Stars May Boycott Berlin GL Over Appearance Money

[EPelle]

Front-page article.

'The ISTAF has come out saying they will not pay any appearance money for the top stars. We are not happy with this, because it is not fair to the athletes and also to the other meetings which are paying an appearance fee.'

Would an athlete's union be a valid discussion point or not? I could see an entire season going down the drain save championships if there were employment (appearance fee) disputes.

[jamaicantrackfan]

Usain Bolt is one athlete who will not run at a big European meet without appearance money.

He is in such high demand right now that he can afford to miss the Berlin meet. Bolt reported commands up to US$200,000 per meet. He is being paid US$250,000 to run in Toronto on June 11.

I hope all the big name athletes boycott the Berlin meet in protest.

[EPelle]

In protest of Bolt receiving what his market share is, or in protest of not receiving the same amount(s)?

[tandfman]

It sounds as if they're not paying any appearance money at all. There is good prize money at Golden League meets, and anyone who is aiming for the jackpot has to compete, so the meet may just figure they can get good fields without paying appearance money. I don't think rank-and-file elite athletes expect to get paid what Bolt is paid. But I imagine that any athlete who normally gets some appearance money will be reluctant to give that up.

[jamaicantrackfan]

In protest of Bolt receiving what his market share is, or in protest of not receiving the same amount(s)?

All big name athletes should boycott the meet if they are not going to be paid an appearance fee. If Berlin is "allowed" to get away with this, don't be surprised to see it trickle down to the other Golden League and Super Grand Prix meets.

[jamaicantrackfan]

It sounds as if they're not paying any appearance money at all. There is good prize money at Golden League meets, and anyone who is aiming for the jackpot has to compete, so the meet may just figure they can get good fields without paying appearance money. I don't think rank-and-file elite athletes expect to get paid what Bolt is paid. But I imagine that any athlete who normally gets some appearance money will be reluctant to give that up.

Berlin "hopes" not to pay any appearance money. I am not sure what the prize money is however. I think I have seen it range from 30,000 for 1st place going lower for other places in other Golden League meets.

$30,000 for 1st place for Usain Bolt is chump change versus what he can make in appearance money.

[gh]

In case anybody missed the initial discussion we had on this a week or so ago:

http://mb.trackandfieldnews.com/discuss ... hp?t=35208

[EPelle]

All big name athletes should boycott the meet if they are not going to be paid an appearance fee. If Berlin is "allowed" to get away with this, don't be surprised to see it trickle down to the other Golden League and Super Grand Prix meets.

What is it they are attempting to get away with exactly? It sounds like they are attempting to be fiscally responsible in a hard time. The article states the ISTAF meet has faced the most difficulties of the GL meets to attract stars and has reduced some of its discretionary budget. If the athletes were recently made aware of such a decision to not pay an appearance fee, however, it would be disconcerting to the majority (if not all) of them.

[jamaicantrackfan]

My biggest concern is that this will have a trickle down effect eventually on the other meets and not a good thing. If not this year, but next year.

[tandfman]

I am not sure what the prize money is however. I think I have seen it range from 30,000 for 1st place going lower for other places in other Golden League meets.

The prize money is supposed to be the same for all Golden League meets. I'm not sure what the structure is this year, but last year, the top prize money for an individual event in a meet was $16,000. I suspect it's the same this year. Given the economy, I doubt if it's gone up.

[gh]

I don't find the '09 figures online, but in '08 this was the prize-money setup (the Jackpot events are split into "Premium" and "Classic"; the "Promotional" events are any other events added to the meet):


Premium Classic Promotional (*)
1st 16,000 8,000 4,000
2nd 12,000 6,000 3,000
3rd 9,000 4,500 2,250
4th 6,000 3,000 1,500
5th 4,000 2,000 1,000
6th 3,000 1,000 800
7th 2,000 800 600
8th 1,000 600 500

Total 53,000 25,900 13,650


(*) the amount to be paid for the Promotional Events is at the discretion of the Meet organisers, with the minimum indicated above.
####
Last year's Premium events were m100, 1500, 400H; w200, HJ.
Classic: m400, LJ, JT; w800, 100H.

I don't know how they've split up this year:

Men: 100m, 400m, 3000m/5000m, 110m Hurdles, Javelin Throw.
Women: 100m, 400m, 100m Hurdles, High Jump, Pole Vault.

[jamaicantrackfan]

I don't find the '09 figures online, but in '08 this was the prize-money setup (the Jackpot events are split into "Premium" and "Classic"; the "Promotional" events are any other events added to the meet):


Premium Classic Promotional (*)
1st 16,000 8,000 4,000
2nd 12,000 6,000 3,000
3rd 9,000 4,500 2,250
4th 6,000 3,000 1,500
5th 4,000 2,000 1,000
6th 3,000 1,000 800
7th 2,000 800 600
8th 1,000 600 500

Total 53,000 25,900 13,650


(*) the amount to be paid for the Promotional Events is at the discretion of the Meet organisers, with the minimum indicated above.
####
Last year's Premium events were m100, 1500, 400H; w200, HJ.
Classic: m400, LJ, JT; w800, 100H.

I don't know how they've split up this year:

Men: 100m, 400m, 3000m/5000m, 110m Hurdles, Javelin Throw.
Women: 100m, 400m, 100m Hurdles, High Jump, Pole Vault.

Imagine paying Usain $16,000 for winning the 100m when he can regularly get $200,000 in appearance fees in other meets? How pathetic. Come on now. The ISTAF needs to do a much better job in financing the meet


Here are some ideas
-seek out additional sponosorships
-raise ticket prices
- TV contracts
- get money from the German government(The JAAA got millions of dollars from the Jamaican government to put on the JA Invitational a few weeks ago)
-sell bonds

I am sure they have tried some of the above methods but maybe, they need to be more aggressive in these and other areas.

[tandfman]

(The JAAA got millions of dollars from the Jamaican government to put on the JA Invitational a few weeks ago)

That was Jamaican dollars, not US dollars. Big difference.

[jamaicantrackfan]

(The JAAA got millions of dollars from the Jamaican government to put on the JA Invitational a few weeks ago)

That was Jamaican dollars, not US dollars. Big difference.

I know but it was still money they got that was used to put on a great meet.

[EPelle]

Imagine paying Usain $16,000 for winning the 100m when he can regularly get $200,000 in appearance fees in other meets? How pathetic. Come on now. The ISTAF needs to do a much better job in financing the meet

Apart from Toronto, which has paid through the eyebolls for a previous high-quality race, which other meet has agreed to pay Bolt 200.000-USD to run on their track surface(s)?