Do you wonder where the yellow went?
One of the age old and most famous advertising slogans was Pepsodent's "Do you wonder where the yellow went when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent?" After the past few weeks and disastrous weather we have had, a lot of parents and players who are now wondering where their entry fees went after their tournament was cancelled...
For an example we will use a ZAT tournament since it is the lowest entry fee charged for a tournament in Texas. Here is the breakdown of your entry fee:
$27 Entry fee charged for the tournament.
$3 Tennis Link charge to enter the tournament.
TOTAL ENTRY FEE: $30
Here are the expenses for the tournament:
$250 fee to the Texas Section for a sanctioning fee.
$1/singles entry to the Texas Section.
$1.50/doubles entry to the Texas Section
$2.95 cost for the medallion given to winners
Cost of tennis balls.
Cost of court rentals.
Cost of officials and tournament staff.
When a tournament is cancelled, the tournament does not have to pay court fees, fees for balls, or the cost of officials and tournament staff--yet, they get to keep the entry fee as if the tournament had been played.
Here are some thoughts and questions about this issue:
* Refund the sanctioning fee and player development fees to the tournament director.
* Since Tennis Link does not provide refunds, why not require them adapt their program to do so. In today's world, you know it can be done. The amount of refund should be consistent throughout the state.
* Since players have paid their entry fees in good faith, why not at least give them credit for the next tournament. It might take a little bookkeeping but with the profit margin it shouldn't be impossible.
* Why not allow a "cancelled tournament fee" which should be a reasonable amount (maybe $3 or $4) and then refund the rest to the player.
Some ZAT tournaments in Texas have well over 500 entries so you do the math when a tournament is cancelled. Perhaps its time for the leadership in Texas to rise up and do that which is right and fair.
A lot of parents and players throughout Texas would be interested in hearing your thoughts on this issue.
10 comments:
To some extent it depends on when the tournament gets canceled. If the tournament gets canceled before it begins, some of the expenses are less. There is always the sanction fee, either 203.00 or 253.00. You still have promotional expenses incurred prior to the tournament. Balls ordered well in advance can be used at a future event, but the cost is already incurred well ahead of such future event. Medals are not a huge expense.
As far as officials, a large amount of the work done by the tournament director is BEFORE the tournament. Also, there is time and effort spent lining up the officials and scheduling them. When you have to bring in out of town officials, there may still be hotel and mileage expense. In Oklahoma and some areas of Texas,out of town officials are put in hotels and paid mileage. When the tournament is not cancelled ahead of its start a lot of these expenses still occur. When not canceled ahead, the officials must still be present or on-call. Even when canceled ahead of time, the officials may have incurred an opportunity expense by not being able to pursue another income producing activity.
Looking at it from the director's point of view, this is an example of the most profitable of situations. He would probably say that he looks forward to one or two of these per year to make his investments worthwhile. Why should he give that up? If his customers don't like it, they can go find another tournament that refunds entry fees (oh, wait, there isn't one). - posted with more than just a little tongue in cheek!
It would be interesting for the Texas Section to do some research and tell us on average how many tournaments are cancelled each year. THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE the tournaments that are cancelled after the first round starts!
Personally, I think that at least a partial (1/2) refund should be made to the players. OR, at the VERY LEAST a FREE FULL entry into the RESCEDULED tournament or the next sanctioned event that is held at that site.
MERRY CHRISTMAS - BACO
As the parent of a junior tournament player I feel we are getting ripped off. Something needs to be done and the Texas Section needs to be the ones who do it.
I personally know two tournament directors who made over $18,000 pure profit in the past year when they cancelled their tournaments. Maybe we should all become tournament directors and then make sure we schedule our tournaments in months when they most likely will never happen. What a racket.
Here is a great solution sent to me by one of our readers:
Since most entry fees are paid by credit cards why not call the card company and have them cancel payment for goods not received. This would get Austin's attention and also the tournament directors . Just a thought.
Not all tournament directors are robber barons. Especially in smaller markets, entry fees alone cannot always offset the total cost of the tournament and additional funding must be found in the form of local support from CVB's and other sources. The profit margins on these tournaments is razor thin or non existent. Anonymous 2:09 has the story straight especially the amount of work that goes into the tournament before any one sets foot on court. Having to spend the hours in TDW training, hours on Tennis Link on the WEB and the new First off First on consolation format and all its attendant procedures now is a major expenditure. Add to it all the time spent dealing with parents after the draws come out and the paperwork after the tournament detailing its operations to funding sources and we have a situation that is on going for several weeks if not months. Walk a mile (or two) in a true TD's shoes who provides a great tournament and your perspective may change. Let's not use such a broad brush to paint the situation.
There are those indeed who make a ton of money off of tournaments and those who don't. Such is the life of a TD in the Texas tennis world. The post applies most directly to those who make a cash haul out of cancelled tournaments and the unsuspecting parents who are victimized by them.
I would like to think that the Texas section should strongly consider action to at least give a free or discounted entry for any cancelled or suspended events, since the promised service was not received. This is the same proper business principle for all sport and non-sports events. Anonymous posts at 2:09 and 4:14 on 12/9 and 9:19 on 12/10 would have a lot more weight if the persons making them would disclose their identity.
There are some very simple things that could be done via credit cards to keep parents and players happy and not get ripped off. A tournament director is not entitled to a financial windfall just because the weather caused a cancellation of their tournament.
When a tournament is scheduled in Dallas in January the chances of it actually happening are about 40%. That means a lot of people are making a lot of money without doing much work and that ain't right.
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