IFPA now charging endorsement fee?

[NormaJ]

https://www.ifpapinball.com/2018-19-state-championship-series-endorsement-fee-and-prize-pool-adjustment/

OK, folks, what does it mean for us? I humbly ask the experts...

[ratsflif]

it was posted on April 1

[NormaJ]

But it was not a joke, as per the postscript.

[Rich Jax]

Sounds pretty simple to me, every player throws in an extra $1 per event.

[PinFever]

G-R-E-E-D   / it's just a dollar lol  / maybe the village BBS should charge a penny a post. it's just a penny !! when it adds up and then pays for the website awesome and if pays for more than the website even better. everyone should just get something from everyone / Lets do a pyramid thingie  lol.. money money money . CREAM get the money / dolla dollah bill ya,ll

[NormaJ]

Hamster, definitely see your point. And the people who play in a tournament sometimes aren't out to win, just compete and have fun. I think you see where I am going.

[HammysHangout ( Hammy )]

i deleted my post, it appears this is actually very common in a lot of tournaments..   Technically it comes out of the "Winning" pot, as long as we don't raise the price or charge an "Entrance" fee to the tournament and keep it the same, it won't be a skin off my back.. I honestly pay $10 every month to play in a tournament i always loose at

I do still feel that there should be an entry fee into state and national championships.

When i competed in a district level contest in my youth, i had taken 1st place, however, in order for me to compete at the "State" level, i had to pay another entry fee, I was unable to do so, and forfeited my spot.

[NormaJ]

I agree that having a fee to play at a "higher level" keeps it fair in comparison to those who just want to see how good they are against their friends. It's supposed to be about having a good time.

[pinballcorpse]

I do still feel that there should be an entry fee into state and national championships.

There is a fee at the State level.

2. Fees
The entry fee into an IFPA State Championship is $20 per participant. The first $100 raised will be put towards the US Championship, with the remaining $220 (assuming a full field of 16 participants) going into the prize pool for the State Championship itself. This entry fee is not inclusive of any coin drop needed for State Championships run at public venues, or for any hosting fees that a private residence may charge for hosting the event.

[pinballcorpse]

Most individual tourneys have a registration fee or cost per ticket associated with playing in that tourney.  The fees are often either a) given entirely back to participants as cash prizes, or b) split based on some fixed charge or percentage between the players and the venue/house/TDs, organizers to cover costs etc. (Running a tourney, even at your home, is NOT FREE)   

Since every IFPA tourney in the state is counting toward the SCS anyway, what IFPA is proposing is that each individual event held contribute $1/player to the SCS and National tourneys with there being a 75%/25% split between the States and Nationals.  This will of course create a larger prize fund for the players to compete for when participating at the highest level. 

As a comparison: winning the State title in any state yields a prize of $100.  To those who actually play frequently in tournaments, they know there have been 3 strikes tourneys and backyard BBQ events held in an afternoon all over the USA that have paid more out than playing for the State Championship title.   
   
I feel that what IFPA is trying to convey is that to qualify and make it to top 16 in the State takes a lot of work and to win the State title even more work.  To those who commit to playing all year long trying to qualify for the SCS, it could easily be argued that there should be some prestige/money associated with that greater than $100. 

(BTW has anyone noticed Pinburgh pays significantly more to the first place finisher than the PAPA World Championship?)     

To those who are against the concept of paying the extra dollar-it is not required unless you want the WPPR points.   Nothing is stopping anyone from having tourneys "just for fun" with your friends. Create your own prize fund, and the players can keep it all.  Feel free to have tourneys with no fees or cash prizes.   Have fun in your leagues or clubs.  The tourney just won't get WPPR points.  It will be easy to see who wants to compete toward the SCS versus just local bragging rights.  The players will give feedback.

I feel what IFPA is trying to do is push competitive pinball into more of the public spotlight and making it appealing to more than the handful of us pinball diehards who follow all of the tournament threads and watch the streams on twitch.

     



 

[number six]

G-R-E-E-D   / it's just a dollar lol  / maybe the village BBS should charge a penny a post. it's just a penny !! when it adds up and then pays for the website awesome and if pays for more than the website even better. everyone should just get something from everyone / Lets do a pyramid thingie  lol.. money money money . CREAM get the money / dolla dollah bill ya,ll

Hey, dont give me ideas. We can bring back Village Extreme ;P

[notime2play]

Possibly just the start of fees. With the growing number of people playing and the path it is taking they will soon charge annual fees to be a member of IFPA. My USAT triathlon membership keeps going up in costs because it keeps growing.

[bjones]

I get what they are doing, you pay a fee to be a licensed competitor in almost any professional sport although I struggle with calling pinball a pro sport but there are those that would differ

The 1.00 charge per tournament seems somewhat odd, why not just go straight to saying it's 20 bucks or so to be an IFPA competitor per year get your competitor credentials and apply them to tournament results to get points if you so desire.  If worked that way, a player that does not wish to be a part of that scene could still compete and win in an IFPA tourney staying completely anonymous if that is the player's desire.  Can't say i'm a fan of any exclusionary policy given that most tourneys even on the localized level are now for points.

[pinballcorpse]

A reason most tourneys are for points is that most of the TDs running events in public places or hosts of open house style events realized that there was no reason to not get WPPR points for things they were doing anyway. 

The exception to this concept is the private event since IFPA requires a sanctioned event be advertised to the general public.  So that is why many IFPA events are not held at private homes.  However a completely legitimate workaround is to list the venue as private and for players to contact the TD directly. 

Historically, there has been no requirement for any IFPA event to charge fees to the players.  It was completely satisfactory to advertise an event on IFPAs site, not charge anything to players and get WPPR points. The proposed 2018 changes makes the minimum cash outlay $1.00 per player to get the WPPR points.  This is raising lots of grief with some players who just wanted to play in free events for points, and starting in 2018 will not get the ranking points if they don't pay the fee.

[k7]

I'm cheap, some say, but come on...it's a dollar.


personally, I think it's more unbalanced to have IFPA events in a home where the home owner is playing for points. seems basic as a home-field advantage.

I play to win. but if that doesn't work out, i play to absolutely lose. whatever gets me a physical trophy and fame.