Barnesville bbq & blues 2010...need help!

blues brother said:

Should be another increase in prize money. The committee will review other FBA contests and their payouts. I am in favor of paying 6-10 place a small dollar amount instead of increasing 1-5 place. Since I am not a voting member of the committee, your input would really help. Some of the members felt that a $25 was not worth giving(I don't know about y'all but the last time I saw a $5 bill on the ground I bent my big butt over and picked it up!)

The BBQ teams themselves don't make the event any money, BUT, without the teams we would not have an event!

Mike Aiken

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Mike,
Sure am glad it all worked out for you.
A smaller field would definitely make the downtown venue more appealing.

"How many places to pay?" is a tough question.

"IF" the event has a purse large enough to pay "reasonable" cash to the top 25%, that is great. The definition of "reasonable" is the problem, as you mentioned above. Most events down here have to severely cut the cash to the traditional top 5 to pay deeper in the field.
Chad and I were at an event in 2005 where we took 8th in ribs for only $15 and 2nd in brisket for only $200. There were only 19 teams, so they were paying the top half of the field and diluted the top 5 cash severely to pay (basically) a pittance to 6-10.

There is an event coming up that is expecting 30 + teams (will probably get 45-50) and is paying nice $$ all the way to 10th. Their minimum is $50 for 6-10. They are doing that with a $9400 purse though.
This is all very "reasonable" IMHO.

If an event has 40 teams and is charging $250 each, that is $10,000 coming in the front door. I know there are costs associated with a sanctioned event, but a purse of $4000 -$4500 indicates that team entry fees are considered a profit center for the event.

I guess what I am saying is that if the event has a purse large enough to make decent cash payouts to a large percentage of the field, then they should pay "deep" if that is what they want to do.
If not, pay only as deep as you can without bringing the top 5 (actually all places) down to a token level.

Complex decision--for sure!

And, we actually have no personal preference either way.
We just go cook and see what happens.

Good luck.

TIM