Question for promoters that have had autograph guests

[Dakota Treasure Hunter]

I was wondering when you hire an athlete to sign at a show do you pay them for a set number of autographs, per autograph or by the amount of time they spend signing for you before/after the show and for the public?

Thanks

[bbcard1]

It's a lot more complicated than it used to be. While I have not promoted in a long time, I have stayed involved with the business aspects.

At one time, you would simply hire an athlete for a flat fee. A minor player may be as little as $100 if you were not charging for his autographs and he was local, especially if it was on behalf of a cause. Think someone like Ron Hodges or Alan Knicely. It ranged on up from there, but you usually paid the guest a flat fee plus travel and then sold individual tickets. If you ran out of people willing to pay for a signature, you'd have him sign stuff...photos,balls, whatever. I once saw this happen as a couple of inexperience dealers took a bath on having Stan Musial in a small southern town.

These days, you usually commit to a price and a number of pieces. Anything above that the athlete gets paid extra.

The numbers now are huge. $50K+ is not unheard of for a four hour signing for a big name. You have to really know what you are doing to make a go of it.

[Dakota Treasure Hunter]

Thanks for the info. I'm thinking more of the lesser known fan favorites that work for cheap. ha ha

[bnorth]

Thanks for the info. I'm thinking more of the lesser known fan favorites that work for cheap. ha ha

If you are doing this in/around SF post on here or PM me as I would be interested in going to a local show.

[basesareempty]

We do signings with many former players in the MD/DC/VA area and some players are on a "piece deal" where they are paid to sign X number of autos without a time restraint. Some players are on a "time deal" where they are there for a set time and will pretty much have a pen in their hand the entire time and will be signing items either for the public or us since time is money in this scenario.

[Dakota Treasure Hunter]

Thanks

[Dakota Treasure Hunter]

I'm helping someone that's trying to get a regular show going about once a month. We have them maybe every three or four months now. It might be a while before they get an autograph guest, but I'll post any show info.