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Every month I get a bunch
of emails from all kinds of player: some are intelligent
questions, some aren't, and some are written by
half-wits who wouldn't know the word 'please'
if it came up and bit them on the ass. I have
to say the most irritating of all the emails I
get has to be 'How do I get sponsorship?'
For the most part, these
emails are coming from teams or players who have
just started out playing and are asking me how
they can get sponsorship just because they want
it. Sponsorship has to be earned - just because
a few teams out there seem to be given the world
in terms of product and such does not mean it's
open to everyone, the industry just could not
afford it.
To put things in perspective,
let's take a look at who is sponsored and the
level of that sponsorship. First of all, there
are two main types of sponsorship. Full sponsorship
is when the team's expenses are met and maybe
there's a cash reward for success worked into
the contract. All paint is free, all hotels are
paid for, as are entrance fees and flights. Basically
when you play for a Pro team who are fully sponsored,
you pay zip. I was fortunate enough to play for
the All Americans and Aftershock and these were
both fully sponsored teams who would share out
any prize money when we won. So, if we won an
NPPL tournament then it worked out we might have
something like a grand shoved in our back pocket.
The number of teams who
have this type of deal Stateside numbers no more
than five or six. Partial sponsorship caters for
the rest of the teams; it might come in the form
of gun sponsorship, help with paint and so on
but not the comprehensive package enjoyed by the
big hitters. I know teams are helped out with
reduced prices for so-called sponsorship packages
but I don't really recognise this as true sponsorship,
merely price cuts offered to particular teams.
So what irritates me in
all this? Why should I get pissed off when I get
emails asking me the best way to get sponsorship
from the industry? I suppose I have always believed
that you should earn what you get and some of
these guys who ask me ain't even been playing
for a year and are looking to be sponsored. Companies
will generally sponsor teams not out of some philanthropic
principle but because there is a return somewhere
for their dollar investment. When they sponsor
the top teams they are aware that these guys are
generally in the spotlight not only in media terms
through the magazines but when other players see
them, it is difficult not to associate the products
they use with the success they have gained. Product
association with success is a bedrock strategy
of marketing.
 So
when companies decide to hand out their hard-earned
dosh to teams like Aftershock, SC Ironmen and
Image, they ain't throwing the money away. They
know these guys are gonna win at some time; they
also know that the win is going to get magazine
coverage; and they know that people are going
to be there seeing them win and so on. You can
begin to appreciate how it all works. Then along
comes a team from Nowheresville, Arizona and think
they can demand a sponsorship package just because
they 'want' it and think they 'deserve' it.
What goes on in some people's
minds baffles me sometimes, I have to say though
to qualify all of this, the vast majority if not
all of these requests are made by kids and kids
are where it's at in industry terms at the moment.
But you would think even at their young age they
would have some idea the world is not such a generous
place. I have had a few emails that went something
like this: 'Would U sponsor us, write back soon.'
That was the extent of the sponsorship request.
No please, no presentation of team profile, just
a very rude, naïve email that got instantly
shoved into the delete file.
Now the reason I have chosen
this subject this month is I hope to give all
aspiring teams the best chance of some form of
sponsorship. Firstly, get a year or so of playing
under your belt so you at least know the ropes.
Secondly, when you submit your request, be polite;
try to engage the spell-check facility on your
computer, explain what you are trying to do in
terms of achievements and aspirations.
Submit a team profile,
not too long though, we don't want to hear the
life histories of you and all your team-mates.
Keep it concise and don't forget, be polite (I
know I have said that already but it's important).
Now you can blanket bomb
the entire industry with your requests and if
you are lucky you will be picked up, if not just
keep playing, trying to improve your game and
hopefully you will win a few tournaments. Once
you have a few wins in the bag, this is added
to your team profile submission and you will now
have upped your chances of being noticed. Gone
are the days when a few mentions of a team sponsor
in Hicksville, Alabama on the winners' stand was
sufficient to attract sponsorship. The sport is
becoming more sophisticated and now the teams
have to respond when they go looking for sponsorship.
Like all things in this world, we have to earn
what we get and it's no use asking for something
when we just don't deserve it.
Good luck to all of you!
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