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Thanks Doc for clearing up how that all works. It would be great to see pulling grow on the myriad of channels that could pick it up beyond the usual suspects. In a world where ESPN is paying $2 billion per year for Monday Night Football, even a small piece of that big pie back to pulling would be more than welcome! Bryan Lively - 
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So how much of the money trickles down to the pullers? 
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Lewis -
No doubt pulling has changed in Kentucky but this is a national and international sport. Im not trying to pick on you but you gotta cross a state line or 4 and see how healthy the sport is. Farm stock is alive and well in numerous locations; LLSS is growing; and fans pack the stands at hundreds of fairs to watch. Pulling started changing in Kentucky when small farms started to disappear in the eighties, the tobacco buyout hurt things and farm kids, including me left the farm also when it was time to get really big in farming to survive. Fairs, like pulls, have to have dedicated people for the fair to be good. If a fair isn't good it won't last. The irony here is that my own local fair has improved the last couple years and three surrounding counties have excellent pulls. I was at Somerset for the PPL show and the stands were packed...their first pull in years... that's in your back yard! Our biggest problem isn't support from sponsors, or fans, or pullers...it is that the average age of a puller is going up dramatically. This is a story for another thread at another time of course. Bryan Lively -
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Registered: 03/27/2008 Posts: 1,141 |
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Registered: 03/27/2008 Posts: 1,141 |
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Registered: 03/27/2008 Posts: 1,141 |
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Registered: 03/27/2008 Posts: 1,141 |
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Registered: 03/27/2008 Posts: 1,141 |
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Registered: 03/27/2008 Posts: 1,141 |
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Posts: 25 |
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Posts: 25 |
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Posts: 25 |
So as a guy who films at the highest levels in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina I can tell you that it isn't the guys filming per se. If I asked a promoter to cover me to film and edit all footage, there is no way they could justify that expense I have been told. My rate for just me is $200 a night and $100 more if they want their sponsor's logos in it. Some guy's bills are just $200, some are upwards of $800. I make the money I make on the editing for YouTube and Facebook. It is decent as we make our bills. I love you guys, but I will not go broke trying to cover the sport.
I approached RFD about putting a show on in 2014 after many of my pullers thought we had something. They told me to run a 52-week show with a 30-minute time slot, it would be $125,000. Meaning you would need that amount from sponsors just to get a show on the air. If a keen businessman is running an operation, you know you will need 2 to 3 times that amount to cover travel for a team, editors, voice and interview talent which is a must for a TV caliber show. Now, you can't film without a league. And if you are league you can't just buy exposure. You would shudder at the cost of a local TV crew to come out and film your event. Motorsport photographers are not the same as magazine and wedding photographers and the only guy I heard that tried to sue the NTPA and the Hurt Virginia tractor pull is banned from all NTPA sanctioned events. The same goes for video guys, we are not the same as traditional TV crews. We have all the gear they do, but we make the same show you have seen for 40 years. I added a couple of camera angles and pullers lost their minds. Fans hated it, "I want the end of the line shot!". I have always employed a 45-second rule per puller. Some guys just do not spool up quickly at all and they may get a tad more and some guys just stand on it and they will get less. Want more air time? Give me a thumbs up or finger guns anything I can use! I have scaled our outfit to be ready for TV if and when it ever calls on us. The onscreen talent part is the big problem that and my big fat butt getting in front of the camera and conducting interviews. The other part is a rant I have had on pullers for years. Know who you are and be prepared to talk about your stuff, "Where you from?", "How much fuel you consume on a run?", "How'd the track feel out there?", "Did that bare ass guy at the end of the track mooning affect you at all?", "Is there anybody on your team or sponsors you would like to thank? [for winners only]" I will ask you everything except how much dadgum horsepower you making. Nobody cares to know and quite frankly it is nobody's business. That is a question that will inevitably make the cost of pulling escalate to unreachable levels. And pullers there is only one answer, "NOT ENOUGH!" Wow, this is a rant. I have been told to have beer on hand, ice cream, chocolate, anything to help the guys to loosen up. If you like pulling, you should be able to speak passionately about the sport, your vehicle, and the team. Have a buddy get out a hairbrush, get in front of a mirror, and go to town with these questions I just gave you. I have ZERO, 0, nada, none, zilch, league backing. I just don't. I work directly with promoters to make sure events are well attended, filmed, and edited so we can better promote events going forward. My promoters do not mind the pay because every event associated with me thrives. We cannot control the weather, but if it is nice out, butts are in seats. For every 1,000 fans, you add $15,000 to the take. If also helps the food and gear vendors at events. The key to attendance is cash. You have to spend to make plain and simple. I don't know how much anybody else spends, but I spend somewhere in the $8,000 to $10,000 range every year. That adds to my events, my page, my following so that events keep growing in my area. That is money spent by me and my promoters. And that gets us a 1 million reach a week. And we are in the offseason. I host the Dragon Motorsports website (dragonpulls.com). They book me for their larger events and then 35-45 events pick me up for the remainder of the season. I have guys call me all the time asking for me to film thinking I only film Dragon. Those events just happen to be anywhere from 10 minutes to 2 hours away but I am always up for a drive especially if I have not been booked that weekend. Want a guy or gal to film your league? Film it and send it in, we are like America's Funniest Videos (AFV), except we pay people monthly to film based on how well their videos do. Our rates are 50% to film, 75% to film and edit. Back to TV. I have been advised by several TV insiders after learning about the RFD deal, that I should "just film", and "don't you dare spend a thing", and "become a force and you will never have to spend money to get these guys on TV". I will have to see significant profits to even consider turning over a show to a Network. I will use that platform to sell gear, calendars, shirts, hats because just like pullers, this sport takes everything we have to cover it to the best way I know. The events that are covered for TV overseas, are under lock and key basically where it is frowned upon to post any clips of events. I have seen posters and Ads stateside that have said no filming because somebody's butt is on the line to sell TV shows, Live Streams, or DVDs and I get that. But the only thing better than one stream of revenue is 5. But sadly many guys film and do nothing for the leagues, events, and teams. And think about the sponsor that paid a Platinum level sponsorship of $5000 for an event and then not be adorned on a random YouTube channel. How pissed off would that make you? Wanna help pulling to grow, take care of sponsors, meat! Everybody wants to be on TV until they realize how much it costs. Will Whitt 703-626-4131 will@willwhitt.com WWPTV Video     Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/02/2019 08:12AM by WWProductions. |
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Posts: 25 |
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Posts: 25 |
