AZHousePro:
THANKS for the information!!! Great news!!!
THANKS for the information!!! Great news!!!
MikeM said:Somebody tell Superstar before he pulls the trigger!!!
MM
wahcheck said:this is great news......I am happy for the players.....but does this late payment have any effect on future tournaments? Will people learn from this before they chance entering another tournament without ensuring that the money is in place?
Jerry Forsyth said:Most prize funds are garnered from sponsors. Most sponsors recoil at the thought of paying in advance. They want to make sure that the benefits they are being promised come through before they write the big check.
jay helfert said:Sorry Jerry, I have to disagree with you here. What you are talking about is producing a tournament on the "if come", meaning IF the money COMES in we pay. If not, too bad!
My feeling is that a responsible promoter makes sure all promised monies are on hand before starting to even promote an event. Let's say you are putting on a $25,000 Added tournament, you would need to have $25,000 secured before you begin to collect entry fees. To me it is not fair to the players to make them wait until you get your "sponsor" money to pay them. That is akin to saying to someone you owe money to that I will pay you when so and so pays me. One has nothing to do with the other. No other professional sport operates that way.
Let's see how far a promoter gets producing a professional tennis or golf tournament, and tells the players he will pay them within a few weeks. That would be his last event.
I don't disagree, but on the other hand if you made a list of all the pool tournaments that would never have taken place if this were followed....jay helfert said:... My feeling is that a responsible promoter makes sure all promised monies are on hand before starting to even promote an event. Let's say you are putting on a $25,000 Added tournament, you would need to have $25,000 secured before you begin to collect entry fees. ...
Bob Jewett said:I don't disagree, but on the other hand if you made a list of all the pool tournaments that would never have taken place if this were followed....
Considering the "complications" surrounding the WTBC, I can see how an inaugural sponsor may have written a performance delay into their contract.
jay helfert said:My point being if the "performance" clause is not met, should the players be penalized. They fulfilled their end of the bargain by showing up and playing (at their own expense I might add).
On the contrary Bob, I believe that the majority of major tournaments held in this country anyway, the added money was secure before a ball was struck. I'm referring to Turning Stone I & II (25K added), the Viking Tour Championship (25K Added), the Sands (26.5K added), U.S. Bar Table (20K Added), Derby City (50K Added), World Straight Pool (25K Added). I know that every tournament I personally promoted, I made sure the money was there before acting. And I think you did too Bob.
If you want me to fudge on this issue, that's not going to happen. I am on good terms with the promoters of the recent WTBC, but this delay in paying is not something I agree with. It just shouldn't have happened for any reason!
Jerry Forsyth said:Jay,
When it comes to $25-40,000 added events I can agree with you that it is reasonable to believe a promoter can get all of that upfront and post it. But when you are doing a really big tourney with $100,000, $200,000 or more added I believe the odds go way down. Big sponsors, particularly governments, are not particularly impressed with when you demand the money. They will cut the check in a reasonable time and if that is not OK you may be advised to go elsewhere. I know for certain that the promoter of the largest event on US soil has told player organizations that posting the prize fund beforehand is simply not possible.
-Jerry
I still don't disagree with you. My own feeling is that any sanctioning organization should do something like escrow for the prize fund, but that seems to be impossible in the present world of pool. As I recall, about the time it started, the UPA was trying to escrow all US tournaments, but that had its own problems. The Sands, for example, had been adding piles of money to tournaments for twenty years, and I don't think they took well to the UPA demand.jay helfert said:... If you want me to fudge on this issue, that's not going to happen. I am on good terms with the promoters of the recent WTBC, but this delay in paying is not something I agree with. It just shouldn't have happened for any reason!
Jerry Forsyth said:This comes up all the time. "This would not happen if they would just post the money." But it is not that easy. Most prize funds are garnered from sponsors. Most sponsors recoil at the thought of paying in advance. They want to make sure that the benefits they are being promised come through before they write the big check. Other funds come from the gate and the gate money does not come in until the tournament begins. In truth, most promoters do not have the cash up front to post. So this requirement could actually end in having fewer tournaments and tournaments with lower prize funds. I would like to see the players vote that promoters take a small amount out of the prize fund to purchase a bond on the purse. That might take 3% out of the prize fund but it would ease tensions. (If this is possible. I know it used to be but do not know if current financial climate allows such a thing.)
Bob Jewett said:I still don't disagree with you. My own feeling is that any sanctioning organization should do something like escrow for the prize fund, but that seems to be impossible in the present world of pool. As I recall, about the time it started, the UPA was trying to escrow all US tournaments, but that had its own problems. The Sands, for example, had been adding piles of money to tournaments for twenty years, and I don't think they took well to the UPA demand.
One destructive result of prize money being in question is that people will tend to not support the organizer in the future. Several such cases in the US come to mind.
JB Cases said:One notable case of an opposite example is when Barry Behrman shorted the prize fund in the 2001 US Open. He still enjoys vigorous support despite the fact that his guaranteed prize fund wasn't guaranteed.
...
I don't know what the answer is but apparently escrow doesn't seem to be hard to accomplish from what another poster has said.
My thoughts on this are that if you can't afford it beforehand don't bet the player's time, expenses, and effort on your own speculation.
jay helfert said:Matchroom has promoted many very large professional pool tournaments and I'm certain the money has been in place for each one, PRIOR to play beginning.
Bob Jewett said:One destructive result of prize money being in question is that people will tend to not support the organizer in the future. Several such cases in the US come to mind.