Tournament Economics 101
So you want to become rich running tournaments….
WarZone: Atlanta was designed to be a premium event. That means more space to play, free lunches Saturday and Sunday, tracts for super competitive to newbie players and an overall chill vibe for a tournament. Unlike hosting an event at a local game store, a big GT style event requires a lot of preparation (and a lot of money) to make it work.
So, what does it cost to run a big event? Do organizers make a lot of money on these events? And why, as many have asked, are they so expensive?
A big convention, or medium to large tournament has to take on a bunch of costs upfront. They need to book a hotel and make promises to that hotel for a minimum number of room nights. One thing not a lot of players understand is that if players don’t end up staying at the convention hotel, the organizers are liable for the minimum number of room nights in their contract. (Which means please please stay at the hotel that is the host for any event you go to if at all possible!)
Hotels and convention centers charge a rental fee per day for ballroom usage. Depending on the hotel these can run into the thousands of dollars, especially for a bigger city.
Now a hotel will reduce or waive the room fees if you agree to buy a certain amount of food and beverage or guarantee a certain number of room nights. For an organizer this sounds great until you realize that to get ballroom waivers you need to be on the hook for thousands of dollars of food and beverage and hotel rooms.
If you have ever been to a big event like LVO or Adpeticon, and tried to eat lunch in the hotel, you know it is expensive. At Nashcon this year, they were charging $14 for a bare stale sandwich, and it was almost double that in Las Vegas! As an organizer you have to decide are you going to ask players to buy food on their own for lunch or are you going to bake food costs into the price of the ticket.
At Warzone, we chose to bake food costs into the ticket price (pun intended). Rather than making our players stand in line to pay $32 for a cold burger, a bag of chips and a soft drink (an actual charge I got in Las Vegas at an event), we booked a buffet lunch for both days of the tournament. If you’ve ever booked a big party or wedding, you know food is expensive and getting more so. This year we predict lunch will cost us $84 or more per person for both days.
In addition to hotel costs, you have the costs for printing tournament packs, hosting your website, banking, storage for tables and terrain (or sometimes table rental fees), banking, AV, and truck rental / transportation for all the stuff it takes to fill a ballroom with tables of terrain. Sometimes hotels charge you for internet service, extra taxes and fees and more.
Now that is just operating expenses, it doesn't count your capital investments in things like plywood table toppers, terrain, plastic tubs to house terrain, matts, AV gear and so much more. Many bigger events spend thousands on these items only to find out that their favorite game systems have changed the terrain rules, size of the tables or amount of terrain you need, and all your investment has to be reworked or thrown away!
Remember that most hotels have tables and chairs designed for weddings and corporate events, not gaming. If you’ve ever tried to playa game on a rectangular mat stuck on top of a round convention table, you know how hard that is – hard to reach, hard on your back. That’s why Warzone: Atlanta bought rectangular plywood to make sure players have a stable flat surface, supported by smaller tables that don’t get in the way of reaching the game surface. If a big event chooses to go this route, they are on the hook for a ton of money to buy plywood, move it and store it.
Conventions can offer tournaments a break on cost because they are averaging the cost over the overall event per game across so many different players and game systems – and because they sell so many hotel rooms. Historicon, Nashcon, Siege of Augusta, etc. are great examples of regional events.
National events dedicated to tournament play alone are much more expensive. And for the first time ever we have seen ticket prices over $300, without food with GW’s 2023 narrative events!
Every year organizers (like the volunteers who run Warzone) argue internally about price. How do we run a great event, and keep prices affordable for gamers? We know it is expensive, and times are tough for a lot of people, so we always try to balance as best we can the experience, food, rooms, terrain and other cost against ticket prices.
Over the eight years we have run Warzone: Atlanta we have had few years where we made enough money to feel comfortable for the next year. We’ve had years too where we fell short and ended up losing a thousand or more dollars because everything is always more expensive than you predict.
Most tournaments like Warzone: Atlanta are volunteer-run organizations– no one takes any income from the events. Uniquely, Warzone is also a not-for-profit organization, which means we donate profits (if we have them) to Toys for Tots. If we do it right, we will end the year with a little more money than we began, having made a nice contribution to the US Marine Corp’s cool charity to help kids. Have a better holiday.
But if you sell fewer tickets, or people don’t stay in the event hotel, or the game publisher changes terrain rules and you have to buy new stuff, you could end up losing. Thousands. There is nothing more demoralizing than ending a year, after all the hard work and effort and realizing you actually lost money.
Why then do tournament organizers do it?
They do it for love of the hobby. Organizers want a way to give to the local community, help it to grow and thrive. Most hope they can keep the games they love going, bring in lots of new players, and make their community healthy for everyone. Which means attracting lots of new players each year to get them excited about a hobby we love.
I know many players are afraid that tournaments are just for the super competitive players, the win-at-all-costers and that newbies or casual games aren’t welcome.
It’s actually the exact opposite. New players, intermediate players, hobby players, everyone is welcome and encouraged to come play. In fact, there’s no place better to improve your skills, or learn more about the game than coming to a tournament. Win or lose, every player will walk away with a lot of knowledge about their game. And most important, they will have a lot of fun.
Trust me, the organizers and experienced players I know all want their events to be welcoming to players of all skill levels, and they want it to be a fun community event for all. Fun is the key word – that’s why Warzone Atlanta has bar service in the room for players, its why we pay for lunch and this year, it’s why we are offering an optional Saturday night Burger and Beer event.
Because the real secret about tournaments is that, while the games are cool, it’s the camaraderie and social aspect of the game that makes them great. The war stories you tell over a beer, the praise you get for beating a tough player, or the sympathy for bad dice, and the opportunity to see each other’s cool armies, that’s what makes tournament fun and that’s why organizers put their own time, and their own money on the line.
So, what can you as a player do?
Go to tournaments! No matter your skill level, support the community by being involved.
Stay in the convention hotel if you can.
Support the vendors who come to events or who make donations for prizes. And tell them when you order that you appreciate their support of your favorite tournaments.
Don’t tell the tournament organizer’s significant others how much they might lose out of their own personal money. Better they do not know.
Remember that there are a thousand moving parts and it’s all run by volunteers. Be liberal in your public praise but share your criticism gently. And if you have a real issue, tell the organizer privately. Trust me, we all want to make our events better.
Sign up, go have fun, make some new friends and bring in a newbie. It’s what it is all about.
And for WarZone, consider bringing a toy or making a donation to Toys for Tots!