I'm on the road again right now, but this time it's with the family, and I'll be out and about again early next week. But it's time to really start communicating with you folks and getting everything in place for the upcoming drafts, which are less than two months away!!!First and foremost, I know I can declare now that there will be an NFBC season in 2011. All of the paperwork is in hand and now it's just a matter of legally getting everything signed. But we are there and the details will come out when we legally can do that. But we're there, we have everything in place for NFBC VIII and I couldn't be prouder of everyone involved in this process. EVERYONE from Jan. 4th through today that was involved in this process did what was best for the employees and the consumers and you will see that shortly.
I don't want to get into those details yet, but I say that because anyone who is thinking about competing again in the NFBC can rest assured that every single live event and online event we have on the current NFBC site is moving forward. Signups are solid, prizes are guaranteed, a partner has been secured to push this to greater heights, and the software is ready to go. We are ready to give away $1+ million again this year. Are you ready to win some of it?
The key question left unanswered now is the back-end software and I know that is key for many of you. Yeah, you can say you trust me and Tom enough to play in the NFBC even if we had to get the stats out of USA Today once a week, but trust me, we aren't going backwards with technology we are going forward. I learned a lesson last year that the one thing about this contest I have no control over -- the back-end software and technological upgrades -- is the one area I need folks much smarter than me. So when I had the chance to make this key decision, I made sure it was one that would last me not only this year but until I'm done running these events. No more changes. No more hiccups on Opening Day. No more 2010's.
I think we'll be able to announce our back-end software provider by Monday night and move forward with that part of the equation. I think you'll see that we have a chance to build something special together with this company and we are already thinking about the next technological steps involving smartphones, iPads and technology at the live drafts. I'm convinced that we will hit the ground running when the legal part involving the first step is done and you folks will be very satisfied with our choice. I know some of you are concerned that we are making late decisions and that drafts are being held in less than two months, but I think you'll see shortly why I have no concerns about the season ahead.
Hopefully on Monday we'll be able to spell all of this out and then within the next week I think we'll have the details of the rest spelled out as well. It's been a wild 3+ weeks for all of us here, but I know for a fact that everyone involved did what was best for the consumers. All consumers are being paid for past NFBC and NFFC contests and we are taking the reigns after that and securing an even stronger future for our contests and participants. We will be back to more of a Greg-and-Tom feel of ownership and yet we have the resources and partners in place to make the game technologically near-perfect and a business plan that exposes us like never before.
I couldn't be more excited!! Now I have to reward the family for a couple of days and then I'll be back to tell you more. THANK YOU SO MUCH for your patience and your trust and believe me, we are SO FORTUNATE that everything is going to turn out the way it did. Now let's take advantage of it and support each other like never before because you never know how much you love something until you've almost lost it. And it sure seemed like we almost lost this special, special community.
But we kept it and I'm so happy for that.
