Questions for you serious comp guys....

DawgPhan · BBQ Super Pro Joined: 12 May 2005 Posts: 3444

I recently competed in the Aflac Outdoor games down in Columbus GA and anyone who attended knows that the sponsorship stuff for the non-bbq events was done amazingly well. Of course it should come as no surprise that there was a big time marketing agency, aflac's own pr department, and an organizer who has been putting on events like this for years involved. It got me thinking about BBQ and sponsorships and things like that.

Everyone seems to like the "BBQ is like NASCAR" comparison, but BBQ is nothing like NASCAR as it is now. A quick check of the KCBS website shows you that Chinet, Weber, and Royal Oak are all "National Partners", but what does that really get them? I didnt see very much of any of them at the contest in Columbus. Now everyone in Columbus did get a bag of Royal Oak lump, but I suspect that had more to do with the organizer than it did the KCBS folks.

Back to the NASCAR comparison....

So I watched the race this weekend...what type of fuel did the cars use? They all used SONOCO Race fuel and the announcers said it damn near every time they pitted.

What type of car did they all drive?
They all drive the same car.

If BBQ wants to draw the comparison to NASCAR they should act like NASCAR. Force everyone to use the same cooker and use the same fuel. Wouldn't Royal Oak get better pub if they could say that they are the official charcoal of championship BBQ. Weber could do the same thing. Produce a professional grade cooker and force everyone to use it. You could mod your smoker if you wanted, within reason, and Weber gets a new product to sell.

To me these companies would get a better return and be more interested in sponsoring if they could have a selling point for the average backyard guy. Guys that are happy to spend $1000 on a SS gasser to show off to their friend's, or who would prefer to use the charcoal of champions if they knew which one it was.

Hell I even think that all of the turn in boxes should be Chinet boxes and no more of the "whatever is on sale at sams" boxes that we get now. Wouldn't it be great to know that the box was going to be the same every time...especially as more people start pushing the envelope in garnish. Being able to practice at home would be a lot easier if the box was standard.

My question for you guys is would you compete in such a BBQ contest? Of course with a larger national sponsor for the contest there might be an increase in prize money, but basically would you be willing to compete under more stringent rules. Give up the sticks(both regular and mini) and switch to charcoal. Also give up your cooker and focus on cooking with something else for comps? My wife says that there would be a revolt...I say folks will switch if the money is there...

hey at least this is something to waste a Wednesday with, instead of nit picking caterers... Wink

mds2 · Posted: Jul 09 2008 Post subject:

How is a bunch of fat guys sitting around cooking anything like driving a car in a circle a million times?

If bbq ever became like NASCAR I would quit competing because nascar both sucks and blows at the same time.

And giving up sticks and using just charcoal would be getting farther away than what traditional bbq is.
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Lewis & Herschel · Posted: Jul 09 2008 Post subject:

I have heard the comparison and like you say, BBQ is nothing like NASCAR, when we can put a 140K in a stadium, then it will be. Of course, that will never happen.

I think the biggest draw back to BBQ is outside of a few, most do not cook the true bbq meats as we do. They do not have the time or money for a smoker that they may only use once a year. For BBQ to take the next step, I think there needs to be some common ground. By that I mean, on Friday, we do burger contests, steak contest, or chili contest, much like anything butt. This would potentially get our Sponspors to include The Beef Counsel and multiple Chain Steak and Burger Chains.

The best way to get people out in its current format, is to offer a Happy Hour on Friday. With Bands and cheap drinks for those that want to stop on their way home from work. That said, most events are against that. I know several that Bud wanted to sponsor but was shot down by some of the people putting it on.

The other thing that seems to help, is a DEssert Category that is open to everyone both teams and locals, that draws a lot of attention to a cookoff by the Ladies(some men) to the cookoff, the drop off a cake and then stay with their whole families.

Boxes, they need to be standardized anyway and if someone would donate them for all events, I would say make them a title sponsor, that could be Sams or one of the manufactureres.

To me, the best setting for cook offs are around county and state fairs, you get a load of people in because they have many thing to choose from.

Where as BBQ is most interesting to us, and was to me even before I competed, there is still a limitied audience. Maybe, doing demonstrations and brief backyard cooking classes would be another draw.

Since BBQ in so vastily different from one person to the next as far as method, cooker, taste, and doneness, I think it would hurt the sport to try and standardize the cooker. That said, if someone wants to organzie a WSM only or Stick burner only cook, more power to them.
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SMOKECRAZY.COM · Joined: 05 Jan 2008 Posts: 18

i raced cars for many years and spenta couple of fortunes.now i have gotten into the competition bbq and they are very similar believe it or not(in my opinion).i used to take a 60k race car and run for a thousand bucks not to mention 500bucks for tires each week,100bucks racing fuel,a couple hundred for entry and admission and if you finished 5th you won 300bucks.
i have done 3 comps and got 3rd in ribs in columbus 250 prize money,man we felt like we won the super bowl!!it seems to take practice,good preperation,and competition experience kinda like racing.man i'm hooked!!
i meant to stop by and say hello dawg i have seen you posting here as i have been looking for a while-what is you team name?
i was lucky enough to win quite a few races in my day and hope to do the same with bbq-only real difference i see is that i could get up there and spin the leader(or get spun)to win the race-no it is dependant on the judges

Jeff_From_VA · BBQ Pro Joined: 02 Jun 2008 Posts: 720

If they make barbecue like NASCAR, does that mean I can start calling the dampers on my pit "Restrictor plates"?

SMOKECRAZY.COM · Joined: 05 Jan 2008 Posts: 18

my smoker got headders on it,ck it out at
www.smokecrazy.com

Jeff Hughes · Posted: Jul 10 2008 Post subject: Re: Questions for you serious comp guys....

