September 22, 2012
Q & A With McManus Too Soft
From A Reader
To Daily Squash Report:
I was interested to read your interview with Joe McManus about PST, however I was hoping you could have asked some questions that might have exposed some tougher issues. I thought you allowed him to make it seem more like a press release than a true interview.
Some things I would be interested to hear about are as follows.
Does PST still pay appearance fees to players?
Why does the PST not publicize the prize money for its events? I have heard some of the events pay as little as 300 dollars to the winner. Is that a sustainable option for a "professional" squash player?
What is the average profit the PST makes from running an event?
Would the PST accept a player such as Lance Armstrong who has been caught doping or using performance enhancing drugs? How is this issue separate from accepting Galifi to the PST, and does the PST have any drug testing policy in place?
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Does PST still pay appearance fees to players?
ReplyDeleteYes, like many other sports tour and leagues, we do. I recently discussed this in a Squash E-zine Blog article. http://squashezine.blogspot.com/2012/06/appearance-fees-in-sport.html
Fees manifest themselves in all shapes and sizes.
For example, we often tell players we will find a room for them to stay in to offset hotel expenses, which could be considered an appearance fee. We often tell players that we will buy them lunch/dinner at a tournament. We have paid bus/train fare for players or other travel related expenses.
We have also incented players, who were requested by a local sponsor or pro, to attend a tournament. Since we evolved from US Pro Squash to Pro Squash Tour, our model has changed dramatically. I believe the largest appearance fee PST ever paid was $3,000. The lowest appearance fee was me telling a player I would buy him a few beers after his match if he entered a tournament.
We have also guaranteed some players a minimum level of compensation. But those players had the opportunity to earn more than the guarantee by winning more matches. So, the incentive for them was to win. But they committed to the tournament with the understanding that they would not lose money.
In general, our fees are designed for one of three reasons. 1) to attract a new player to the tour who we believe will create fan interest 2) to reward a loyal player on PST, who we don’t want to see punished because he is traveling to a tournament 3) to accommodate the request of local sponsors/pros
Why does the PST not publicize the prize money for its events?
We don’t emphasize prize money because we view it as bad marketing strategy. A person who really cares can look at our calendar section and players tab on our website and know (within a few thousand dollars) the level of the available prize money.
We have a limited amount of messages we are able to convey to the public. I would rather focus on branding our players and other key tour messages.
I have heard some of the events pay as little as 300 dollars to the winner. Is that a sustainable option for a "professional" squash player?
Yes, that is true, and no, I do not believe anyone could live on winning $300 a few tournaments per year.
There are less than a dozen squash players in the world who could live comfortably on their squash tournament winnings alone. So the reality is that there is no tour on earth that provides a reliably sustainable option as a professional squash player.
Some PSA and WSA players receive government money or other national money if they maintain a certain level of ranking. So, ironically, the purse money from those other tours is less relevant to a player than their ranking. Some players also receive corporate sponsorship, which includes myriad deals and commitments.
Our tour operates under a different structure.
We are the only tour on the planet that doesn’t charge players a tour membership or tournament registration fee. We tell them the available purse at each tournament, and they decide which events fit their schedule.
We also want to do more of these smaller tournaments, precisely because smaller purses keep the top players away. Our younger players need match experience, which means they need smaller tournaments on the tour calendar.
Our smaller purse tournaments also provide an opportunity for players who only want to play regional events to compete because they will be able to get into these draws. The small purses aren’t a bad thing, they are very important to our success.
What is the average profit the PST makes from running an event?
ReplyDeleteOur sanctioning fee for a tournament is $500. This doesn’t change based on the draw size or purse size of a tournament. It is always $500.
If you would like our staff to help prepare the event, market the tournament, manage the logistics, stream it live, etc. we charge a fee for our time. Our fee depends on the size and location of the event, among other factors.
Would the PST accept a player such as Lance Armstrong who has been caught doping or using performance enhancing drugs? How is this issue separate from accepting Galifi to the PST, and does the PST have any drug testing policy in place?
Comparing Lance Armstrong to Stephane Galifi is an apples and oranges discussion.
It is tenuous at best to draw a comparison with an alleged cheat, who allegedly built an elaborate scheme teaching his teammates how to cheat by using EPO, HGH, steroids, and other performance enhancing drugs over many years for great profit and fame to another sportsman, who is alleged to have been caught using a recreational drug, in this case marijuana.
I don’t condone either, but my role is not to create social policy. My role is to ensure that each player walks onto the squash court with a fair opportunity to win their match.
Additionally, we judge players based on their actions within our tour and nothing else. PST has the strictest code for player conduct in the world. We do not treat stars any differently than a local qualifier.
Stephane is a world-class squash player. PST is a better tour with his participation, and we are thrilled to have him join us. Once he has joined our tour, he will be held to the same standards as every one of our current tour players.
PST does not have an existing drug testing policy. As Commissioner, I reserve the right to discipline players if their behavior, on or off court, reflects negatively on the tour.
Thank you for your questions, Anonymous.
I tried to answer them as directly as I could.
If you feel a subject was avoided, please feel free to indicate as much in another post. Or you may e-mail me at joe@ProSquashTour.net.
Best,
Joe McManus
Joe.
DeleteHow can you claim to have 'the strictest code for player conduct in the world' if you do not have a drug testing policy? Surely the use of performance enhancing drugs would come under 'player conduct'? By not having a drug testing procedure you are basically saying to the athlete that they can take whatever they want because they would never be tested.
What would happen if Galifi were found to be smoking marijuana next week? If you are consistent, Galifi would suffer no adverse consequences. Is that correct? Thanks.
ReplyDeleteHey Joe,
ReplyDeleteThanks for those responses. I appreciate the straight forward answers.
I think you have an interesting (and smart!) business strategy, taking advantage of cheap labor by offering little to no prize money, but then promoting the hell out of the events, effectively leveraging something small into something grand. Of course you mix in 4 to 5 larger events with some bigger names to add legitimacy and some cache to the tour, while in reality your bread and butter are the <$1,000 events where you make the majority of profits from.
Just doing some napkin arithmetic, at $500 up front per event, + $500 per day fee to run the event you can make a tidy little profit over a weekend.
Best,
A Reader
What makes you believe he makes $500 per day to run the event and takes advantage of cheap labor? Where on earth did you pull that information from?
DeleteNobody on the PST works harder or longer than Joe himself. He does a remarkable job with (currently) minimal financial reward. It is no secret that the tour is profit based, hence his efforts to produce the best product he can. The man has to eat and pay his bills too -- just like the rest of us. He's hardly driving around in a Ferrari lighting cigars with $100 notes.