there will most likely never be another Mr Getbig, at least not in the sense of fairness and ethics.
Vince - if Mindspin and CQ had willingly accepted your offer - I could see being upset.
They passed on small sponsors and accepted one large sponsor. It guarantees that everyone in the show gets their money, and a lot more of it. Last year, we had a real problem with some sponsors who didn't pay up as promised. I wouldn't burn them, as it's just not good business sense, but some of them did not pay up. We spent many hours chasing down prize money, having boxes and checks mailed to 6 different addresses. It was a very messy process.
This time, Mindspin went in the direction of one sponsor, 5 large checks, and that is it. As far as acutal cash, last year we had about 1000, I believe. The rest was product credit, which is hard to collect and spend.
The competitors will appreciate checks of $2000, or $1200, or $1000, or whatever, far more than chasing down companies for the next 12 months. For them, it's a win.
And again, I could see being upset, if Mindspin and CQ had said to you "We accept your sponsorship, Vince " but it was not the case. If they had promised you the right to be a sponsor, I could see being pissed. To me it just seems like MS decided to go with one big sponsor - and a big check for the winner - instead of multiples. This was his choice. Perhaps Mr GetBig 3 will be different, I do not know. I was not involved in the decision making of Mr GB2.