8 Man Events ... World Sponsorship Summit Wanted ... Global Gallery, July 12, 2004 Martin Bronstein, writes this month from his home in London. © 2004 All rights reserved. photos © 2004, Suashtalk, D. Tessier,

IS THIS ONE 8 TOO MANY?
Once upon a time, dear reader, major tournaments were 64-player draws – some even 128 - and minor tournaments were 32 player events. But came the hard times, and 32 player tournaments became the biggies and 16 draws the almost-biggies. There were the odd special invitationals like the Mennen Cup and then the Super Series finals. These consisted of eight players who either by nationality or the number of points gained in certain events qualified for these special set-ups, usually two pools of four with the winners playing off.

Now the good thing for the players that they got good money: $30,000 is spread pretty thin among 16 or 32 players while the same amount among eight produces a useful pay day.

The bad thing is that none of these events carries ranking points which produces some pretty weird results, because sometimes the players do not take the whole thing as seriously as they should.

Sadly the Mennen Cup has long gone, but the Super Series Finals has now been joined by the Canary Wharf Classic and Gerrard Super 8, the last name being run by ex-Dunlop director Paul Walters. (Walters’ new company i-squash has sweet-talked the World Squash Rackets Federation into pushing a new i-squash Jahangir Khan racket, with profits going to charitable causes. Whaaat? Let me think about that for a couple of years.)

Now Ron Beck, the Squashtalk founder, has questioned the wisdom of all these eight man tournaments, wondering whether they are siphoning money away from proper, ranking, PSA approved tournaments. Indeed the Gerrard Super 8 clashes with an established Hungarian tournament. To which Gawain Briars, chief honcho of the PSA replied:

"The challenges of presenting new professional squash events that are commercially viable are well documented and all support and encouragement should be extended to new promoters stepping up to provide valuable income to world class squash players.

Gawain Briars, PSA Executive

“A fresh event such as the Gerrard Super 8, like the Canary Wharf Classic recently, allows a promoter the opportunity to showcase a first time event (usually with less prize money, and a different prize money distribution to PSA's formula) to attract the top players in order to maximise promotional appeal for the event and our sport.

“The two above events fall into this category but, by choosing this route in the first year, the promoters have taken a tactical decision to hopefully use the first year as a springboard for attracting sufficient attention to the event following which they will be better placed the next year to register for PSA status. Indeed, both sets of promoters have assured me that this is their intention and that next year, all being well, their events should be applying for PSA registration.

“That said, I applaud further the decision of the Brighton Beach Classic to go straight for PSA status in its maiden presentation, and by using PSA's special exemptions to allow (a) top player to enter without prejudicing his world ranking points because the size of event this year would usually prevent such a player entering. This tournament will have true competition conditions with the PSA players playing flat out for their world ranking points. It is our belief that any new event promoter consulting closely with PSA will find the right formula to present a successful first time tournament with world ranking points at stake.

“It is a concern that many top PSA players are publicised as having chosen to commit so early for the non-PSA Gerrard Super 8 when PSA has worked hard to bring on a new four star Hungarian Open onto our calendar, already prior scheduled for the same few days in October as the Gerrard Super 8, in a new territory for us and which we hope will be well supported by our top player members. The difficulties with the site mean that the Hungarian Open dates have remained fixed but with those dates being publicised for some time now.”

Paul Walters, iSquash promoter

So Paul Walters has followed his usual line of ignoring the rest of the world and going his own way regardless. (Just ask the other racket sellers in England what Walters did to the squash racket market by selling his top-of-the-line rackets on a two-for-one basis.) Walters did not particularly like journalists who failed to follow his party line, so started his own Dunlop internet magazine, and is now printing and distributing his own i-squash magazine. The June edition landed on my desk on July 5 and contained the May world rankings. Sad.

WANTED VERY BADLY: SQUASH WORLD ECONOMIC SUMMIT
There is a sort of legitimate reason why the draws are shrinking. No big money, no big sponsors. The promised boom from the US has noy even started to show on the radar screen. Indeed, the USSRA has lost over $100,000 in each of the past three years. The British Open is desperately searching for a big name sponsor and cannot find one. Event Engine, John Nimick’s highly successful company that produces the Tournament of Champions in Grand Central Station in New York, the US Open in Symphony Hall, Boston, and the Canadian Classic in Toronto’s BCE Place still struggles to find major sponsors despite the success of all three events over the last four years.

So while Nimick beavers away in North American and the PSA and WISPA beaver away in Europe and the Far East and the WSF tries to push the sport globally, the results have been less than stunning. What is needed is a major global sponsor; Microsoft, Coke, Pepsi, Toyota, Nike, Heineken, Yamaha, Sony or even Dell, the company that sells more home computers than anybody.

Maybe at the next agm of the WSF Ted Wallbutton and his successor should put an Economic Summit at the top of their agenda, invite the chief executives of national SRA’s as well as the world’s promoters, and come up with a high-powered presentation with which they can court the sort of multi-nationals named above. A company that could inject about $5million a year to squash. (That ain’t a lot of moolah: just look at the amounts of money sponsors put into motor racing. Look at the size of the sponsorship cheques for major tennis, basketball and golf stars).

The amount of sponsorship money that went into the recent European Soccer World Cup was huge. Now ask soccer fans to name one sponsor. They would be hard put to give you a name because the rampant nationalism and lurid tabloid headlines plus star worship washed everything else out. Which means the sponsor is not getting a big bang for his buck.

If a sponsor put his money in squash, on a global scale, the recognition would be huge. When Hi-Tec first sponsored the British Open, they were a small company. Ten years later after an association that benefited both the sport and the sponsor- Hi-Tec were a huge world-class company selling more squash shoes than all the other makers put together. Where are the marketing men and women that can put that across to CEO’s? Squash needs them and needs them right now.