I know this will be different for everyone, but I'm just curious. We have a new contest down here on the coast this year. Now I'm not knocking the people putting this contest on, because I have no idea what their overhead is. That being said I'm used to seeing $250 entry fees in the limited amount of KCBS contests that I cook. This particular comp has an entry fee of $285 then with additional charges turnoutd $20 for electical and water respectively. For most cooks that travel from any kind of distance this is going to put them over $500 after fuel at least before even buying a single piece of meat. For many more that travel even longer distances it will be over $600 I know that in the grand scheme of it, the extra $35 for the entry fee and the $45 for water and power are not much money, but does it really have to cost this much?
I guess what I'm really wondering is how many people don't compete because of the high cost, and how many more WOULD compete if the cost was lets say abou half of what it is now. I'm not saying that there is even a practical way to get the cost down that low, but I do wonder what it would do to turnout numbers if it were MUCH more affordable. I hear a lot of talk about contests that are suffering for turnouts much more so than they used to. I'm sure that has more to do with the economy than increases in entry fees.
It also makes me wonder what the true motivation for competing is for most. Most of the people I hear talk about it say that you don't compete to make money. You do it because you enjoy it. That is certainly the case for me. I definitely enjoy getting a check for a high finish, but its not my main focus.
So how about it? At what point does it become more money than you can stomach to compete in a BBQ cookoff even if you can afford it?
I guess what I'm really wondering is how many people don't compete because of the high cost, and how many more WOULD compete if the cost was lets say abou half of what it is now. I'm not saying that there is even a practical way to get the cost down that low, but I do wonder what it would do to turnout numbers if it were MUCH more affordable. I hear a lot of talk about contests that are suffering for turnouts much more so than they used to. I'm sure that has more to do with the economy than increases in entry fees.
It also makes me wonder what the true motivation for competing is for most. Most of the people I hear talk about it say that you don't compete to make money. You do it because you enjoy it. That is certainly the case for me. I definitely enjoy getting a check for a high finish, but its not my main focus.
So how about it? At what point does it become more money than you can stomach to compete in a BBQ cookoff even if you can afford it?