I just want to keep the discussion going on this tournament that we are setting up.  It really looks like we're going to do this for the current season, probably starting in September and having the championship in early December in Lansing, MI.

Please tell me how realistic this sounds...

$70 entry fee for qualifying squad.  Squads can be held all across the country.  1 in 5 receive $70 entry fee back, and with:
20-29 bowlers the top 2 move on to championship
30-39 bowlers the top 3 move on...
40-49 bowlers the top 4 move on...
and so on.

20 Bowler minimum per qualifying squad.

$50 goes to prize fund, $20 to expenses, $0 (yes, zero) to lineage.  All lineage would be covered by local sponsors.  Championship lineage to be covered by National sponsors.

Qualifying--6 games
Championship--Saturday 6 games cut in half, 3 more games (pins carry over) cut to top 16, 32, or 64 depending on size of field.  Sunday best 2 out of 3 seeded elimination matches until 4 bowlers remain.  Single game elimination for seeded top 4.

As I mentioned before, with 1000 entries, $5000 would be guaranteed for first prize, $2500 2nd, and a minimum of $150 for the last championship weekend cash.  2-night (Friday, Saturday) hotel accomodations would be paid for from expenses.  Local sponsors would cover any airfare or gas for those that qualify for the championship, and would also cover car rental for those that fly.

So ya figure a huge squad in California that gets 100 bowlers would put 10 bowlers into the championship.  Let's say $300/person flights = $3000, then add $100/bowler or so for rental car = $1000.  $4000 would have to be added from sponsors to cover those expenses.

A squad in Michigan with 100 bowlers, yielding 10 qualifiers would only require gas money per bowler, perhaps $50/bowler or $500.

Now we also need to cover the cost of the flyers printed per qualifying squad, so we would probably want a little to be added from sponsors to cover that as well.  I would like to get a major beer company to sponsor the entire tournament, thus printing banners to hang above the lanes in qualifying centers across the country, and perhaps adding some cash as well.

Ok, so that's a lot to throw out there.  Any discussion on any of it?  Is this realistic in your opinion?

I figure if we get 20 squads the first season, I would be happy.  Although I think 40 or more is quite possible!
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Brian
MichiganBowling.com
http://www.MichiganBowling.com

Famous Last Words of a Pot Bowler--"Ok, but this is my last game!"