Editorial: Promoter should pay obligations

Tuesday, Sept. 16, 1997 | 9:34 a.m.

THE Dallas Cowboys weren't the only losers in a summer basketball game against Super Bowl champions Green Bay Packers.

It appears Cimarron-Memorial High School was a loser, too, when the promoter's $2,000 check for use of the school gymnasium bounced.

Two thousand dollars is a drop in the bucket compared to what the game netted. A weekend news report estimated $40,000 in ticket sales. However, one Cimarron-Memorial official says that's very conservative.

Add to that:

* Cowboy and Packer souvenirs were sold at the game for hefty prices.

* Fans wanting autographs also had to cough up money -- from $5 for a "regular player" to $15 for Emmitt Smith.

* The promoter agreed to give one of the school's organizations three Cowboy/Packer items for a raffle to raise money for that group. The group and promoter were to share the proceeds. Even though the raffle raised only $500, the promoter still took his half. He also chastised the group because it didn't raise more money.

So what happened to all the money made from the game?

If the promoter, Bill Ekeroth of Dallas, can't explain to Cimarron-Memorial officials what happened, then we suggest he explain it to the Texas attorney general's office.

The school did receive a $2,000 check about a month before the game, but officials said it took a long time for Ekeroth's bank to clear it. Then they learned it was no good.

Cimarron-Memorial has contacted the Texas attorney general's office, which reportedly is deciding what, if anything, it can do in this case. Obviously, school officials would prefer to have Ekeroth clear up the matter now.

If Ekeroth wants to sponsor similar games in other cities next year, he should do the right thing and pay the school the contracted amount.

This leaves a sour taste in everyone's mouths -- not to mention the radio stations that donated thousands of dollars in promotional time to tout the game.

Las Vegas does not need another fly-by-night operator who promises and doesn't deliver. We've run most of them out of town and hope to keep them out.

The NFL says it can't get involved because the players do these events on their own. We hope someone will contact the most prominent players -- especially those for whom youngsters paid $15 for a simple autograph -- and have them use whatever influence they have on Ekeroth to deliver what he promised.

It's not clear what the players got out of all this or what "charity" was benefitting from the game. One sportswriter noted that the players were more interested in going to the Holyfield-Tyson fight the next night and that's why the game was held at that time.

Maybe the players should take a page from Tyson's book and take a bite out of a certain part of Ekeroth's anatomy.