QUOTE
The Floyd Mayweather JR – Juan Manuel Marquez Tecate Rebate Scam
By Daniel “Tex” Cohen-September 17, 2009
With the biggest fight of the year thus far rapidly approaching, the boxing community is doing a miniature victory dance. Finally, there is a high likelihood that we will see a fulfilling fight card, complete with drama, action, and top-to-bottom competition. Golden Boy, HBO, and Tecate have built the crowd into a frenzied, fanatical throng of worker bees jabbering at the water cooler and planning out long nights of action, chips, and beer.
As usual, we suckers will shell out fifty hard-earned big ones in the name of watching a couple of guys who have far more money than we will ever hope to see. Floyd Mayweather will use that statistic to prove that he is still relevant and beat his many boxing enemies over the head. The riveting 24-7 (which now apparently features everything from sparring to urine-drinking) will be used to sell fight after fight, as the show has clearly served the network well in its promotional efforts. By the time the referee scrapes Marquez off of the mat this Saturday, Boxing Nation will have been subjected to a hardly unusual series of events in the build-up to the real super fight between Mayweather and the great Manny Pacquiao.
Should Marquez shock the world, things might be different. As it stands, we can probably guess that everyone will overpay for a predictable outcome. At least Golden Boy Promotions has helped us out by providing us with a fancy rebate that will cover all of the fight and more. Richard Schaefer, Golden Boy CEO, has struck a deal with Tecate to put some of our dough back in our pockets. If we buy a twelve pack of Tecate and send it in with our cable bill this weekend, we will receive twenty-dollars back after the fight. Furthermore, Schaefer has found a way to get us thirty more bucks if we buy specific snacks from Tecate. .
Some media outlets have already come out and praised Golden Boy and Schaefer for their understanding of their consumers. In this tough economy, some say, Golden Boy have sent the message that it understands our woes and wants to ease the economic burden. By offering fifty-five dollars in rebates they have covered the cost of the fights and five more dollars.
This would all be good and fine, but Golden Boy is giving you smoke and mirrors. The thirty dollar rebate offered on select Tecate snack items is a joke and a half. First, these “selected snack items” aren’t listed anywhere on the internet. They are nigh impossible to find. I had to call the PR agency that promotes the fight earlier today to try to figure out what they were. There is an e-mail in the works.
Secondly, the thirty dollar rebate only comes with the purchase of more than a hundred bucks worth of snacks. Dennis Guillermo of The Examiner reports, “Beginning June 8, 2009, Tecate is offering its popular $25 mail-in rebate discount for the HBO Pay-Per-View event in select states across the country (except in Louisiana, Minnesota and Texas) with the purchase of a 12-pack or larger of Tecate. The brand also will offer consumers over the age of 21 the opportunity to save up to $30 in snacks and party supplies, with the purchase of $100 worth of groceries at participating stores (except in Louisiana, Minnesota and Texas).”
This may not stick out to most fans, but I noticed immediately that fight fans in Texas, Minnesota and Louisiana are already screwed out of the rebate, something that may have to do with legal issues. Considering that a large portion of the Mexican-American population lives in Texas, and a large portion of fight fans are Mexican-American, we can already assume this is significant.
The worst part of the rebate claim, though, is the end total spent by the average boxing consumer. Let’s put the budget in easy numbers:
Gains:
$25 for the Tecate Rebate
$30 for the Snack Rebate
Total: $55
Losses
$50 for the PPV
$10 for the Tecate
$100 for the snacks
Total: $160
$55-$160= -$105
The fight fan that pays for the items required to receive the fight rebate will wind up down $105, plain and simple. In return for this exorbitant fee, the consumer will receive the fight, snacks (which may or may not be any good), a twelve-pack of beer with which he can drown his sorrows for spending so much money on the card, and a Golden Boy Promotions tattoo branded into his backside.
The bottom line is that the rebate is a sham. The fans get nothing. Golden Boy gets to build up its reputation with sponsors. HBO doesn’t care because it figures most fans will be too lazy to rebate the fight, and those that do will not be able to find the snacks that will pick up the full value of the rebate. Even if they do, they probably will not buy said snacks because of the steep Benjamin Franklin price tag.
