Team Sponsor Conflicting w/ Comp?

Im interested to hear what people have to say about this. We are in early talks with a bourbon distiller and I'm not sure the folks in Lynchburg would be happy with us flying their banner should we be lucky enough to get it.

Bourbon Barrel BBQ said:

Im interested to hear what people have to say about this. We are in early talks with a bourbon distiller and I'm not sure the folks in Lynchburg would be happy with us flying their banner should we be lucky enough to get it.

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I can tell you from personal experience that you will not fly any banner or sign with any brown liquor product other than Jack in Lynchburg. A couple/few years ago I had to go ask a team to remove said identifiers from their site. They were very nice about it. They said they knew they would not be able to display it, but just wanted to get a photo. They took it down and went on with the contest. I have been involved with some other contests as described above where there are paying sponsors of the event and they have priority over individual team sponsors. I have seen some teams required to cover up logos on trailers to conceal sponsor logos when they conflicted with event sponsors. I don't think this is unusual. Hope this helps answer the questions.

Absolutely. It could spare some embarrasing moments and hard feeling later.

Sams Club events had some wording about sponsor signage ,I dont remember the exact wording.

It's a shame BBQ contests have become wannabe political marketing showcases. If you have a sponsor that is supporting your team you should be able to fly whatever the hell you want on your pit space. You paid for that 20x30 spot for the day.

To Any Organizers:
BBQ Manufactures or affiliates and BBQ as a segment in the food industry will not feel the pinch if your sponsor is the same as the organizers. They can't even track their current return on investmements as a large corporate sponsor. They should not be looking anywhere near the independants or small business sponsors.

Now, if Costco showed up with their own team to compete at a Sam's event you may have situation. Other than that, people should be less worried about banners and more concerned how their event is run.

QN said:

I can tell you from personal experience that you will not fly any banner or sign with any brown liquor product other than Jack in Lynchburg. A couple/few years ago I had to go ask a team to remove said identifiers from their site. They were very nice about it. They said they knew they would not be able to display it, but just wanted to get a photo. They took it down and went on with the contest. I have been involved with some other contests as described above where there are paying sponsors of the event and they have priority over individual team sponsors. I have seen some teams required to cover up logos on trailers to conceal sponsor logos when they conflicted with event sponsors. I don't think this is unusual. Hope this helps answer the questions.

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I can cover a banner I cant change my team name.

HA! Now, you've definitely got a situation brewing with that one.

We love our sponsors (Thanks Kosmo and Simply Marvelous!)...we're gonna fly their banners...or we ain't cookin'...

Flavor Gangster said:

It's a shame BBQ contests have become wannabe political marketing showcases. If you have a sponsor that is supporting your team you should be able to fly whatever the hell you want on your pit space. You paid for that 20x30 spot for the day.

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Not really different then compitition sponsors. They help pay for all spaces, supplies, or maybe even prize money. If a team.sponsor is a direct competitor of theirs I don't blame an event sponsor for requesting non-competes.

I fly mine around the world but if I can't for some reason I see to it that I'm logo down on our uniforms.

I'm not sponsored by and I never received a flag but I fly the Brethren!

Australia

Spicewine, ProQ and Grandhall.


Australia

Flavor Gangster said:

It's a shame BBQ contests have become wannabe political marketing showcases. If you have a sponsor that is supporting your team you should be able to fly whatever the hell you want on your pit space. You paid for that 20x30 spot for the day.

To Any Organizers:
BBQ Manufactures or affiliates and BBQ as a segment in the food industry will not feel the pinch if your sponsor is the same as the organizers. They can't even track their current return on investmements as a large corporate sponsor. They should not be looking anywhere near the independants or small business sponsors.

Now, if Costco showed up with their own team to compete at a Sam's event you may have situation. Other than that, people should be less worried about banners and more concerned how their event is run.

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Political Marketing Showcases? Give it a rest. Even though you paid for your spot, every contest has rules that the competitor must follow. Your are not free to do whatever the hell you want. You really have to look at the big picture instead of having tunnel vision.

If I am a sponsor and pay good money to an organizer, the last thing I want is any recognition for my competition at contest I am paying to sponsor. Why would I spend money for something that potentially helps my competition? If that were to happen you have a company that will not sponsor your contest next year.

