Metering bill
filed in Florida
Th e Pick Co ngress Hote l was the site of the $100,000 Ch icago Classic .
Th e big mo ney to urnam en t was held in conjun ction with the A.M.O .A.
S how Nouem ber 10· 12 and drew a la rge turno ut of foosball players .
Tourname nt S occer. which sponsored the eue nt , also hoste d a cocktail
party for ope rators and distribu tors.
Coonrod, Spears win
$100,000 Chicago Classic
Professional
foosball
players
Shawn Coonrod and Tom Spear
swept through the winners' bracket at
Tournament Soccer's $100 ,000 Chi-
cago Classic to capture first place and
$5 ,000 . The to urnam ent was held
Nove mber 10-12 at the Pick Co n-
gress Ho te l just blocks from the
A.M.O .A. conve ntio n which was
taking place concurren tly at the
Conrad Hilto n .
Empire Distributing's Chicago of-
fice played host to the record
turnout , which saw many of the
categories filled to capacity . Repre-
senting Empire Distributing was Ben
Rochetti , Chicago sales manager ,
and John Lee . Both were present to
welcome the hundreds of domestic
and international operators and
distributors who attended a gala
cocktail party hosted by Tournament
Soccer , which took place in the
Great Hall on the balcony above the
tournament room . In addition to
food and drink , the cocktail party
gave these o perators, distributors ,
and manufacturers a first hand view
of foosball and Tournament Soccer's
operation .
Cal Rogers , executive vice presi-
dent for Tournament Soccer, took
the opportunity to introduce to each
other the two factions which make
the sport of foosba ll happen : o ne ,
the operators and distributors , and
two , the players.
AMOA-Notre Dame
business seminar dates announced
The A .M.O .A. -Notre Dame semi-
nar will be held at the O 'Hare Hilton
Hotel , O'Hare International Airport
in Chicago , March 9-10.
The conference coordinator will
again be Dr . Gerry Sequin , and Dr.
John Malone is scheduled to be on
hand as one of the speakers (Ed .
Note : Dr . Malone was the speaker
upon whom PLAY METER based its
three-part series on business profit-
ability , June through August issues) .
The 1979 seminar is designed for
top-level managers who are respon -
sible for decisions on costs , capital
expenditures , and other factors
which affect profit. The topics will
10
include (1) cost behavior: implica-
tions for decision making for a typical
operator, (2) profitability through
expense control and volume strate-
gies, (3) panel discussions on the
economy (past , present , and future)
with emphasis on implications for
operators .
The brochure and registration
forms plus hotel room reservation
cards were mailed to all A.M.O .A .
members earlier this month . The
registration fee is $100 . Registration
is limited to seventy people , and the
A .M.O .A. reports that it expects a
maximum attendance for this year's
program .
A legislative proposal wh ich would
require Florida operators to install
meters on their cigarette machines
has been filed in the Florida state
legislature .
House Bill 36 , which encompas-
ses both identification stickers and
metering for cigarette machines , has
met with considerable resistance
from Florida vendors who claim that
the measure would cost them about
$2 million to buy the meters , install
the m , and keep them in working
condition .
The new bill would require
operators to affix identification stick-
ers to cigarette vending machines .
The stickers would cost $5 each and
would be obtainable from the
Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco
Division . Every sticker would show
the vending machine serial number
and the name and address of the
cigarette wholesale or retail dealer .
These stickers would have to be
renewed each year .
As for the requirement for meter-
ing the machines , the proposed
legislation reads this way : "To verify
the accuracy of the tax imposed and
assessed by this chapter, each
vending machine dispensing ciga-
rettes shall have a tamperproof
metering device permanently affixed
to the ve nding machine . Such
tamperproof metering device shall be
of a type approved and authorized by
the Division of Alcoholic Beverages
and Tobacco . The division shall
prescribe and promulgate appropri-
ate rules governing the use and
possession of such metering devices .
No such vending machine shall be
operated in this state without an
approved metering device affixed to
it . The division is authorized and
empowered to seize , confiscate , and
forfeit for the use and benefit of the
state any vending machine dis-
pensing dgarettes and the contents
of said vending machine which does
not have a n approved metering
device ."
If enacted , the proposed law
would take effect July 1 , 1979.
The Florida Amusement Mer-
chandiSing Association (F.A .M.A.)
has vowed to fight the proposed
legislation , saying that the metering
law could at a later date be extended
to encompass amusement machines
too . To help fight the bill , F.A.M.A.
has asked its members and non-
members alike to donate to a special
legislative fund .
PLAY METER , January, 1979