on the trip to and from vegas,and then have the balls to charge green fees like this.we ran our vnea league operator out of town after we figured out how much he was skimming our payout,and our league has grown every year since,our little league offers teams a chance to win 1,700.00 in 26 weeks of division play and our league championship pays 2300.00 for 1st,only cost 50.00 to enter,and our weekly fees are 6.00 a night, not bad for a 30 team league.
For those teams that go to Nationals with APA, they do not pay any *coins* in the tables for their Team Events. The tables are open. They must pay for practice and mini's, etc... but the team event tables are free.
Just one of those things that most people don't realize.
Each league has its' own merits - which is why some people choose one over the other. The National Tournaments are just a small part of that - but everyone *chooses* which league they play in.
It takes a TREMENDOUS amount of man-hours, support, advertising, bookkeeping, insurance etc.... to produce one of these events - no matter which league is hosting it. There are also the travel costs for getting all of the support staff, tournament directors, referees, etc... out there. Housing them is not cheap either. Then lets look at the cost - per table - of getting them out there.......the trucking, the drivers, the mechanics, the insurance, the housing for both directions, etc... then getting them set up, etc.... the list goes on. Oh, feeding all of the support staff - could go on.
Take a bit of time to reflect on the amount of coin these events must have on hand (and where the money comes from to get that coin). For our small 70 or so team events that we have done, we've had to have $10,000 in coin on hand. Out of pocket... take out a loan, however you get it, but you have to have it. That's one reason why we have chosen to charge green fees instead of dealing with coins... we just don't have that kind of cash on hand......then.... what if some of it was stolen?
Just kind of ramblin on here... but my point is that these type of events are not easy or cheap to produce. Yes, there is revenue to be made - but shouldn't there be? I mean, they work tireless days and nights for way more time than the actual event. They are out of pocket usually a hundred thousand or so BEFORE the event..... so they are taking a huge risk and working hard.
I for one, enjoy a well run tournament - as these types of tournaments usually are. If I were doing their job, I would want to get paid - just as you would.
These events are a challenge for the players and a lot of fun to participate in. If they charge greens fees or dollars, make your decision to go or not go and then leave it at that. If you go..... HAVE FUN.....COMPETE HARD. If you don't go, think about where you will be playing next year - which league - or not.
Good Luck to everyone playing in all of the National Championships!
