Post by Tim Lewis on Aug 26, 2008 19:01:41 GMT -5
Look there's been a lot of beating around the bush going on around here in the past 2 days.
We all know the sport of armwrestling is not mainstream. Why? According to Gary, it is because the don't knows have all the power (translation: the control of sponsor revenue). This is the only part of Gary's rant that I agree with.
The fact of the matter is that when private businessman invest money in a sponsorship they do so because they expect a return on their bottom line. Our sporting event generates no revenue in and of itself. There is nothing to market (except maybe armwrestling tables and straps but the buying and selling here all stays withing the armwrestling community) to the general public. Unlike other smaller sports like billards and bowling (which can have large cash payouts) where there are things to sell to a lot of people (pool tables, cues, balls, custom made bowling balls, shoes, etc.)
There is also virtually no fan base (from non-competitors) so you aren't getting any admission charge or merchandise purchases from fans (think Yankee apparrel). I don't see this piece changing. Arm wrestling is something that people want to do not just watch. Promoting the sport needs to be done through getting more people involved in competitive armwrestling, not in trying to build a paying fan base.
Which brings me to my main point: ArmTV is a business. It is not a non-profit promoting orginization. Stop acting like Stephen Colbert and referring to your viewers as "Nation."
I am a customer of ArmTv and will continue to be regardless of this because I enjoy watching footage from all the tournaments you cover throughout the year and seeing you put on ROTN every year. I realize that in order to provide this service you have to commit time and money (for travel) and that is why I am willing to pay for this service. I could have ArmTv for free if I wanted, believe me but I don't do it because I am an honest person and realize that without a certain income you would not be able to continue to provide this service.
Unforutnately, not everyone in this world is honest, and when you are provding a service that is incredibly easily to steal since most of us in the AW community are good friends you have to imagine that some people are going to take advantage of that fact.
All solely adding members to ArmTv does is add to the amount of money that armwrestlers are pumping into the sport. But the idea is suppose to be the opposite, bring in outside money to the armwrestlers.
Armwrestlers already pump a lot of money into this sport aside from ArmTv (travel expenses, entry fees, etc.)
These entry fees in turn for example go to orginizations like AAA and USWA who have professional promoters who have training in dealing with "the don't knows" in order to secure contracts for prize money. Denise and Leonard for example secured a $6000 prize pool for an event with around 85-90 entries in the middle of freaking nowhere Nevada and got the best from 4 to 5 states to come. There were certainly some "don't knows" involved there who "believed." I bet none of them were members of ArmTV either.
Do your job Gary and film. That is what we are paying you for. This is what you are good at. We like you doing that. Don't act like ArmTv is the bank of armwrestling where you have elected yourself treasuer.
In order to promote successfully in business you need to be professional and plan out your thoughts carefully before you go on a big rant (like I did before I posted this very message).
Hooping and Hollering and saying the same thing over and over again for 30 minutes in your dark car with a camera in the passanger seat while driving back to LA from Hawthorne Nevada and posting it online is one of the most unprofessional things I have ever seen.
We all know the sport of armwrestling is not mainstream. Why? According to Gary, it is because the don't knows have all the power (translation: the control of sponsor revenue). This is the only part of Gary's rant that I agree with.
The fact of the matter is that when private businessman invest money in a sponsorship they do so because they expect a return on their bottom line. Our sporting event generates no revenue in and of itself. There is nothing to market (except maybe armwrestling tables and straps but the buying and selling here all stays withing the armwrestling community) to the general public. Unlike other smaller sports like billards and bowling (which can have large cash payouts) where there are things to sell to a lot of people (pool tables, cues, balls, custom made bowling balls, shoes, etc.)
There is also virtually no fan base (from non-competitors) so you aren't getting any admission charge or merchandise purchases from fans (think Yankee apparrel). I don't see this piece changing. Arm wrestling is something that people want to do not just watch. Promoting the sport needs to be done through getting more people involved in competitive armwrestling, not in trying to build a paying fan base.
Which brings me to my main point: ArmTV is a business. It is not a non-profit promoting orginization. Stop acting like Stephen Colbert and referring to your viewers as "Nation."
I am a customer of ArmTv and will continue to be regardless of this because I enjoy watching footage from all the tournaments you cover throughout the year and seeing you put on ROTN every year. I realize that in order to provide this service you have to commit time and money (for travel) and that is why I am willing to pay for this service. I could have ArmTv for free if I wanted, believe me but I don't do it because I am an honest person and realize that without a certain income you would not be able to continue to provide this service.
Unforutnately, not everyone in this world is honest, and when you are provding a service that is incredibly easily to steal since most of us in the AW community are good friends you have to imagine that some people are going to take advantage of that fact.
All solely adding members to ArmTv does is add to the amount of money that armwrestlers are pumping into the sport. But the idea is suppose to be the opposite, bring in outside money to the armwrestlers.
Armwrestlers already pump a lot of money into this sport aside from ArmTv (travel expenses, entry fees, etc.)
These entry fees in turn for example go to orginizations like AAA and USWA who have professional promoters who have training in dealing with "the don't knows" in order to secure contracts for prize money. Denise and Leonard for example secured a $6000 prize pool for an event with around 85-90 entries in the middle of freaking nowhere Nevada and got the best from 4 to 5 states to come. There were certainly some "don't knows" involved there who "believed." I bet none of them were members of ArmTV either.
Do your job Gary and film. That is what we are paying you for. This is what you are good at. We like you doing that. Don't act like ArmTv is the bank of armwrestling where you have elected yourself treasuer.
In order to promote successfully in business you need to be professional and plan out your thoughts carefully before you go on a big rant (like I did before I posted this very message).
Hooping and Hollering and saying the same thing over and over again for 30 minutes in your dark car with a camera in the passanger seat while driving back to LA from Hawthorne Nevada and posting it online is one of the most unprofessional things I have ever seen.