By Daniel “Tex” Cohen-September 17, 2009
With the biggest fight of the year thus far rapidly approaching, the boxing community is doing a miniature victory dance. Finally, there is a high likelihood that we will see a fulfilling fight card, complete with drama, action, and top-to-bottom competition. Golden Boy, HBO, and Tecate have built the crowd into a frenzied, fanatical throng of worker bees jabbering at the water cooler and planning out long nights of action, chips, and beer.
As usual, we suckers will shell out fifty hard-earned big ones in the name of watching a couple of guys who have far more money than we will ever hope to see. Floyd Mayweather will use that statistic to prove that he is still relevant and beat his many boxing enemies over the head. The riveting 24-7 (which now apparently features everything from sparring to urine-drinking) will be used to sell fight after fight, as the show has clearly served the network well in its promotional efforts. By the time the referee scrapes Marquez off of the mat this Saturday, Boxing Nation will have been subjected to a hardly unusual series of events in the build-up to the real super fight between Mayweather and the great Manny Pacquiao.
Should Marquez shock the world, things might be different. As it stands, we can probably guess that everyone will overpay for a predictable outcome. At least Golden Boy Promotions has helped us out by providing us with a fancy rebate that will cover all of the fight and more. Richard Schaefer, Golden Boy CEO, has struck a deal with Tecate to put some of our dough back in our pockets. If we buy a twelve pack of Tecate and send it in with our cable bill this weekend, we will receive twenty-dollars back after the fight. Furthermore, Schaefer has found a way to get us thirty more bucks if we buy specific snacks from Tecate. .
Some media outlets have already come out and praised Golden Boy and Schaefer for their understanding of their consumers. In this tough economy, some say, Golden Boy have sent the message that it understands our woes and wants to ease the economic burden. By offering fifty-five dollars in rebates they have covered the cost of the fights and five more dollars.
This would all be good and fine, but Golden Boy is giving you smoke and mirrors. The thirty dollar rebate offered on select Tecate snack items is a joke and a half. First, these “selected snack items” aren’t listed anywhere on the internet. They are nigh impossible to find. I had to call the PR agency that promotes the fight earlier today to try to figure out what they were. There is an e-mail in the works.
Secondly, the thirty dollar rebate only comes with the purchase of more than a hundred bucks worth of snacks. Dennis Guillermo of The Examiner reports, “Beginning June 8, 2009, Tecate is offering its popular $25 mail-in rebate discount for the HBO Pay-Per-View event in select states across the country (except in Louisiana, Minnesota and Texas) with the purchase of a 12-pack or larger of Tecate. The brand also will offer consumers over the age of 21 the opportunity to save up to $30 in snacks and party supplies, with the purchase of $100 worth of groceries at participating stores (except in Louisiana, Minnesota and Texas).”
This may not stick out to most fans, but I noticed immediately that fight fans in Texas, Minnesota and Louisiana are already screwed out of the rebate, something that may have to do with legal issues. Considering that a large portion of the Mexican-American population lives in Texas, and a large portion of fight fans are Mexican-American, we can already assume this is significant.
The worst part of the rebate claim, though, is the end total spent by the average boxing consumer. Let’s put the budget in easy numbers:
Gains:
$25 for the Tecate Rebate
$30 for the Snack Rebate
Total: $55
Losses
$50 for the PPV
$10 for the Tecate
$100 for the snacks
Total: $160
$55-$160= -$105
The fight fan that pays for the items required to receive the fight rebate will wind up down $105, plain and simple. In return for this exorbitant fee, the consumer will receive the fight, snacks (which may or may not be any good), a twelve-pack of beer with which he can drown his sorrows for spending so much money on the card, and a Golden Boy Promotions tattoo branded into his backside.
The bottom line is that the rebate is a sham. The fans get nothing. Golden Boy gets to build up its reputation with sponsors. HBO doesn’t care because it figures most fans will be too lazy to rebate the fight, and those that do will not be able to find the snacks that will pick up the full value of the rebate. Even if they do, they probably will not buy said snacks because of the steep Benjamin Franklin price tag.
