Friday January 26, 2007 SGN.org |
 |
Volume 35 Issue 04 |
 |
|
Thursday, Mar 11, 2010
|
 |
|||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||
|
First Outgames files for bankruptcy protection |
|
 |
|
| First Outgames files for bankruptcy protection | |
|
by Kelly Stevens -
SGN Contributing Writer A Quebec government audit revealed 5.3 million (CDN) deficit for the 2006 Outgames on a 15 million total budget on November 13, 2006. On December 7, 2006 Montreal Outgames filed for bankruptcy protection. of the deficit, 3.1 million is loans from the government of Montreal and Quebec. Another 2.2 million is due to private companies and individuals. The web site for the Outgames was shut down. The company that runs the website is listed as one of the companies due payment. GLISA issued a statement to its members distancing GLISA from the financial problems in Montreal. The GLISA web site gives no mention of the problems or assistance to the vendors who are asking to be paid.. Lousie Roy, Director of the Outgames and Outgames Co-President Mark Tewksbury are also both on the GLISA board. Outgames Director Louise Roy was quoted after the Outgames saying that the Outgames should have a $200,000 surplus. This statement was given to the press, even though reports now show that the Canadian government was asked for 1.3 million in emergency funding in the weeks preceding the Outgames. Others in the 1st Outgames organization were making similar statements. "There's no way we're going to lose money," agreed Outgames Press Secretary Pascal Dessureault. "Our budget forecasts a small surplus. Our financial statements are being audited every month by the federal and provincial governments. We're really conscious not to have any deficits at all," he said. Openly Gay Olympic gold medalist Mark Tewksbury, the Outgames' co-president, said it is critical that the Montreal games not end up in the hole financially. It is not clear how such a large debt could not have been know, but the Quebec government audit revealed no theft or misappropriation of money. What is clear is Montreal Outgames was aware of the financial problems, but did not want the public to know about the financial problems and hoped the Canadian government would pick up the remaining debt. The Quebec government has stated that they will not pay the 2.2 million vendor debt because the governments was already owed 3.1 million in loans. Some of the well known creditors are Martina Navratilova who is owed $20,000. Cirque du Soleil is owed $48,209.30. The Montreal International Marathon is owed $25,902.14. Marketing Signa Inc. is owed $217,872.15. The grand total is 2.2 million to various vendors that supported the Outgames. Outgames bankruptcy protection ends this month and a settlement will be offered to some vendors. Some of the creditors were secured creditors and they will be paid first. Many of the small vendors will likely not be paid. Sport officials that were promised free hotel stays for officiating games in Montreal, found full charges on their credit cards from the hotel 90 days after Outgames did not pay the hotel bills. The officials signed agreements and were only to pay for incidentals at their hotel. 2009 OUTGAMES GLISA has announced that Outgames 2009 in Copenhagen will go ahead as scheduled and that the city of Copenhagen has offered almost 4 million (USD) to the Copenhagen Outgames. Montreal Outgames was given over 7.5 million (CND) from Montreal and Quebec governments. GAY GAMES VII FINANCIALS Chicago Gay Games 2006 reported approximately $200,000 (USD) debt after the Gay Games, with a budget of 10 million. A Chicago couple offered $100,000 in matching funds to money raised to pay off the debt. Chicago Gay Games is reporting that approximately $30,000 was still being raised at the end of December 2006. They expect to be completely paid off by the final budget reports due in April 2007. Donations may be given online at www.chicagogaygames.org. In December, Chicago Gay Games announced the release of the Chicago Gay Games official DVD. It can be purchased from the Chicago Gay Games web site or for $17.96 from Wolf Video at www.wolfevideo.com. Proceeds from the DVD go to retire the remaining $30,000 debt. The next Gay Games will be in Cologne Germany in July 2010. Kelly Stevens is the co-chair of Team Seattle. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
International Readers read the SGN in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 post your own information on Seattle Gay Blog |
|
 |
copyright Seattle Gay News - DigitalTeamWorks 2006