What's new
THE BBQ BRETHREN FORUMS

Welcome to The BBQ Brethren Community. Register a free account today to become a member and see all our content. Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Why don't BBQ competitions pay REAL money???

Sledneck said:
BBQ spectator


b4b1c3ec.jpg
Click to expand...


That's awesome!!! :rofl:
 
There are contests with big money...

Memphis in May - every year over 250 teams and a prize purse of over $110,000

1st place in each pork catagory (Ribs, Whole Hog, Shoulder) gets $8,000
Grand Champion $16,000
 
Scottie said:
I am pretty sure the majority of teams in bbq would take a Jack GC and not care of they won a dime...
Click to expand...

the original question stated was why don't bbq competitions pay any real money. perhaps this is the simple answer. maybe teams really don't care. i thought it was odd that the thread went so many replys without anyone saying "it ain't about the money, it's about having fun".
i also would be happy to take any GC and not win a dime, but... $25,000.00 would be nice! :becky:
 
Bass Fishing is closer to the possible relationship between competitors and sponsors...however, Bass Boats, Motors, Rods, Reels, etc. are bought in HUGE numbers by the average Joe's that want to emulate KVD. I don't see people lining up to by a $46K BBQ trailer rig (think bass boat) or $150 worth of rub, sauce, gloves, tongs, etc. Hell, it's a slow day when I get out of Bass Pro Shop for less that $150.

It may happen but BBQ just does not generate the revenue of other sponsored "sports".
 
DawgPhan said:
There are plenty of eyeballs at most contests, there just aint nothing to look at.

Also I dont think that the Vegas contest competing with west coasts contests is a great example of poor organizing. Well at least not because of the other contests. If that contest is basically anywhere else in the country it draws double the teams without batting an eye no matter the weekend.
Click to expand...


You are right, last year when it was held in Little Rock, it did. There were about 240 teams.
 
When you live in areas that don't have many comps, you need to look at the money just to see if it is possible to recoup some of your investment. Hard to justify driving 5+ hours, taking a day off of work, and spending over $500 when the purse is only $3000.

I definitely don't have the resources to drive 30+ hours to Las Vegas for $125,000 purse.
 
Rich Parker said:
When you live in areas that don't have many comps, you need to look at the money just to see if it is possible to recoup some of your investment. Hard to justify driving 5+ hours, taking a day off of work, and spending over $500 when the purse is only $3000.

I definitely don't have the resources to drive 30+ hours to Las Vegas for $125,000 purse.
Click to expand...


We will team up next year Rich!
 
Scottie said:
I am pretty sure the majority of teams in bbq would take a Jack GC and not care of they won a dime...
Click to expand...

there are probably 500 or so sanctioned BBQ contests each year and they aint all the Jack.

If there wasnt any prize money in BBQ there would be a lot less teams and a lot less contests.

Take your average 45-50 team contest with 10k in prize money. You might have 4-5 teams actually break even for the weekend. 1 or 2 take home decent money for a weekend and be able to cover the next contest.

It would be nice if 10-12 teams out of 50 could reasonably think they could break even on a weekend. I think that could only help grow BBQ.

Another $1000 in prize money at a contest like that and you could pay $50 to 11-15 in each category and make sure that those teams are coming back. Splitting that $1k between category winners and grand champions isnt even going to move the needle.

Right now BBQ couldnt support more than a handful of huge purses, but it sure would be nice to get a little of that trickle down going with the rest of them...

And I will save someone the trouble go ahead and mention that yes I want everyone to get a trophy and a ribbon and a pat on the back for just showing up. Also I am not good enough to win a contest so I would be nice if the organizers would just go ahead and make sure that I feel loved by giving me a $50 bill for showing up. We need to make BBQ more like t-ball where everyone gets a trophy for playing. That way no one's feelings get hurt and we can all be friends.
 
chad said:
Bass Fishing is closer to the possible relationship between competitors and sponsors...however, Bass Boats, Motors, Rods, Reels, etc. are bought in HUGE numbers by the average Joe's that want to emulate KVD. I don't see people lining up to by a $46K BBQ trailer rig (think bass boat) or $150 worth of rub, sauce, gloves, tongs, etc. Hell, it's a slow day when I get out of Bass Pro Shop for less that $150.

It may happen but BBQ just does not generate the revenue of other sponsored "sports".
Click to expand...

I think that your average backyard cook would buy a rub or sauce if he knew that it was used by winners. The fishing stuff is a much better analog than the over used NASCAR.
 
DawgPhan said:
And I will save someone the trouble go ahead and mention that yes I want everyone to get a trophy and a ribbon and a pat on the back for just showing up. Also I am not good enough to win a contest so I would be nice if the organizers would just go ahead and make sure that I feel loved by giving me a $50 bill for showing up. We need to make BBQ more like t-ball where everyone gets a trophy for playing. That way no one's feelings get hurt and we can all be friends.
Click to expand...

Your being sarcastic right?
 
I see a lot of people at the larger comps. Most of them come up to me and want some ribs. A few want to talk Q, but the majority want to sample "competition Q". And at most comps I can't oblige, as much as I'd like to.

They are there to scarf some bones, down some beers, walk around a bit, then go home. Cannot imagine this being a spectator sport!

Look at what they tried with Pitmasters. First season, they show the Q circuit. Didnt work for them, so they went to a freakin' Chopped format (not sure that worked either).
 
huminie said:
Also, the sport isn't very well organized. For example...that $125k contest above...the promoter chose a weekend that had 2 major comps in the state next door that drew about 70 teams away from his event. With a little better planning he could have gotten the numbers up quite easily. Not all 70 would travel, but a lot would have without the conflict.
Click to expand...

I'm confident Ronnie Cates had very little to say about the date selected for the event, when your working with a large multi-billion dollar corporation planning an event at a place that hosts thousands of events a year I'm sureyou're working with very few dates they provide
 
Might as well get my two cents in.....

When I am cooking a contest, I hate to be bothered by folks who have a million questions. The day before when no cooking is going on, I will chat but there is no one there to chat with. Then the day of the cooking the folks start rolling through, I get into that zone where my wife even knows to stand back. I don't mean to be cranky, but I take this seriously just like anything else I do.

All said, I would think cook-offs should be for cooks and the spectators should stick to the things they do as a hobby.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

shares
Competition BBQ trailer
Replies
2
Views
2K
shares
shares
motoeric
Bbq story
Replies
14
Views
1K
oldgfbbq
O
Smokin Hoggz
Cooking Class Smokin Hoggz Tell All Competition BBQ School
Replies
0
Views
415
Smokin Hoggz
Smokin Hoggz
SweetHeatBBQnSC
Competitive cooking outside of bbq anybody?
Replies
12
Views
518
Swine Spectator
Swine Spectator
O
Spectating at competitions?
Replies
6
Views
449
TheDeuce
T
Back
Top