Walleye Tournament Profits

[Say It Isn't So....]

I'm kind of new to the tournament circle. I fished one in Glendo,WY last year and got the invite pamphlet letter to try again this year. The fees have gone up from $300 last year to $400 year. This got me wondering what the total money taken in for these tournaments amounts to. The pamphlet listed 1st Place @ $10K, 2nd @$5K, 3rd @ $3K and so on thru 20th @ $400. These amounts are guaranteed if 150 teams sign up (last year there were around 170 teams I think ..... a few extra place payouts were made).
Anyway I added up all the money paid out in prizes which totaled $40,000 and subtracted that from the $60,000 taken in from 150 teams. This yields a profit of $20,000. Now I know that there are other costs besides prizes to be paid (postage, permits etc.) but I also know that there are $50 late fees and cancelation fees etc that kind of make up for some of that. I guess what seems the most out of line is that there is only one winning team (out of +150 teams) and they get $10K. It seems like the profits for the organizers are twice that amount. Is this typical?
This is a free country so businesses and patrons can do as they choose. If this is how it's typically done then you can count me out. Now if a reasonable portion of this profit went into improvement of the fishery I could justify my participation in this kind of event.
I'd like to hear comments from anyone with knowledge/experience about this topic.

[Nofish]

Hey Say it aint so,

Most tournaments will have the payback percentage printed in the information, or tell you if you ask. Payout percentages are whatever each tournament or organizations sets up.

Some local tournies just pay the top 10 or 15, and fluctuate the amounts if the field is short. Some will do this but guarantee 1st place. It depends on the people running the event.

Payback amounts range all over the map. I think most do pay around 70 % that I have seen. That is just guess at an average, though, don't hold me to it.

Tournaments are not usually held so someone can pay out a lot of money. I have also been in a few charity type tournamnets where the payout was only 40 to 50 %, but then they were fund raiser type events for, Childrens cancer Research, a Childrens Hospital, and To benefit Lukemia research. I don't mind small Payouts and Payback percentages for these types of events.

I have also noticed that tournaments with lousy payuot percentages don't have many anglers. So organizers generally do what they can to keep the payout percentage high enough to fill their field, but still make enough to make their holding the tourney worthwhile in the first place.

Have fun.......R

[Dan(MI)]

This is my take, I'd like to see a "fisher donation" from tournament owners. I'd like to add that I love fishing especially the tournaments those really get me going. If A few or alot of hardworking volunteering folks didn't run them I'd fish anyway, but thanks to them I get to put my skills against others for a chance to win a few bucks. Its not much different than playing at the casino, just more enjoyable because I'm fishing.
Go fishin
Dan

[Chad]

There is a lot of work that goes into putting on a tournament. Most tourneys start right away after the event to get everything in place for the next year. Nobody is going to put one on for free. I would guess that if a tournament pays out 80% of the entry fees, that would be great. You should also look at your entry and see what the actual entry fee is. Our walleye club puts on a tournament and the total entry fee is $220 but the actual entry fee is only $145. The extra $75 is for the meal, conservation fee, stocking fee, etc...

I wouldn't get too worked up over it. Nobody has ever said that you must fish a tournament if you dont want to.

[need bigger payout %]

seen a post awlie ago about why sponsers dont do more .. well having fished ALOT of bass tourneys in the past i can tell you that ...bass fisherman stand alot better chance of making a check .people wonder why bass fishing is so big? Because you can get into a tournement for $ 100 and make a check that pays for your expenses evn finishing way down in the standings ..where im from they have 80- 100 % paybacks .. people down here wouldnt fish anything with a 70% payback ..the club or promoter would never last . man im getting way off here so bare with me .. why has bass fishing taking off and walleye hasent .. bass fisherman in the south can enter a tourny and have fun without having to pay a fortune to enter and still make some money . the walleye tournys ive seen promoted cost a fortune to enter and then only the top few make a check .. and then the promoter makes more than any of the fisherman .folks this wouldnt happen down south .. i see on average at least 3- 10 tourneys advertized a weekend .. there all withing 80- 100 % payback .granted there not as big as some of the BASS or PWT but this is what makes the BASS and FLW tours so strong .. people see they can make it in these smaller ones and then make the step to the big leages . from what ive seen and read .. up north you start with a 300 entry fee up there .. arent there any smaller tourneys ? maybe im way off i dont know but seems if there were smaller ones yould have alot more intrest in the bigger opnes and then the people at these would wake up to the fact that folks arent going to stand for being ripped off .. i cant see any reason why a promoter needs 20K to get the next years tourny going .. im not sure of the of the percent BASS of FLW payout but there in a different league than walley tournys are and id guess that they do spend alot on there promotions and tv stuff .if you want your walleye fishing to get bigger like bass fishing has .. have more smaller tourneys with entry fees starting at 100$ with a bigger $ payout ..youll see it grow .. nad in doing so youll see the average guy enter and not feel he,s being taking advantage of ...again i could see the payout % being smaller on the PWT ( the only one ive ever seen on tv ) but not on some of these others please dont anyone misunderstand what im saying id love to see walleye tournys grow they way bass fishing has ..I live up here now and ive thought of it myself but ill be darned if im going to pay that kind of moeny and see the promoters make more than i would if i won . PS im not good enough for that yet ill be the first to admite these walley are a different critter .. there tough at time .. but i do love fishign for them .. well ill get off my soap box just had to vent .. tite lines to all

[Say It Isn't So.....]

Need Bigger Payout %,
I hear ya. You make some good points there. Seems like the entry fees for walleye tourneys have gotten a little out of control. I think that more people would partcipate if the price were knocked back a little (but hey 170 teams is pretty high participation). It just comes down to how much the promoter wants to skim the prize pool for and how much the participants are willing to allow him to take before they say "enough". Just seems a little crazy that a guy can make more money running/ promoting 3 tournaments in a year than the average percapita income of the state he is doing it in (WY). Let's be honest now, this is not even close to full time work for the year and how much initial investment is required when the bulk of the payout (prize money) comes long after the registration fees are paid?

[Don't quit your day job]

The best payback in the walleye world are the RCL tournaments this summer. They pay back 130-140% to the pro entrants. The championship is quite a bit better than that. Most tournaments out there pay 70-90% back after deducting some operating expenses.

At the same time it gets me thinking about what those percentages mean to the anglers fishing. As I mentioned the highest return is in the RCL but the entry fee is $1250. If you add that the anglers expenses will about $1000 for the week of practice and tournament days that means they will be spending about $2250 per event. The RCL will be paying back about $310,000 over 60 spots or an average payout of a little over $5000. That payout is based on a 175 boat field.

Long and short of it is:

1 in 3 chance of winning on average $5000 on a $2250 bet. You might as well lay it down on Black and Red at Vegas. And RCL is the best? Best of what?

I wouldn't rush out and buy a $30,000 boat just for a shot at those odds.

[W'eyes Guy]

I think your math skills need some sharpening. If you look at the RCL results, you'll see that the last place Pro received $900 of his $1250 back.(That's without even registering a fish!) I attended a seminar on Sunday by Scott Glorvigan(RCL Champ), if you ask him, I'll bet he thinks it was a pretty good bet.

[Mobydick]

North Dakota state law requires payback minimum of 75%, 15% for the operating organization and 10% to the Game & Fish.