Match fees

P

patgarity

Guest
Just wondering what everybody is paying for match fees in their respective ARA matches. Just got handed a 25% facility rental increase and I am looking at a charge of $35-$40 for a 4 target match including pizza. I'm not sure if the shooters will be able to absorb another rising cost. So let me know what you pay to shoot and where. thanks, matchdirector Pat
 
just a personal thing but i would can the chow to keep match costs down. that hand out $$$$ instaed of wood. save a tree and hand out ammo/gas money.
 
Lowest is $10 for five cards and highest is $20 for four. Tournaments are $20 and $40; usually $40
 
Generally $40 which is usually an IR50 3-gun then UNL match with some cash payback for each card plus AGG. Usually there for about 5 hours so chow's the standard at the 6-8 spots up here.
 
Our Highpower matches ( 60 shots at 500, 600 or 1000 yards) are typically $10; awards are a round of applause and we buy our own pizza. We charge more at state championships where there are NRA fees and other expenses, but for local matches the idea is to keep the cost down, keep people coming and not make it too much of a burden. As a match director I prefer the no awards scenario because as long as award money comes from entry fees, it's simply new shooters subsidizing experienced shooters and that's not the way to grow the sport in my opinion. I should mention that we run two to four matches per week during the Oct. - April season, so any more would really be a problem. Just my $0.02.
 
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Total costs

There are several costs that must be collected to break even if you operate your own range or rent time at a public range or club property. Insurance is another issue. We include the cost of food as well, as everyone has become accustomed to eating to maintain a healthy life style. Certainly don't wanting anyone to pass out for lack of nourishment. It kind of like the ammo diet most guns have. If you want the compete, you pay the cost. If not, there's always other sports they can take up, that will cost a lot more then what we charge.
 
Last year I paid anywhere from $20 - $30 for matches, 6 targets, and a little higher for tournaments. All the matches I attended fed me well and drinks were included. I personally enjoy the food, but if it was to stop I wouldn't quit attending, but hope it doesn't.
 
$2.00 per target . . .

I agree with German. We learned several years ago that it is better to NOT give out awards to the winners. We already have the experienced shooters hooked. They always come back for the next match. If we want the new shooters to come back, we need to show them a good time, and give them their moneys worth.

When we were running sanctioned RBA and USBR matches, we gave out awards. Never had more than 8 shooters, and lost money for the club on every match.

Now we charge $2.00 per target, and keep all the money as we do not run sanctioned matches. Some say we are "Outlaws". Our matches are "Reentry Matches". That means, if you don't like your first score, you can reenter with another $2.00 target. If that ain' t good enough, try a third target. Four is the limit, and we count your best score. We have 25 & 50 yard matches, both on the same USBR target. 25 yards is challenge enough for a new shooter on that tough USBR target. Some new shooters will not enter a 50 yard match until they feel they have mastered 25 yards.

Why does this system work well for us? A person can shoot ONE target: And some shooters do just that. Two bucks plus the cost of the ammo. For some: Bull-Shooting sessions at a match are just as much fun as squirting lead.

Other shooters will shoot up to four targets at each range, and some will shoot in more than one class. That allows someone to shoot as many as 8 to 12 targets or as few as 1. Flexible: Come early to shoot, and go do something with the family later in the day. Go to church in the morning and come to the range for lunch and shoot in the afternoon. If you drive in from out of town or are a true benchrest nut: Shoot All Day. The cost could be $2.00 plus ammo and gas, or could be up to $24 for entry fees, plus ammo and gas. Better add in the cost of lunch plus raffle tickets because . . .

We sell tickets on a raffle for shooting related prizes during lunch (5 bucks) and have the drawing after lunch. Who was that east coast gunsmith who said: "Everyone who steps up to the firing line and shoots in a match is a winner" (?). Well: We also give out unique award badges to EVERYONE who steps up to the firing line in our matches.

Using this method, we turn a profit for the club of between $150 & $300 per match. When we ask for money for range improvements, the club officers never say no.

We also report our scores to RFC for their Monthly On-Line-Matches. No sanction fees there. All the work is done by volunteers, and we get to compare our scores with about 100 other shooters from over the USA, Canada, England and Brazil.

