Team Tournament Sponsorships

Something came to mind in another thread. I see the Carolina Cardinals sponsoring showcase tournaments, but not many other teams. There is allot of money that can be made for teams that sponsor a tournament. Why don't teams do more of that and take the money they earn as a fundraiser to help pay for travel of teams and parents, and play more tournaments on a national level, not just a local statewide level. I see teams travelling to Myrtle Beach all the time from NY, New Jersey, VA, Penn. My DD said their were a TON of girls from all over the country at the last UNC camp. Sponsoring a tournamnet would be an awesome fundraiser for a team looking to travel to MORE high level TB tournaments, or just play MORE tournaments here at home. You'd think with the economy it would be a great way to raise money to cut team fee's and allow for more playing. Any thoughts?

 

To add on to cheeze's comment, not only is there the situation of field rental, field liability and such, but also affiliation. All National organizations ASA, USSSA, NSA, etc require the tournament to be run by one of their tournament directors. This, of course, is for insurance purposes as much as anything else. And yes, that national and state organization get a portion of the proceeds. But the tournament director is covered under liability.

Most people rarely think about, but must always consider, the worst case scenerio. What happens if something bad happens to your DD is always there. If you participate in a non-sanctioned event, and something did happen, there may not be as much financial catastrophic help there as with a sanctioned event.

That is why many teams shy away from it.

Ty

 

but....

OK, but what if we had one BIG Spring or Fall annually sanctioned fundraiser for teams to help cover the liability part of it? Kind of like what some HS teams do at the beginning of the season when they play their endowment games. You guys know the kinds of numbers that come thorugh stuff like this. Team fee's, concessions, etc. Share the wealth a little. My whole thing here is to open up the thought process of allowing some expenses to be covered for teams who want to travel to tournaments outside of NC, be it SC, VA, GA, whatever. Sponsoring a tournament with a little help from sanctioning bodies would be a very nice fundraiser. Get to see and play talent a little farther away and get some teams FROM NC more exposure. The one thing about playing in state all the time is it's always the same teams. Like to see how things stack up on a more quasi national level. That would be fun if we could all work together and make it affordable. Maybe help build up the reputation of NC softball on a more national level. Just a thought.

 

Not that easy...

I was with an organization who used to host tournaments and trust me when I tell you that it is enough to drive a man completely crazy. There is more involved in it than you can imagine. Here are just a few things you have to do...

Organize the event (have to start at least 6 months if not a year before the actual tournament)
Pick a date (make sure it does not conflict with another major tournament that is going on)
Get the word out
Get enough teams signed up to make (hope teams don't drop at the last minute)
Get the money from the teams
Get the location secured
Get enough volunteers to help make it work
Get merchandise to sell, shirts printed up, vendors, etc.
Work the city/county on the gate, parking, consessions

The list goes on and on. You have to be VERY organized and have a ton of help to put on a decent tournament, let alone a great one. I applaud everyone who makes these tournaments happen for our DDs but I would NEVER do it myself.

 

and have some kind of an escape route if it rains, cause all heck's gonna break out, , return money, all kinds of already paid expenditures as the man said, the list goes on.