Your comment about large corporate sponsors is also way off base. Suppose Weber sponsors a contest (they sponsor a lot of contests) and the local Grill Store decides to compete. They put up a banner advertising they are a Brinkman distributor and on the banner is the statement, "Brinkman, the less costly alternative to Weber". How would you expect Weber to react when they are paying to sponsor the contest. I garranty Weber would never sponsor that contest again.

Remember, good reliable sponsors are difficult to find. You don't want to piss them off. No matter how well an event can be run, without sponsors, there is no event.

Thats cool man, they still won't feel it or catch it on there bottom line. I never liked rules much.

Wy should Weber care if a team shows up sponsored by Brinkman. Really. How does it effect there sales. Cmon dude! Seriously.

A few years ago, at the Royal, a team was told to remove a large banner. Last year at MIM it was mentioned that I had a Jack shirt on. I think that it was a MIM Board member.

Teams vs comp sponsors

Team sponsors are not the same as Comp sponsors. Totally different.

This is not the NFL and we aren't making millions as teams.
What next, Nike gonna sponsor a comp and tell everyone they can't wear Reebok on the awards stage. Gimme a break. it's BBQ!

If Sweet Baby Rays now made by Kens Foods. If they sponsored a comp I highly doubt they would care if Big Bob Gibson's Or Blues Hog Cooking Teams fly their colors.

Now, slots for event sponsors can be limited a specific business but that's entirely different.

"Chew chew chew, yum yum yum!"

I was cooking an event sponsored by an Ace Hardware and they came by and took my orange Homer Depot bucket under my hand wash Cambro and replaced it with an Ace bucket. It kinda pissed me off that they didn't ask me, so I told the guy I wanted it back. The organizer started giving me some chin music that I was insensitive to the sponsors desire to promote their local hardware store and not the "big box' stores items. A friggin' bucket!

So, I dutifully stuck by Homer bucket in the trailer and cooked!

I find this thread very intriguing, and I'm reading with interest. I can see both sides. When an event has a sponsor, that sponsor can expect coverage to give its money, but when a team has a sponsor, that sponsor has usually provided something to the team for coverage itself. Is it fair to the event sponsor to pay money and have a competitor advertised? Is it fair to a team sponsor to pay money and not get its exposure?

Whenver people ask about competitive BBQ rules, I like to look at other competitive leagues to see how things are handled there. Looking at the NFL, who was the NFL's wireless sponsor in 2007? Sprint. Who was the Jaguars' stadium sponsor that year? Alltel. Who was the league's beer sponsor in 2009? Coors. Who was the league's beer sponsor in 2009? Coors. Who was the Dolphins' stadium sponsor that year? Landshark (An A-B brand). Who is the beer sponsor of the Cowboys? SABMiller. What about MLB? A-B is the sponsor there, but aren't the Brewers a playing advertisement for SABMiller, and the Rockies for Coors (not to mention their stadium sponsor)? Then there's NASCAR. I don't follow it, but are AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile forbidden from advertising during Sprint Cup races? In 2008, wasn't there a Craftsman Truck Series event at Lowe's Motor Speedway? What about Nascar teams? Are they forbidden from having sponsors that conflict with the series' sponsor? These are really just the ones I can think of off the top of my head. I'm sure there are more. Seems to me like the norm is to allow sponsorships to be seperate. Please carry on....

dmp

Frankbbq said:

A few years ago, at the Royal, a team was told to remove a large banner. Last year at MIM it was mentioned that I had a Jack shirt on. I think that it was a MIM Board member.

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:beckyrobably because all of us in TN like Jack:becky:

From what we have seen MIM has no rules about other organizations banners. KCBS had a trailer and an entire program set up there.

As far as sponsors at MIM, you have to disclose any corporate sponsor that you have on the application. Team sponsors aren't supposed to be direct competitors of contest sponsors. Sponsor banners can not be displayed if they are.

Like it or not, this is now nature of our sport. In order for Organizers to give big purses, they need big sponsors. Those sponsors have needs, and the need for exclusivity is usually at the top of their list. We are going to see more and more of this as purses get bigger.

Growing Pains.