Questions about sponorship?

I would get everything from equipment, supplies and cash

Every sponsorship deal is different.

The more you get, the more you must give in return. At the entry level, in-kind sponsors typically give product in exchange for simply displaying their brand advertising. On the other end of the spectrum are cash sponsors who write a big check at the beginning of the season, but expect things like catering and public appearances in exchange.

Nothing comes for free in this world - the more you receive, the more you are expected to give.

We have a couple of local businesses that pay our entry fee, in return, we provide them with all our left over product.

We get our briskets in-exchange for advertising for their farm and cooking at any events they put on to promote their business.

Some could also be sponsoring themselves if they own another business. Lets say they own a butcher shop or excavating company. They can give their BBQ team a sponsorship and write that off as advertising for their main company.

We have a few sponsors. Our main one is for Savory Spice Shop in Franklin TN. The owner is a friend and jumped at the opportunity to sponsor us.

We get a little cash..$250, but all our spices are free. This is maybe another $50, but free is free.

Plus, we cook BBQ classes (basic backyard stuff) using her spices and we keep the class fee. That's $400+ a class and we've done 2. This doesn't cost her anything, plus she sells more spices. It's costs us time, as we need to cook all day and then teach on a Saturday night, but the end result is good for us.

You may get sponsors who want to just have their name on a BBQ team. It may not be BBQ related. So ask around.

But remember, it's your hobby. So you can't be bummed out, if you get nothing. It's like asking people to sponsor your golf or fishing tourney entries. You also need to make sure you're giving back to your sponsor. They may want your extra Q, after a contest. Or may want to help. So, watch what you're getting into.

We're lucky and count our blessing that we have what we have.

Good Luck!

We receive product and discounts in return for promotion...it helps defray the high cost of competing.

We have a couple of sponsors. Working on lining up some more. We have a wood sponsor that gives us free cooking wood all year long in exchange for hanging a banner and cooking a party for his employees in January. We also cook him a brisket throughout the year here and there. We have a meat sponsor that gives us competition meat for free and gets us meat at cost for everything else. In exchange we cook at their stores and they sell samples of the cooked meat throughout the year based on our availability.

If you're interested in some sort of sponsorship the easiest way to get noticed is to frequent their business often and spend some money. Once you build a rapport start bringing in some samples of the food you cook. Casually mention the comps you cook in. Try to have some numbers of how many people attend the comps and how many people pass by your cook site. Maybe start by asking if its ok to pass out some brochures for them or ask if they have a small sign or banner you could display. Seems like a lot of work, but its an expensive hobby and whatever will help keep costs down for a comp is worth a try.