Sent to Club and Association Chairs and Secretaries, Events & Competitions Committee.
Copied to Board of Directors and Senior Management Group for Information
Major Events
The Board are currently starting to review the vision for orienteering in the UK and the way in which the vision is brought into being – our Strategic Plan.
A part of this review will need to consider our major events and in particular those that British Orienteering is responsible for.
Whilst our British Orienteering major events, the JK and BOCs, are almost always a success from a participant’s perspective you may or may not be aware that there have been a series of issues relating to the delivery of these events during the last 10 years. Several times we have been close to disaster, including cancellation of one or more days of the events within a few days of the event. With the benefit of this experience now is a good time to review the way in which these events are delivered.
The background and this first set of questions is about the feasibility of one of the options we are considering, a ‘franchise’ model. This paper is only to see if this model is worth exploring further.
You all know of the events and have probably been involved in the organising of one of these events as well as in participating in a few, so I won’t spend time giving you the larger background to the events. I will, however, provide some facts about the events in 2014.
Finance
Major Events 2014
TOTAL Expenditure
TOTAL Income
Surplus
British Orienteering Profit Share
Club/Association Profit Share
JK 2014
£97,672.23
£142,183.09
£44,510.86
£29,673.91
£14,836.95
British Long & Relay Champs 2014
£35,498.32
£35,468.70
-£29.62
-£29.62
£0.00
British Sprint Champs 2014
£7,418.92
£12,774.00
£5,355.08
£3,570.05
£1,785.03
British Middle Champs 2014
£8,883.38
£16,467.17
£7,583.79
£5,055.86
£2,527.93
TOTAL
£149,472.85
£206,892.96
£57,420.11
£38,270.20
£19,149.91
Participation at Major Events in 2014
Event
Participation
JK Day 1 Sprint
2,172
JK Day 2
2,857
JK Day 3
2,617
JK Day 4 Relay
1,665
Event
Participation
BOC Sprint Prologue
795
BOC Sprint Final
793
BOC Middle
954
BOC Long
1,055
BOC Relay
719
BOC Night
256
Just over 700 members participated in the JK and in one of the BOC weekends; 405 members participated in the JK and both BOC weekends.
If the ‘Franchise’ Model, in overview, was:
a) You purchase up front from British Orienteering the ‘right’ to deliver one of the major events in a year – these figures are indicative only:
- JK £16,000
- BOC Sprint £3,000
- BOC Middle £3,000
- BOC Long & Relay £4,000
b) You have the freedom to deliver it as you see fit to meet the needs of the participants – apart from the ‘British Orienteering’ branding of the event there would be little or no support from British Orienteering.
c) You would need to meet the insurance requirements set by British Orienteering and our insurers OR put in place separate insurance at a cost to the participants.
d) You would ‘bank roll’ the event ie provide the cash flow and take the financial risks.
e) The ‘profit’ above the purchase price would be kept by the staging association or club.
If in any year we were unable to find an association or club to stage the event British Orienteering will need to reserve the right to find another delivery partner or deliver the event ourselves. This is necessary as the income generated for British Orienteering is required in order to run the organisation. In total the £26,000 of income generated from the major events is 10% of our total self-generated income (that is if government funding is ignored).
On the basis of the overview above can you indicate whether your association or club would be interested at some point over the next 10 years in delivering one of the following?
JK Y / N
BOC Sprint Y / N
BOC Middle Y / N
BOC Long & Relay Y / N
Do you have other thoughts/comments about how such a model could be adapted to make it more attractive?
Is the model worth further investigation? Y / N
In due course we will be following this short paper with other options that we may investigate for the delivery of the British Orienteering ‘major events’.
The Franchise Model for major events
Moderators: [nope] cartel, team nopesport
The Franchise Model for major events
- mikey
- diehard
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Re: The Franchise Model for major events
Interesting that the indicative suggestion is for BO franchise fees of only £26000 pa - compared to income of £38000 in 2014, in a year when BOC Long/Relay struggled financially. Perhaps the difference covers the staff costs of supporting the events? The "little or no support from BO" is of course a return to the model that existed a decade or so ago, so I don't see any issues there.
Seems possible that smaller and/or outlying associations might not be willing to take on the risk of JK/BOC. An association levy on clubs / events is a much more stable form of income for them. However the "freedom to deliver it as you see fit to meet the needs of the participants" could mean that some of the existing Level A requirements could be watered down if necessary: e.g. if entries are low then things like commentary / radios controls / marquees etc could be cut back.
Accepting offers from clubs opens up the possibility of cross-association hosting for JK/BOC.
Aside from the JK, clubs / associations bidding might want significant input into the event timing, so that it can suit local conditions. E.g. SEOA might want BOC in March, and SOA in June. To some extent this happens already, but it will become more important if the host is bearing the financial risk.