This is unorthodox (unconventional). But: I started running matches "the old fashion way" fifty years ago and THIS WORKS BETTER

Joe Haller (Mr. Frosty)

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match fees

Joe, I'm a firm believer in "If it ain't broke don't fix it". One thing that I've seen in our matches is some folks are intimated by some of the guns that some of use shoot. So to help out with that we shoot a plinker match on a seperate weekend. Match fees are all the same unless you are over 65 and they get a break.
We have also started having some air rifle benchrest matches and will really kick it off after the first of the year.
 
Ahhh, Mr.Frosty,

Once again your foresight, logic, and ability to see the big picture rings true.

We will have to look at our situation from a different angle.

Thanks once again,

Respectfully, GG
 
When I consider the cost of building an maintaining a rimfire range, it would have to be a very large fee for me to complain.

Our rates are $20 for a 3 target ARA or IR5050 match, and $30 for a 6 target match. IMO that is a bargain. Our yearly membership to access the rimfire and 300 yard range is only $100. Once again, a great bargain.

If you consider what you spend on equipment & ammo needed to compete, the fees we pay are really are a pitance.

Another reason I would be hesitent to complain has to do with the laws in most areas forbidding the construction of new ranges.
 
Sometimes I think too much . . .

Larry:

You said: "If it ain't broke don't fix it".

If you do a count of the number of shooters attending sanctioned rimfire matches this past year, you will find that the average number of shooters per match is about 10. Even less in some Associations. Larry: I think it's broke.

I've also been thinking of what you said about having a plinker match on a separate weekend. That might work at our club, as we only have 16 benches. We have about a dozen local unlimited class shooters, and maybe 4 to 6 that come in from other towns. Our Factory Sporter and Vintage Smallbore classes are growing fast. We need more benches. Or, like you, we could run the "Plinkers" on a separate weekend.

Gordon:

You and your San Diego team were with us in the RFC On-Line-Match from the very beginning. Then your club moved up to Sanctioned matches with RBA and ARA. At the time, I felt that was a good move for you. One of my goals was to use the RFC matches as a farm league, leading shooters UP to the sanctioned matches. But: Declining attendance at sanctioned matches is a fact, and the people who care about this sport should be doing something to stop the bleeding.

Gene:
Those of us who are "hooked", know what it takes to build and maintain a range. We know about the number of hours our volunteers work to pull of a match. And: We know the match fees we pay are a bargain.

The new guy: The guy we are trying to attract to the sport, does not know what we know. He sees us with three thousand dollars worth of equipment on the bench, and . . . he walks away.

I have a headache and I'm going to bed.

Joe
 
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Joe
First of all I was refering to the way you run your matches. Next I think tha match attendence has been down at all matches in 2008 and in late 2007 because of several things:
Fuel costs
ammo costs
grocery costs
and a lot of other things
Shooting is a after the bills are paid for most people(me included)and when fuel prices went up the money for the fuel had to come from somewhere. It ended up coming from hobbies.
MHO
 
I am with Joe. I have been shooting since the first of the summer and I am hooked. I have bought 3 guns to shoot different match's and the cost of those and ammo is real high. We were shooting free and then dicicded to start charging 1.00 for a few matches just to conver targets and paint. Guys I love shooting these matches and plan to shoot more but if they started charging 20, 30, and 40 bucks I would just have to stop or slow to shooting now and then.Think about it this is my hobby but I have others that I do with family, boat, four wheelers,. I would quit the one that I do to afford the ones that they do. Just an opinion of someone that is new to the game.
 
Out here in San Angelo, Texas, we shoot 50/50 with our 22s. We charge $5.00 for three cards. That price covers the cost of the targets and the charge for registering our matches with an official sanctioning body and some bottled water on ice. We are all members of the San Angelo Gun Club except for our most welcome out of town guest. Our club membership cost us $60 per year.

We do not consider our matches as money raising events. There is a limit that we can charge set in the rules by our sanctioning body.

In the long run, our club takes in enough money to cover all of our expenses and improvements from time to time with volunteer labor where it can be used.

In setting the charges, the question should be asked, Is the shooter to be used for the club or the club for the shooter?

Concho Bill
 
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