A cornhole rant with some ideas for this year's Halloween costume...
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Is this tournament 100% payout? I'll defer that question to Bryce Harper because there is no way that I could possibly offer a better response than he. Of course, there is the obvious reason why Boston Cornhole would not be on board with that format. Beyond that, it's concerning that a flawed approach where people play for each other's money seems to be a marketing strategy. Such an approach may work well among friends in the backyard, but has failed and will continue to fail outside of it. Nonetheless, you do not have to look far to find a cornhole circus that entertains this format. You can't get it right all of the time and we don't, but, to the extent possible, three things should be independent of each other: fee to run the tournament, entry fee to play in the tournament, and tournament payouts.
Tournament Fee
Rarely did I agree with my high school economics teacher, but the one thing that still resonates for me is that he always said "There's no free lunch!" I am thrilled to be able to grow a business around a game that I love to play. But make no mistake about it, this is a business, a job and there is one payout that matters more than all the rest. Sometimes we make more than the tournament winners, sometimes we do not. But that is completely in the noise because the two are independent. For most tournaments, we set the tournament fee, somebody else decides the entry fees and the payouts. If you are in the cornhole biz and you have clients who believe that running a tournament should not be compensated, you probably need new clients!
Entry Fee
Entry fees will vary based on the type of tournament (charity, weekly event, national league). In our most successful events, we are hired and do not set the entry fees. With organic events, where we set entry fees and payouts, we have struggled to get it right and be profitable. For weekly events at bars or function halls, I think it should be free to play just like Tournament Tuesdays in Burlington. Bars pay entertainers during the week to bring people in and do not charge patrons; why does cornhole insist on re-inventing the wheel? If a bar is paying someone to run trivia, sing songs, or throw paint on a canvas, then pay your tournament directors! However, we let them off the hook with this concept of playing for each other's money. If you run tournaments and you are asking for $15 to play on a school night, you are destined to fail. And for newbies, that's $15 to get your ass kicked! People may pay for some time, but it won't last and it won't grow. In general, entry fees should be modest. This is an area where I think ACO and ACL deserve lots of credit. For the price of admission, you get quite a nice show at the major tournaments!
Payouts
Let's return to our economics lesson and say that the market will determine payouts. I searched the Internet for tickets to watch the next cornhole tournament and believe it or not, I could not find any for sale...hmm. Alexa also struggled mightily to find the hourly rate for a better than average cornhole player. And at least in Massachusetts, there is the ironic twist that skilled players are definitely in less demand at some tournaments. Regardless of what some jerseys may say, I do not think there are any cornhole professionals in the truest sense of the word. Scott Lane wins a lot and is probably one of the closest to the top of the cornhole food chain. But, in the real world, if that were his only income, the girl at the bank in Florida probably would not be too impressed with the size of his check. Certainly the miles logged and the competition he and his teammate beat to win those checks is very impressive!
In today's market, prizes can be modest and need not be cash. Once again, for weekly events, the model is there with the venue providing a prize, usually gift cards and sometimes more. If you have a bar that is putting up a prize on a weekly basis, kudos to you because that is how it should be! Similarly, it's great to see some events with sponsors putting up prize money. It's just when payouts are directly tied to entry fees that the wheels begin to come off and situations are created that are detrimental to the growth of cornhole. Let's take a closer look...
100% Payout - You keep using that word. I don't think it means what you think it means. A typical tournament of 30 teams in Massachusetts, tends to pay between six and eight people. I majored in mathematics and I am struggling to find a calculation that brings me anywhere close to 100% and no, I really don't need it explained to me. What I do see is the classic "Bizarro Robin Hood" approach where money is pooled from the weaker players to pay the stronger players; not necessarily intentional, just a byproduct of pooling entry fees. And if it's a big prize you want to advertise, this strategy forces high entry fees. I certainly do not mind paying to play and as much as I like Lance and Pigeon, I don't want to feel like I am paying for them to play too. With great variations in skill level, a bring your own partner tournament with this format is nearly criminal. Blind draws equalize the playing field to the extent possible. When attendance drops and weekly events have their going out of business sales, blame Bizarro Robin Hood!
The North Shore Approach - there is a new group on the North Shore who have now had three very successful events. They charge an entry fee which pays for the tournament and then the balance is put towards food and open bar; there are no prizes. Maybe I'm just a liberal cornhole socialist, but this approach seems to more closely resemble a concept of 100% payout. Maybe not for everyone, but some food for thought...
Unrealistic Expectations and Undeserved Criticism
The ideology of expecting a percentage-based return of entry fees at events has spawned some unfortunate and undeserved criticism of some of the most important cornhole tournaments in New England. The Mohegan Sun tournament back in March saw a casino get behind cornhole and put up $4K in prize money. This event was absolutely fantastic for cornhole in the Northeast. Nonetheless, some still did the math to conclude that they did not pay enough. What!? They had a staff of 20+, security, bartenders, a DJ, and a room that typically brings in more money than the tournament did. It was run by a marketing team, not pit bosses who need to guarantee a certain win percentage. Similarly, there have been more than whispers about the Fenway Cornhole Classic payouts. Last economics lesson...supply and demand. As long as that tournament continues to sell out, the purse will stay the same and ticket prices will rise. That's business!
Parting Shots
If you have made it this far, you may think this is directed at you. You would be right because I am talking to anyone who will listen! If you are part of a "cornhole family" or put a HOLE lot of effort into a weekly event, I hope you are reading this. There is not a "one size fits all" approach to a successful gig and congrats if you have found a formula that works. But, precedents are tough to break, even bad ones. If only one person is able to take this and better his or her event, then it was worth the rant!