Many good points in the latter part of your posting John.
But I thought that you would have a better grasp of economics. It would be virtually impossible to get a sponsor to pay over their sponsorship contribution SIX MONTHS AHEAD. Even less so to a third party. If Matchroom,
Jay Helfert, Mark Griffin, Greg Sullivan, Qatar, Dragon or myself were required to do that then there would be no events.
But if I did not have the total sponsorship under my control at the start of a tournament then I would cancel the event.
I have staged over 400 events and have never paid out less than the advertised amount. All the promoters above have earned the trust of the players so why should they run their businesses under a penalty imposed by the conduct of the five major short changing MAJOR transgressors of recent times.
What makes it worse is that the WPA have turned a blind eye on the non payment or fund reducing cases.
My understanding of economics is just fine. I picked six months as a somewhat arbitrary number but it was based on the idea that one needs a good six months at the least to properly promote a large event in my opinion. These days people need to plan their lives well in advance especially when it comes to international travel to events.
I understand what you are saying in regard to being short on funds six months out but I still think that somehow all the prize money needs to be secured far enough in advance to reassure the players.
I feel that if the players demand it then either it will become the norm or there will be no events. I seriously doubt that it means there will be no events. What I think is that it will open up dates for serious promoters who can secure the financing well in advance.
The issue with getting stiffed isn't a recent problem. At least in the USA it has always been a problem with many pool tournaments.
Any other time the players show up to play for $20,000 the money is posted. I mean when they gamble. So I don't think it's a stretch to ask all promoters to post the money. However if a promoter refuses to do so then the players can elect to play if they want to but no one should cry if the payments don't happen.
I am pretty sure that if there were some sort of player's union then they would make the proper recommendations to their members as to which promoters can be fully trusted and which ones should post.
Although my advice is to make them all post.
And here's a little story to illustrate why.......
Many many many years ago I was approached by my friend at Falcon and asked for some help with a German customer of theirs. This customer had been with them for several years and made increasingly larger purchases. At first they paid in advance then they asked for terms and were granted the ability to purchase on 30 day net terms. All went well for a couple years and then they placed a large order of around $25,000.
Long story short they received the order and communication stopped. That's right, Falcon was stiffed for $25,000. I don't think that they ever recovered the money.
Had they told the distributor to pay up front then they never ever would have had a problem.
So my point is by requiring all promoters to post the money then there is never a situation where "something happens" and the players are the ones left empty handed.
But this is all moot as we all know nothing will change. Pigs will fly before 25 top professional players agree to stand together and stand up for themselves. There will always be the few who will break ranks and go play in the tournaments held by people who won't guarantee the prize fund.
