PARADOX
Definition: A self-contradictory or false statement.
We are told on every hand that the officials' fees are causing tournaments to lose money and we are their greatest expense. This folks, simply is not true.
I recently was the referee for a tournament and here is the analysis for the tournament with 400 entries:
$10,400.00 Entry fees based on 400 players at $26.00 per player.
$600.00 Sanction fee to the Texas Section for 400 at $1.50 per player.
$1,200.00 Fee to Tennis Link for registration for 400 at $3 per entry.
$640.00 Officials fees which include lunch, supper, snacks, and fees.
I will leave it up to you to do the math but it is quite a paradox to say that officials cost the most for a tournament when you see the true figures. It actually cost nearly twice as much for players to register online as it did to pay the officials.
You see--they can actually provide meals for the officials and not lose money.
12 comments:
Where did the other $7960 go? Even if the TD and venue split it evenly, that's not bad pay for a couple of days' work.
$3 for a "posting fee"? $1,200 from a single tournament? Now there's some action we all need a piece of!
The tournament had no other major expenses other than tennis balls so they did well...
I'm still trying to understand all those fees and who gets them.
And to think--all we want is lunch provided.
Wow, Ya'll must have used just one site or only one day tournament. I know that Waco spends about $150/day for an official. (12 hours x $12.5/hour). multiply this by two officials at each site because of layout of courts at the different sites. Using just 3 sites = about $1800 for officials and then there is the court cost which is about $2500 or more. If shirts are given out or some other trinket to keep the whiny adults happy then even further expenses are incurred. ( I almost forgot the costs for balls.) Maybe all tournaments should be held in Dallas area where the cost are so low? Wrong or right, just some quick thoughts on this. Mike
We used one official at the site and worked 7 hours the first day, 15 hours the second, and 8 the third day. Pay was good and the site director did a great job of scheduling and keeping the matches moving.
Just shows what can be done if you feed us properly...
I can only assume that they did not spent $7,960 on tennis balls. This is a business we all need to buy into.
Please give some clarification:
"We are told on every hand that the officials' fees are causing tournaments to lose money and we are their greatest expense. This folks, simply is not true."
I'm not disagreeing with this statement, I'm just wondering who keeps saying this? Where does it come from?
Another point:
If officials don't like the 'benefits' of an event, then they won't apply to work them. If enough officials won't work an event, then the event is either canceled or they offer better 'benefits'.
(Benefits: pay, meals, mileage)
Final point:
Do other states/sections require financial transparency for tournaments? In other words, if I went to Florida, would I be able to find out all of the event's expenses and what a tournament director pockets from an event? While I think this is a great idea, if nobody else in the country does it, it would be difficult to get it done in one state.
P.S. Those must be some good courts in Waco to pay $2,500 for them! Or is that the going rate around the state?
$2,500 for courts? I think that's referred to as "Guaranteed Profit"! Whose pocket did that go into?
Court fees range anywhere from $2.00 to 4.00 per court per hour in the Central Texas Region. For a 3 day tournament with several sites, I've paid as high as $1600 for ONE site. Multiply that by 4 sites who get the same rate but for fewer courts ($500 and up,) this accounts for the "REST OF THE STORY". While some tournaments in the state do not have to pay court fees, most do to both public and private clubs. This is the most expensive portion of our tournaments, then come officials and the tournament give-a-way as a TIE. You've also forgotten the $250 USTA sanction for for the tourney to be put on the WEB. The $600 mentioned is the player fees we pay to the Section. Then you can expect to pay around $1500 for the give-a-way to the players, $400 for the awards given to the winners, finalist, and consolation winners, $1000+ for balls, pay to site directors of $100 per day per site plus a minimum of $250 for food for site directors and officials at all sites...I think it's clear that little to no profit is the rule and not the exception or we'd all be going into the tournament directing business :-)
The above list of expenses was certainly not meant to be all the amounts paid. In many of the tournaments in Dallas they are held on the courts of the tournament directors so there are no court fees to be considered. I do not know what site directors are paid since that is not public information as are the officials' fees.
I did forget the $250 sanction fee by the USTA. They certainly do make a hefty profit off of every tournament don't they?
One tournament director I spoke with told me they usually make between $1,500 to $2,000 per tournament.
I would go into the business for that ratio.
I have been on both sides of this issue – TD and Referee/Official.
There are many factors that you need to consider before you pass judgment on what these TD’s make – in MANY cases they are making monies that go toward their overall salary and/or toward the overall operations of the facility. Good TD’s work way beyond the three or four days of the event. They usually are promoting their events throughout the year. Their reputations are on the line with each tournament they host. With that said, some of them work very hard to make their events successful – personally I would get lots of local and statewide sponsorships and community involvement – this money would help pay for QUALITY officials and “player giveaways”. I know that when our area head Referee came to me and said, “I talked with a few officials and we are going up on our fees.” All I could say is OK – What else can you do?! I respected the officials that worked with/for me in my tournaments… TD’s plan, sanction, run, supervise, and promoted all year… Bottomline – make tennis fun, earn your money and appreciate the fact that someone took a chance and sanctioned an event and hired you/me to help! AND MOST OF ALL REMEMBER – this is TENNIS and we are lucky to be a part of it!
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