BBQMAN · Posted: Jul 10 2008 Post subject:

Actually I think that a level playing field is an awesome idea Dawg!

(but I'm just a caterer, what would I know?! Laughing

)

All kidding aside, it's the subjective nature of judging that get's me (and you don't get that in Nascar Wink

). You might have someone scored great by someone that knows BBQ, and not so well by someone that doesn't know good BBQ from McDoggshizzle (or vice versa) and there's really nothing you can do about it............................

Or turn in boxes that sit because there are not enough judges to go around.

My view of the whole thing for what it's worth (once again I cater, and rarely compete) is that you can be THE BEST BBQ cook and it's still a crap-shoot.

Maybe that's half the fun of it. As Forrest Gump said "life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what your gonna get"! Very Happy

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Jeff Hughes · Posted: Jul 10 2008 Post subject:

allsmokenofire · Posted: Jul 10 2008 Post subject:

I'd love to go to a contest where the cooker, meat and fuel, regardless of type, were provided by the organizer. Everyone is cooking similar meats on the same cookers with the same fuel. That would be the best test of who the good cooks are, IMO. I've always thought that good cooks can cook anything on anything with anything. Cool

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BBQMAN · Posted: Jul 10 2008 Post subject:

Jeff, that brings up another great point.

I'm a lifetime member of the AMA (American Motorcyclist Association). We don't have the Florida MA, Cali MA, Utah MA......................... Same rules for racing events across the country be it amatuer or pro.

One set of rules would be nice for all to adhere to. Works for organized sports throughout the country.

How about the great honor of being invited to the Jack? They change the rules and items cooked as they see fit. Then you get judged by celebrity judges that may (or may not) know good BBQ from a Big Mac.
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Big Tom · Posted: Jul 10 2008 Post subject:

In a sense the efforts of KCBS are for a nationally sanctioned contest circuit. Many of the other regional/state based networks are trying to grow to a national level. KCBS has a standard set of rules/guidelines that all events under thier banner follow.

Competition BBQ is like weekend racing (not NASCAR), golf tournaments, and fishing tournaments you can spend as much on it as you have(or borrow) to compete for a few hundred dollars (on average) if you place in a category.

The big hurdle for KCBS and all the other BBQ santioning outfits is to provide a judging format that minimizes the personal perception and regional differences that are naturally present with any type food events. The next level of concern is that the events have enough qualified people to properly judge the samples, whether a 20-team qualifier in rural "wherever" of a 100-team event in a large urban metropolis.

To bring in more sponsors at national, regional and local levels would be good for all contests to add more cash for prize money to lure more teams to participate.
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swinebuck · Posted: Jul 11 2008 Post subject:

I seem to recall a contest where BEG provided all the cookers and everyone got the same raw food. The contest was for an hour or so and you had to produce a meal. Most of the big racing teams have their own sponsors to cover costs unfortunately that is not the case with most BBQ Teams. MIM and the Royal attract over 100,000 people I would call that a major event but local contest can't draw that well so the big sponsors go where the people are. Thank You Cattleman's! That was worth an extra $1000 at MIM.
Thanks
Mike
Swinebuck
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DawgPhan · BBQ Super Pro Joined: 12 May 2005 Posts: 3444

I dont think that BBQ needs to have tons of spectators in order for sponsors to get a return on their investment. If someone like Royal Oak or whoever was the official charcoal of professional bbq cooks and put out ads and stickers on the bags, I think that a person who cares about their food would give it a shot when they might not otherwise do it. That person might not have ever been to a bbq contest, but knowing that it was the official charcoal of professional bbq'ers would carry some weight in the decision making process...

HuskerSmoker · BBQ Fan Joined: 14 Dec 2007 Posts: 194 Location: Omaha, NE

What happens when someone like Kingsford becomes the Official Charcoal of Professional BBQers but no one actually uses it?
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DawgPhan · BBQ Super Pro Joined: 12 May 2005 Posts: 3444

SoEzzy · Posted: Jul 11 2008 Post subject:

Some of out in the West have been talking about "the level playing field approach" for some of the local non-sanctioned contests.

We have enough WSM's in the area, and probably enough UDS's too!

I'd like to see some of the bigger manufacturers putting kit together to enable this style of contest to be run country wide.

To me it would mean more to pull a win or a place if all the cookers are the same, the fuel is the same and the meat is provided. I'd even be happy to provide the ingredients to make rubs up.

We'll see down the road if these ever start to happen, as although there were enough to get a competition going, there were a surprising number of, "you wouldn't catch me using one of those" comments!
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mrcustomsteel · Posted: Jul 11 2008 Post subject:

But then BBQ Comps would be like NASCAR, not the fastest cars a team can put on a track, not the most cutting edge technology, dumming everyone down to a common standard. That sucks because I'd watch racing if everyone was allowed to push the envelope where you'd never really know what cool new invention teams would show up with.

Letting us put our best equipment out there and cooking the best meat over the best fuel is better for BBQ. Racing would have more fans if they did it like us.
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JimmieOhio · Posted: Jul 11 2008 Post subject:

TN_BBQ · Joined: 03 Jun 2008 Posts: 22

It's like NASCAR because there are events all over the country virtually every weekend and a bunch of folks drive in from all over to compete.

The closest thing BBQ competitions have to "stock" is that everybody cooks the same types of meat and cooks over a natural fire (no gassers or electrics).

You are kidding yourself if you think that EVERYTHING about NASCAR is the same with each and every team. Even NASCAR has enough wiggle room in their rule book to allow teams to get creative.