Well with both the customer sentiment and the financial results in hand... maybe now they can make a real conclusion on the format change.

I don't think the silence is a good sign honestly :/

PAPA always functioned on the backing and resources of Kevin. Clearly they had a plan when they moved it all to the Replay Foundation. At the time, IMO, it seemed like a good vehicle to allow Kevin to keep doing as he had, but at least get some recognized tax benefit from doing so. Dunno how much that was a factor... but seemed like functioning as a legal entity of its own was to clean things up. But it never seemed to have a business plan shared that included sustainability.. so people like me assumed it was status quo in terms of where the wallet muscle was coming from.

Even back then, PAPA operated with a mystery business model... but because everyone trusted Kevin, things weren't questioned. I mean, clearly the guy was sacrificing like crazy.. so who is to doubt him when he has such a track record of doing it over and over without any hints of retreating.

But now, without the angel backer... the questions about how its supposed to work seem valid. The change to the PAPA WC format seemed to be a move to try to improve the financials of the event. We have the facility on the market with no announced strategy of how the keystone events look for the future...

I hate this post because its so full of 'seems' and lack of direct citations... but maybe that's really the core issue. Lack of transparency and clarity on Replay's ambitions and plans to make it work.

I for one would have supported things like lower guaranteed payouts, prize pools, etc to keep PAPA working... but who knows, maybe that's not nearly enough to make a dent in the costs or even enough to make a difference.

Or maybe none of this has to do with financials and all to do with something else... but we are left guessing....

That's part of the problem with having a huge arcade. No one wants a huge arcade in their town/county.. or they want to license it like a huge arcade and charge licensing fees per machine, tax it etc. The current PAPA facility was setup with a compromise with the township - with the big limit being how often the facility can be opened to the public for events. The current facility is huge limiting factor... and why replay is in downtown and not carnagie.

Today's FB post..

"πάντα χωρεῖ καὶ οὐδὲν μένει - "Everything changes and nothing stands still." - Heraclitus

A full fifteen years ago this month, we first stepped into what became the PAPA World Headquarters, where PAPA 7 was held just a few days before the massive Carnegie flood. We rebuilt, and held some of the greatest pinball tournaments in history in this facility. Good times, good friends, good competitions.

Sadly, we have outgrown the facility, and must now say farewell to the beloved PAPA World Headquarters. It holds many wonderful memories for so many people, and tears have been shed. We are moving our entire operation to a non-public location. Our focus remains on making Replay FX the greatest arcade event in the world, while keeping other future championship events in mind as well. So far, so good.

Many thanks to our wonderful staff, including Mark Steinman, Elizabeth Cromwell, Doug Polka, Fred Cochran, Dan Hall, Steve Eckert, and Ted Garner.

Many thanks to our wonderful volunteers who helped us move, including Dan Nydick, Mike Horvaluk, Matt Schwab, Lee Klevens, Doug Armitez, Val Testa, Jared Chambers, James Kunz, Jake Kolojejchick, Aiton Goldman, Erin Ward, Rachael Schmitz, Jon Replogle, Evan Bookbinder, and anyone we forgot to mention.

There will be greater and greater events and developments ahead. We love you all! See you at Replay FX, August 1-4, 2019!"

Sounds like no PAPA HQ2 to me... a collection in storage to be used for events

It’s still sad to see any future permutation that results in less access to the collection rather than more.

Does the team envision taking batches of games to events more frequently, to support events, etc?

Yeah but the last two years are a bad measuring stick since the place has been on the block during that time and the story was to not commit it while its future was indeterminate. But during the whole time the group has been mum on what the ambition was for its successor.... or the world championship execution.

We’re left guessing on the driving forces behind the change... was it reducing costs? Was it liability? If it was just outgrowing the place... most solve that by moving up... not just out

Glad to hear the team is still seeking new avenues to leverage the collection.