Seems possible that smaller and/or outlying associations might not be willing to take on the risk of JK/BOC. An association levy on clubs / events is a much more stable form of income for them. However the "freedom to deliver it as you see fit to meet the needs of the participants" could mean that some of the existing Level A requirements could be watered down if necessary: e.g. if entries are low then things like commentary / radios controls / marquees etc could be cut back.
Accepting offers from clubs opens up the possibility of cross-association hosting for JK/BOC.
Aside from the JK, clubs / associations bidding might want significant input into the event timing, so that it can suit local conditions. E.g. SEOA might want BOC in March, and SOA in June. To some extent this happens already, but it will become more important if the host is bearing the financial risk.
- Snail
- diehard
- Posts: 709
- Joined: Wed Nov 30, 2005 8:37 pm
Re: The Franchise Model for major events
More money would be raised if we paid a sensible membership fee, not the £5 now charged. BO must have lost a fair amount of income since this change came in!
- Tatty
- guru
- Posts: 1626
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Re: The Franchise Model for major events
Several times we have been close to disaster, including cancellation of one or more days of the events within a few days of the event.
It would be nice to understand how this proposed model would solve this problem. I suspect the motivation is rather different
You have the freedom to deliver it as you see fit to meet the needs of the participants
And I wonder how far this would extend. Suppose I want to put on
the British...
in Northern Scotland...
on a non-ISOM map...
in October...
with the courses 10% shorter than usual...
using 1:6534 scale (i.e A4)...
in a mass start format...
without a controller visiting the area...
using photocopies...
and pin punches...
and bonus controls with archery challenges...
At some point on that list, we might hope BO would say "no". But where?
Still, franchising is a good idea - if someone actually wants to put on the event it should be encouraged. Does anyone know when the first available events are?
CASE STUDY: If the option had been there in 2014 to add BOC/BRC to Race the Castles for £4000, we'd have given it serious consideration. Assuming BO don't reintroduce the levy, we'd have needed to see the "pull" of BOC bringing in about 200 more people, or one more decent sized sponsor.
WOC2024 Edinburgh
Test races at SprintScotland (Alloa/Falkirk) and Euromeeting (near Stirling).
Test races at SprintScotland (Alloa/Falkirk) and Euromeeting (near Stirling).
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graeme - god
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Re: The Franchise Model for major events
Some food for thought: and certainly has it's attractions.
My main concern is that if every year the events were put out to competitive tender by BOF,
I believe there is a risk that the playing field would be consistently tilted to the regions/areas that are capable of attracting the largest turnouts for these events, and the events might not be circulated round the regions to the same extent.
My main concern is that if every year the events were put out to competitive tender by BOF,
I believe there is a risk that the playing field would be consistently tilted to the regions/areas that are capable of attracting the largest turnouts for these events, and the events might not be circulated round the regions to the same extent.
- aiming off
- orange
- Posts: 129
- Joined: Tue Feb 28, 2012 10:03 pm
Re: The Franchise Model for major events
At what point did BOF become owners of these events such that they have the right to sell the franchise back to their own members ?
They are not even prepared to underwrite the event, nor necessarily insure it, so what exactly are BOF - the "governing body" - bringing to the party ?
Starting to look more and more parasitical.
@Graeme - this is not about dealing with the risk that an event ends up as a financial disaster, it is about inuslating BOF from that risk, placing it all on the organisers, whilst still ensuring BOF get a nice chunk of money for nothing.
I suspect this is what you suspect
Its utter bollocks
They are not even prepared to underwrite the event, nor necessarily insure it, so what exactly are BOF - the "governing body" - bringing to the party ?
Starting to look more and more parasitical.
@Graeme - this is not about dealing with the risk that an event ends up as a financial disaster, it is about inuslating BOF from that risk, placing it all on the organisers, whilst still ensuring BOF get a nice chunk of money for nothing.
I suspect this is what you suspect
Its utter bollocks
If you could run forever ......
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Kitch - god
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Re: The Franchise Model for major events
Kitch wrote:Its utter bollocks
It's how the IOF works
Andrew Dalgleish (INT)
Views expressed on Nopesport are my own.
Views expressed on Nopesport are my own.
- andy
- god
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- Location: Edinburgh
Re: The Franchise Model for major events
In the USA they execute people.......
If you could run forever ......
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Kitch - god
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Re: The Franchise Model for major events
Kitch wrote:In the USA they execute people.......
Mhmm
Never said I agreed with the IOF method, but that's where they've got the idea from. Minimal effort for decent profit
Andrew Dalgleish (INT)
Views expressed on Nopesport are my own.
