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.
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