He was joking...many of us (I'm in that crowd) complain about the payout.

Yes, I was making a bad joke. There was an extended preseason discussion on this board and others that the Chili Bowl didn’t pay enough and that participant attendance would be affected. Larson and Bell’s decision not to compete in Tulsa was viewed as the beginning of an exodus.

But as the announcement that originated this thread reveals, Larson and Bell not participating isn’t devaluing the product that is “The Chili Bowl”. Emmett and Company’s decision to not renew with Lucas Oil and MAV/FLO tells me the value is of The Chili Bowl is not decreasing. If “a sports network” (I’m predicting ESPN+) is willing to pay more, even without Larson and Bell, then the Chili Bowl isn’t compelled to pay more prize money to create an attraction.

The payout will go up at some point, hopefully before it does damage the value of the attraction. But that’s capitalism. You don’t pay more for a product due to goodwill. You pay more when supply becomes short and competing demand requires it.

Dad, perhaps you have more insight on it than I do but Lucas has been throttling back big time on their sponsorship’s. It’s been pretty well documented by Justin on Dirtrackr daily. So who knows who cut ties with who. That being said, do whatever opening ceremonies you want as long as cars are in position at your advertised start time. I for one would feel better if they had less car’s so they could start the alphabet on Friday and have a more controllable Saturday. That’s just my take as a fan at home

Maybe a major TV partner increases the purse that so many have been ******** about??.....