Irish Open - Here's The Deal......

[Indestructable]

I watched the 425 show last night and Tikay asked how much viewers had paid to watch the show. My answer would be that I pay £500 per annum to watch Sky as well as the rest of viewers. Also they have advertising revenue and looking at Sky's accouints they aren't doing too badly.
What i am confused on is this, does Sky pay someone to show the tournament? If so who do they pay and what happens to this money. Or does Paddy Power pay them to broadcast it as part of their sponsorship deal for the tournament?

[tikay]

I watched the 425 show last night and Tikay asked how much viewers had paid to watch the show. My answer would be that I pay £500 per annum to watch Sky as well as the rest of viewers. Also they have advertising revenue and looking at Sky's accouints they aren't doing too badly.
What i am confused on is this, does Sky pay someone to show the tournament? If so who do they pay and what happens to this money. Or does Paddy Power pay them to broadcast it as part of their sponsorship deal for the tournament?

Good Post.

My point, perhaps, & seemingly, not put across terribly well, was do Sky (or the TV Company) pay money that reaches the players.......?

I think they should. Thats how it works in Football, Rugby, Tennis, Cricket, F1. Why not Poker?

I am sorry if I failed to make the point properly, it (the Recording) was all a bit rushed yesterday, & I don't express myself too well when I'm rushed. Or even when I'm not rushed....

But glad you watched the show - wondered who the other viewer was. I not seen it myself yet!

[Indestructable]

Someone out there must know, if not we need to recruit a mole at Sky. I don't think it was down to the way you have put it accross, I think it just shows that we don't really know who is profiting here.

PS The other viewer is my wife and she didn't agree with your comments on Stillhair's attire, she thought he looked very smart!

[tikay]

Yeah, he did actually, but I can't let him know that.

He really is a top bloke, professional, amazingly so, helps me out no end. A pleasure to work with.

[byronkincaid]

There are numerous Blondites who would know better than me, but the impression I got was that (in general) the sponsor pays for the production and the TV company gets it for free.

[AndrewT]

I watched the 425 show last night and Tikay asked how much viewers had paid to watch the show. My answer would be that I pay £500 per annum to watch Sky as well as the rest of viewers. Also they have advertising revenue and looking at Sky's accouints they aren't doing too badly.
What i am confused on is this, does Sky pay someone to show the tournament? If so who do they pay and what happens to this money. Or does Paddy Power pay them to broadcast it as part of their sponsorship deal for the tournament?

Good Post.

My point, perhaps, & seemingly, not put across terribly well, was do Sky (or the TV Company) pay money that reaches the players.......?

I think they should. Thats how it works in Football, Rugby, Tennis, Cricket, F1. Why not Poker?

Exactly. When football clubs pay their players £100,000 a week, a proportion of that money is Sky money trickling down to the players. The Premier League get their cut, so do the clubs, and so do the players.

With football, TV companies want to show it so much that the Premier League can simply put it up for auction to the highest bidder. With horse racing (for example) we are reaching the stage where Channel 4 actually want to charge racecourses/bookmakers to televise their sport on a Saturday afternoon as they feel they are doing the sport a service by showing it when it would be a lot cheaper to show old films instead (with no reduction in viewing figures). When it comes to poker, the question is, who gets most benefit from televising it?

I think there is a perception among TV people that 'appearing on the telly' is a prize in and of itself, so players will accept this as the added value they get for having to stop playing for five minutes four times an hour. This may be the case for the more inexperienced players (who like the novelty of appearing on TV) or for those who wish to be sponsored (who want to get known) but for the jobbing pro, they'd much rather the extra cash in their back pocket.

[tikay]

There are numerous Blondites who would know better than me, but the impression I got was that (in general) the sponsor pays for the production and the TV company gets it for free.

That's my understanding. And the Sponsor DID put €50,000 in, so that's a start.

But my point remains valid. We have to break this barrier down.

When TV Tourneys are organised, the TV companies are freerolling. They need to remember who is paying the entry fees, & make concession to that, especially if they are gonna impose conditions on the players, as TV companies always do - "sit here, sit there, can't wear that, wait for the ads, do this, don't do that, it will be 2 hours late because we ain't organised" sorta thing.

[Royal Flush]

Personally i like how poker stars handle thier bigger comps.

You can deal for the majority of the prizepool, but you must leave a decent ammount of money for the winner, this ensures people are still playing properly. IMO thats better than both the alternatives of, deal for all the cash and no deals. As both of these do damage the reputation of the game to the non-playing public and it is important we look good to them as they are the future fish! No deals is also bad as clearly people will take it underground which is even worse!

Deal for most, play for a little.

[wormster]

if poker players start playing for cash paid in by sponsors, tv etc (ie: not their own) wouldn't it be subject to tax? golfers, snooker players etc are subject to taxation so why not poker players?

[AdamM]

shhhh

brings up a good point though. the hatrder we push for poker to be seen as a game of skill and not gambling, the more likely we are to end up paying tax on it. I dont personally object to that being a bit of a lefty but I can see a few people wishing htey'd kept their mouths shut when we're paying 10% at the cash desk.

[M3boy]

HINT HINT KEV!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bundle]

Hypothetical Question,

 Let’s say I’m in a EPT event , paid my own way in and make the final table, what obligation do I have to let the TV audience see my cards on their screens. I have paid this myself, I own them or the TV Company nothing, in fact I would probable make a stand here or is this T & C of entering these events?

I’m just interested to see how this would pan out.   

[byronkincaid]

you have to sign your life away before they let you play.

[Dingdell]

Yes - you sign it all before you play the first hand right at the beginning of the game - no form no game.

[Ironside]

when they put the form in front of me i would sign it with disapearing ink then when i make the final table i will ask them to show me the form i signed