The Proline Show. A view from the inside out.

[Juice]

Production is a flat out trip. The truth of the matter is is that production starts in January. Just as you start thinking about the wild card games for the weekend, we are already busy planning for next years football.

And I mean busy.

Production is way more than about putting on proline. Thats just the end combined product/result.

Getting all those magazines out, knowing where and how much your going to spend on advertising and with whom, where your going to spend new money and so on. Keeping track of it all is a nightmare. And I am just the guy who does the work, makes things work. My boss was the heavy and the long time true brians behind the operation for like 29 of 34 years Jim owned the buisness.

Keep this perspective in mind as we go foward as I will give different insights from a combined perspective.

Just keep in mind that when I talk about a room average of 9.3 mill a year. Proline in my time cost 6++ million to put on. A sum Jim had to pay every May to secure those time slots he had for all those years. He paid for it up front for like 20 years straight. Think about that for a moment.

Thats not even including all the free pick phone lines, the schedule and other stuff. And thats after paying for the magazine, the advertising and all the associated cost of getting things to the printer and then to distribution and on out to you by mid July when you start to scrounge around for your magazines and other things you need to get ready for the BIG FOOTBALL SEASON.



All of that has to take place first so that by the time time people turn on proline after labor day weekend they have everything they need to start there big football season. Most of what they needed was purchased from Jim also. The magazine, the schedule, linetracker, THE WORKBOOK (omg) etc. Even if you never buy a game from us, and before you make your first bet, we are already making off of the masses.


The early years.

Not once ever in my life did I watch the proline show. Never heard of it till I bought my first Jim Feist annual in about 91. I remember thinking who and the hell would watch a tv show to try and figure out whom to bet on. ????
Plus it came on way to early anyway. Who in the hell is getting up at 7 or 8 anywhere to watch it anyway. Certainly not me.

During the holiday season of 92 Jim threw a party at Ballys for all the race and sportsbooks that used his schedule. As I stepped up to meet him and get my picture taken with him, I looked down at him as I was shaking his hand and asked him whats it like to be on national tv giving out picks to people around the country? He looks right back at me, chuckles for a second, and says empahticaly, its harder to do than you can imagine. I had stars in my eyes that night and so I just laughed as did he as we turned toward the camera and flash.

If I only knew then. What I know now.

Expierencing proline as salesman and the rush that comes with it, is an exprience onto itself. You really dont know what to expect. You hear about it from the vets how crazy it is and how many leads it produces, but you have no real conception of it all till you start having to drive to work at 3:30 am on a Saturday morning to answer all those leads.


On friday all the specials and all the ads go up on the boards so that you can see what everyone was doing and what you were going to do with your book and your cappers specials. I sold cokin so of course my stuff cenetered on him. But its a good idea to keep up with everyone.

This time period is also known as the Jr wanna be Handicappers Leauge since all we do for about the last 2 hours of every friday, is of course, just like our clients, handicapp the cappers and there games.

The reactions are priceless. OMG so and so GOY or whatever is ... I love that game...I hate that game...this is the real... of the or whatever. Someone almost always says, I should be on the show. I could go on for awhile. This is after Wednesdays mind you when everybody comes in from the day off full of hot air and sheets in there hands calling out games and trying to pitch someone in the room that they have a winner. Otherwise known as the put your money where your mouth is/lets see who can pick the same games the cappers are picking.

The buildup to football saturdays are special overall and proline fridays really get you fired up. You just cant wait for the show to start.


When you come in Saturday morning before 4 am there is a tv set up and at some point they throw in the tape and we watch the show as its first running in th east. Its a kind of dead period as you wait for the leads, but a trip all the same because you hear the phone ringing off the hook in back and it makes your juices flow as you hear call for my free play, or my goy or special bonus.. now... 1-800.. I can hear Jim now...

There is nothing like it. A positive rush. Everytime.

By the time the leads come pouring in, your all set. You are writing up orders, pitching people whom call for the free play, trying to upgrade your clients, trying to keep up with the specials because you pitch whatever lands on your desk, no matter whom your primary was. It is very hard to keep up. It all goes so fast. The closer to 9am the worse it gets. By the time 9 am comes, your spent. With 2 hours to go before lunch at that.

Good thing Jim had top flight technology because it is extremely diffcult to stay on the phone and sell games after kick off. People dont listen first of all.
Second your busy trying to order your notes so you know what to take advantage of after the break.

So at about 9:30 am what this technolgy produced was the first batch of names of numbers from all the free pick phones people had called from the early proline show. The sheets were always carried in by this 5 foot 4 guy, wanna be bodybuilder type that was all arms and chest. It was a big batch. Like 300-500 sheets most times. He would come out and down the stairs carrying it like it was sooo heavy and would just start dropping sheets on your desk that they had just sorted out. You got some of everything too. Some sheets were with handicappers that were losing there special and others who were winning. You had to sort thru your notes and plan accordingly. Not all games go off at the same time. So you could not quite super attack the fresh steamy hot paper no one else in the country will have access too for awhile yet.

Mind you that was just the first batch and from just one source on a saturday morning, passed out just to keep the salesman motivated and working.


In part 2 I will reveal the adminstrative side of the show and how it all comes together for the masses.


To be continued.

[howid]

have to give feist and crew credit for bringing the industry out of the ''boiler rooms'' and onto the tv studio... at least with the bright lights and slick production a client could take a phone call from them and not feel he was a major sucker. it helped to have an image of who might be on the other end of the phone.


nice post, looking forward to reading more, thanks man.

[Total Square]

Originally Posted by howid

have to give feist and crew credit for bringing the industry out of the ''boiler rooms'' and onto the tv studio... at least with the bright lights and slick production a client could take a phone call from them and not feel he was a major sucker. it helped to have an image of who might be on the other end of the phone.


nice post, looking forward to reading more, thanks man.

and there is juice