SPONSORSHIP – A Game of Monopoly?

First, I must preface that what you are about to read is not intended to attack, personally or professionally, any person or organization and that while I will not use any real names, many of you will know the people to which I am referring and a few of you may even know of the specific situations I am writing about. This article is merely a personal point of view and I realize that some people may not like to see these things in print, names or no names. It is intended to start discussion and therefore I would be more than happy for anyone who disagrees with me to rebut.

With all that disclaimer crap out of the way I’m going to let it all hang out so to speak.

Our (sport) is growing. What was the apex of skill in the flair world three years ago, thought unobtainable by many, is now commonplace. There is much more television coverage and the production of these shows are much slicker and flair has become a much more marketable. The root of this growth is undeniably the hours of practice put in by the bartenders, if you don’t have that there would be nothing. Then there are the committed people who run our (sport) and organize our events without whom this growth would have been much slower. Last but certainly not least are the businesses who think that flair is worth supporting and in the long run will help the growth of their business, they wouldn’t do it if they thought there was nothing in it for them.

Now for the sticky part. Through the years relationships have been built between the organizers of our (sport) and the businesses that supported us when we were nothing.  Now that flair is growing it is attracting new businesses. The problem is these new companies may sell similar products to our longstanding supporters. In turn these companies have gained exclusivity with our larger organizing bodies, which means no product other than theirs can be used. Now some of these companies have sought to sponsor specific people, pay their airfares, hotels and entry to competitions to be a representative of their company and use their product. This is a very lucrative offer to these people who previously paid out of their own pocket to compete. So what happens when organizer says they can not use the product A in competition because product B is a sponsor, He’ll choose not to compete, lowering the standard of entries in the competition. Now imagine this happens with another competitor, different company same competition. What if there were five not going? We’re talking about the big dogs here too, all of a sudden the big boys don’t come out to play anymore and our growth stalls very suddenly, we lose our momentum and never get it back. This is a big oversimplification but one that is possible and perhaps already rippling through our (sport).

Thing is, we are going to get new interest in us and we need to start thinking of a much bigger picture there are monopolies being built and some people have a monetary interest in keeping things just the way they are (and that is the only glance at the money aspect). Look at other sports, Skateboarding is an example I find effective owing to the fact it has tricks, styles, subjective judging, a practice level similar to ours and it started very small, had its up and downs before it exploded into what it is today. The companies that were there at the start are still there today and are still synonymous with skateboarding but there are many other companies that have come up around them, the good ones remain and the bad ones go under. A skateboard competition has a major sponsor, be it clothing, shoe, hardware or sports drink, but that doesn’t mean you cannot represent another company who sponsors you, they may not mention the product but they can use it and wear their sponsorship. Every other sport is like this and our (sport) needs to fall in line or fall by the wayside.

Beyond that, we as bartenders need be less judgmental of people trying other products seen a copycats or perceived profiteers by others, if one person feels a product suits their needs they will use it, if it is crap, then the company who makes it will be out of business quickly. The funny thing about it is, if you have guessed by now what products I am specifically talking about, I can tell you this, I support all of them. I use most of them on a daily basis and even if a similar company sponsors me one day (heaven help) I will support them both, I’ll just represent one of them. Personal sponsorship is in the future, for a very few its already here, but we can make a big fight about it for little reason or we can move closer to the explosion that will happen. How is Tony Hawk that much different from us, he does tricks for a living, he gets giant endorsements from big companies, well, heads up fellow bartenders, we have large companies behind us and we are the frontline for their sales, we do it at work and practice it when we get home. Get out there, practice, and start thinking of how to make yourself a “marketable commodity” and when you get an offer for endorsement, speak up. Having the big boys compete against you makes you try harder, companies are the same and when they start competing for US, we’ll all win. It’s your right to represent your supporters and don’t let anyone tell you you should only use this product, or no you can’t represent product A because product B is a sponsor. When your time comes to shine, you’re the one who put in all the hours of practice you should reap the rewards.