All-area team bitching, what say you?

Boy this is dumb because it's going to be obvious who the Player of the Year is. Obviously, you're not going to leave someone off the First Team just to make them a Player of the Year finalist. I sure as hell wouldn't. So if you do that, you're going to have three finalists, one which will win, and two that can't even make First Team. It will be clear to everyone who the Player of the Year is before it's ever announced.

That's fucking stupid.

 

We had the girls come in for their headshots and more than one of them said with prompting they knew who the player of the year was, and they were right. I think for almost every sport its going to be very obvious.

But why let the sports people be in charge of the sports stuff.

One of the higherups was shocked that our small school coach of the year, who won it last year when he won a state title wasn't the pick again this year when he was the state runner-up with about two-thirds of the team back. It went to a coach who got his team to the semifinals for the first time. He couldn't understand that the coach who had the best season wasn't the coach of the year.

 

That's been the Gannett way for the last few years, to have sites host "Podunk Prep Sports Awards" nights, bring in a big name to sell tickets to the public and extended family of nominated athletes, and it's been a way for some sites to make some decent money.

They go to big names like Joe Montana, Dak Prescott, Von Miller, Shaq, Tim Tebow, Andrew Luck, Drew Brees and others, pitching a "group discount" where they will be the headliner at 4-5 different sites. I've been told the places that have a real commitment to sports and pimped it hard have made decent money, with one site turning a profit in the $100k range last year. They get area businesses to sponsor it, sell VIP tickets that guarantee one autographed item and a meet-and-greet, and really clean up.

Other, weaker sites that think sports is an unnecessary bother, don't sell it well enough and have decided to kill the idea.

For the ones that make it work, it really is a win-win.

 

This was the paper I was at. When Emmitt Smith's asking price was mentioned, they laughed, saying no way they'd pay it. So we went down the list, I brought up a well-known athlete from the area (not in Emmitt territory, but a name that everyone here would recognize). This athlete's asking price was $5,000 and this athlete was even going to turn around and give every athlete in attendance access to exclusive content on their website (the athlete is now a life/personal development coach). I thought it was a very reasonable offer, but was shot down. Too expensive. They wanted someone to volunteer their time. That's not how it works for these athletes that have made "public speaking" a part of their income after sports.

So, they got what they got, the EE talked and the presenting sponsor talked.

 

I'm actually not bothered by this, as the fees these name players charge are, frankly, kind of sinful to me, particularly considering that it's for speaking at a high school banquet. It's the height of egotistical conceit and I really wonder how these guys live with themselves.

And I'd be curious to know how the fund-raising for this went in this case.

 

I agree, about the $50,000 and $25,000 people. This athlete was only asking $5,000, which I think is reasonable compared to others. And they just wanted that because they had to cancel another paying engagement to clear their schedule for this one.

I don't know how the fund raising went but the presenting sponsor does kick in a lot of money. But all of that goes into the banquet. I don't think any revenue is generated, at least nowhere near as much as the ones with Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, et al are making.

 

You can make money at it if you do it right. Having Drew Brees at the Louisiana papers, Andrew Luck in Indy, I believe Peyton Manning was a headliner in Tennessee and/or Colorado, Marcus Mariota did one in Nashville one year, Tim Tebow was in Florida, is pretty damn full-proof. A quick Google search showed the Wisconsin awards this year are at Lambeau Field, and with Aaron Rodgers.

With draws like that, there are no shortage of companies willing to write checks to have their names attached to it, and get some face time with those guys. Same with selling tickets at $50 a pop, especially if attendees have a chance for an autograph and a photo.

 

DaytonaDan, I can assure you the money they made off the banquet was far more than they paid out of pocket. And that's why they keep doing it. We had our first here this year. Did well. Football player of the year should be announced when all-area team is put out. The only "surprise" at our banquet is male and female athlete of the year.

 

I want to say Drew Brees was covered by a company there. They paid the appearance fee in exchange for someone at the head table and a table for some of their employees. I think they also had a little meet-and-greet with Brees. That's the way to offset the appearance fee. Then pay for catering and the building and the rest is profit. It's a captive audience because the parents all want to see their kids honored. Even at the one we did here without guest speakers, it was a packed house every time.

 

On these award ceremony nights, who do they have running the sports desk? Are you asked to do them on your off day?

 

I don't know about others, but we did them from like 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on a weekday (usually a Thursday in early June) and rushed back to the office to put the paper out. But these days, the paper is "out" by 7 p.m. so I'd imagine they just go to the banquet and have the rest of the night off.

 

When it became profitable to do so.