Views expressed on Nopesport are my own.
- andy
- god
- Posts: 2455
- Joined: Thu Nov 06, 2003 11:42 pm
- Location: Edinburgh
Re: The Franchise Model for major events
andy wrote:Kitch wrote:Its utter bollocks
It's how the IOF works
Always nice to see some agreement on here
Kitch wrote: (transferring risk) ... I suspect this is what you suspect
Yes, it is. However, I also think that BOF are unnecessarily risk averse, and so this is a good thing. Volunteer-run events are outperforming their "professional+workforce" model: we'll see this at Schiehalion and again with JEC2016.
Kitch wrote: At what point did BOF become owners of these events
It's self evident that the NGB owns the National Championships. More interesting though, is the JK which, they propose, is worth considerably more than the others put together. But in fact the JK is successful as a big event plonked on the ideal holiday weekend in the middle of the racing season. If I pile in now and start plugging the "Easter 4-day in Scotland 2018" with world class terrain, sprint, two classics and relay, and lob a few carrots in the direction of WMOA, I can kill JK2018 before it even gets going, and nobody would take a franchise to compete. Unless BOF think they own Easter.
WOC2024 Edinburgh
Test races at SprintScotland (Alloa/Falkirk) and Euromeeting (near Stirling).
Test races at SprintScotland (Alloa/Falkirk) and Euromeeting (near Stirling).
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graeme - god
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Re: The Franchise Model for major events
Two classics? Calm down!
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mharky - team nopesport
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Re: The Franchise Model for major events
so what exactly are BOF - the "governing body" - bringing to the party ?
Well they're proposing to take less out than in 2014 - so that could mean either more money staying with associations / clubs or lower entry fees. But if it had operated in this way in 2014 it would have meant a massive surplus to WOA and possibly a crippling loss to NEOA (although they might never have accepted the franchise in the first place).
I can see the attraction to BOF in creating a more stable income. But this just passes an amplified financial risk onto club / associations, when BOF is probably more able to accept a fluctuating income stream.
If they want to be less involved, why not just make them all levy events, with either the same or a slightly higher levy?
- Snail
- diehard
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Re: The Franchise Model for major events
I have been involved with BOF Fixtures Committee for many years on and off and the larger events are often a challenge to encourage any region to put on. If BOC was restricted to the better terrain then Scotland, North West, wales and Cornwall would put these events on every couple of years. the rotation around each region has been tried in the past which in my opinion at least gives everyone the chance to go to one of these events every couple of years even if they don't wish to stay for a few days.
Wales has less members than some average size clubs in the rest of the UK so while they might not be able to host large events themselves they have been able to welcome other regions holding events on their areas.
Wales has less members than some average size clubs in the rest of the UK so while they might not be able to host large events themselves they have been able to welcome other regions holding events on their areas.
- canol
- orange
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Re: The Franchise Model for major events
It is obvious to me that we are watching the sport in its death throes! There are clubs throughout the country that are struggling to keep a self sustaining membership, there are regions that haven't got the resources to stage any of the majors anymore.
I'm sure several regions 'could' rotate some of the major events over a four/five year cycle. But that is not self sustaining. When do they get the chance to improve local orienteering in order to increase participation and membership.
Looking at the list of championships.... which do we really want to keep. The long distance champs for certain. Every sport has to have ONE champs. Middle, sprint and relays..... OUT! Use the Urban model and have a national league where you contest those races that are closest to you.
JK is just another holiday event. Too complicated, too labour intensive, too volunteer intensive. NWOA is creaking at the seams for this year's event. Every able bodied volunteer still isn't enough. Face facts..... sit down and reduce the loading on clubs and regions, and give them space to work on the base of our membership pyramid, to bring in new people and introduce them to TD1-3 competition. In ten years we can return to our fanciful list of championships for everything.
I'm sure several regions 'could' rotate some of the major events over a four/five year cycle. But that is not self sustaining. When do they get the chance to improve local orienteering in order to increase participation and membership.
Looking at the list of championships.... which do we really want to keep. The long distance champs for certain. Every sport has to have ONE champs. Middle, sprint and relays..... OUT! Use the Urban model and have a national league where you contest those races that are closest to you.
JK is just another holiday event. Too complicated, too labour intensive, too volunteer intensive. NWOA is creaking at the seams for this year's event. Every able bodied volunteer still isn't enough. Face facts..... sit down and reduce the loading on clubs and regions, and give them space to work on the base of our membership pyramid, to bring in new people and introduce them to TD1-3 competition. In ten years we can return to our fanciful list of championships for everything.
- RJ
- addict
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Re: The Franchise Model for major events
Just another holiday event
The JK is by far the main event of the season.
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mharky - team nopesport
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