Official Tailgating Rig Thread (profiles, pics, links)

[BisonAccountant44]

Those of you who have some of the nice buses and other large setups, how do you keep it all operating from year to year? For a few years now our tailgate group has thrown around the idea of setting up an LLC and funding it with the idea of getting an RV, bus, trailer, etc. We have 7-10 who say that they would (and I know that they could) pitch in to buy anything from small enclosed trailer to a full blown greyhound, but simply buying the vehicle I think will be the easy part. Once you own something what does everyone else do to keep that vehicle functioning and the group together and (mostly) happy long term?

How do you have the group organized, how do you keep people contributing, what does it cost to operate one of the larger vehicles for a year (maintenance, fuel, license, insurance) etc.? How many people are in your group, how many is too many? How do you keep things "even"? What works, what doesn't? Do you charge something similar to dues to fund everything, make improvements, etc.?

As you can see, I've got a million questions and am looking for suggestions and experiences so that before we do anything, we know exactly what we're getting into and how best to keep it together long term.

[td577]

Those of you who have some of the nice buses and other large setups, how do you keep it all operating from year to year? For a few years now our tailgate group has thrown around the idea of setting up an LLC and funding it with the idea of getting an RV, bus, trailer, etc. We have 7-10 who say that they would (and I know that they could) pitch in to buy anything from small enclosed trailer to a full blown greyhound, but simply buying the vehicle I think will be the easy part. Once you own something what does everyone else do to keep that vehicle functioning and the group together and (mostly) happy long term?

How do you have the group organized, how do you keep people contributing, what does it cost to operate one of the larger vehicles for a year (maintenance, fuel, license, insurance) etc.? How many people are in your group, how many is too many? How do you keep things "even"? What works, what doesn't? Do you charge something similar to dues to fund everything, make improvements, etc.?

As you can see, I've got a million questions and am looking for suggestions and experiences so that before we do anything, we know exactly what we're getting into and how best to keep it together long term.

I don't have experience first hand, but if you have a few people that want to be involved I would set it up as a LLC with memberships. You pay dues to be a member, there is no ownership to anything, and if and when it dissolved, you donate all proceeds to teammakers from the sale of the rig. You set up how many want to be members, you don't let anyone donate anything unless their donation equals a certain number of years as a member, and in the end, everything belongs to the LLC. Have a board and membership gives you voting rights on board members. Or in the end, only the remaining members can cash out on proceeds. Either way, you make the membership fees equal to what everyone would contribute across the board. If you accept members later, you either have no equity stake members or you allow them to buy up to existing levels. Bank the membership fees for future improvements, fuel, maintenance, insurance, etc. If some want to let the group use equipment but don't want to give up ownership, then set up lease agreements for the time it will be used to cover damages and usage costs for that purpose.

The key to it all working is getting the group to take ownership of the group, not feel like they own the equipment. The LLC owns the equipment. It creates a buffer for later when people think they have a vested interest in equipment. It is the group that has the value, not the material things in this case. The LLC can buy and sell equipment to enhance the experience, the group funds the LLC. It is the end game that will create issues if there isn't a good game plan for how the group is allowing the LLC to be the equipment owner in all of this.

That is how I would do it. People will always come and go. In fact, you could have it set up with a membership and cap it at x amount of members and each own a share with a value placed on it. New members can only come in by buying an existing member out of their share. So 20 shares at an initial investment of $X each with an annual membership fee of whatever amount. Then they are guaranteed 1/20th of the LLC. If there is ever an end, it is 1/20th returned to whoever owns a share. Again, you could have equity shares and non-equity shares with different membership privileges. A lot of different ways you could do it.

[Herd Mentality]

Those of you who have some of the nice buses and other large setups, how do you keep it all operating from year to year? For a few years now our tailgate group has thrown around the idea of setting up an LLC and funding it with the idea of getting an RV, bus, trailer, etc. We have 7-10 who say that they would (and I know that they could) pitch in to buy anything from small enclosed trailer to a full blown greyhound, but simply buying the vehicle I think will be the easy part. Once you own something what does everyone else do to keep that vehicle functioning and the group together and (mostly) happy long term?

How do you have the group organized, how do you keep people contributing, what does it cost to operate one of the larger vehicles for a year (maintenance, fuel, license, insurance) etc.? How many people are in your group, how many is too many? How do you keep things "even"? What works, what doesn't? Do you charge something similar to dues to fund everything, make improvements, etc.?

As you can see, I've got a million questions and am looking for suggestions and experiences so that before we do anything, we know exactly what we're getting into and how best to keep it together long term.

We pay $450/year for insurance on our coach. License is another $150 (We have it titled as an RV so you don't need a CDL with passenger endorsement to drive it)

After doing this for 7 years now with a larger group, I'll give you two nuggets of information from my experience...

1) The material assets are easy, just throw money at it. The difficult thing is dealing with the day to day operations and trying to get everyone to make the commitment of their time and not just their cash. Who is going to make sure the gear gets to where it needs to be every week and set up? Who is going to ensure the finances of the group stay current and things stay on budget? Who is going to be available to deal with broken equipment? Who deals with the calls from Pat Simmers complaining about people you don't tailgate with who happened to be standing in spots with your name on them? Be sure to place a monetary value on people's time with coming up with each individuals monetary share of the endeavor.

2) Things change. Make sure your group is willing to change according to the needs of the group. As time passed, our group is now spread out from Red Lodge to MSP. Though we love our coach, current circumstances mean it probably makes sense for us to take a substantial loss on it to transition to an enclosed trailer setup that will fulfill our new needs.

[BisonAccountant44]

We pay $450/year for insurance on our coach. License is another $150 (We have it titled as an RV so you don't need a CDL with passenger endorsement to drive it)

After doing this for 7 years now with a larger group, I'll give you two nuggets of information from my experience...

1) The material assets are easy, just throw money at it. The difficult thing is dealing with the day to day operations and trying to get everyone to make the commitment of their time and not just their cash. Who is going to make sure the gear gets to where it needs to be every week and set up? Who is going to ensure the finances of the group stay current and things stay on budget? Who is going to be available to deal with broken equipment? Who deals with the calls from Pat Simmers complaining about people you don't tailgate with who happened to be standing in spots with your name on them? Be sure to place a monetary value on people's time with coming up with each individuals monetary share of the endeavor.

2) Things change. Make sure your group is willing to change according to the needs of the group. As time passed, our group is now spread out from Red Lodge to MSP. Though we love our coach, current circumstances mean it probably makes sense for us to take a substantial loss on it to transition to an enclosed trailer setup that will fulfill our new needs.

Thanks this is exactly what I'm looking for. The part money part I think we could get figured out, and we've talked about doing the LLC thing already to start saving for some kind of large tailgating accessory, food, bigger tents, etc. so we might do that anyway. The part that is scary is if we are to make the leap to a vehicle, all the "stuff" that comes with it that you're referencing. We're all in our early 30's, have (or starting to have) little kids and we're spread out from Devils Lake to Stillwater, so the ones in Fargo are already doing a lot of extra work sitting in the ga line every week, cooking the entree, setting up the site, etc. and that would just grow with a vehicle (even though it would be really nice to have on cold days and for away games). Maybe a trailer with a good wrap, a bigger tent, and more heaters is really all we need for now.

[EndZoneQB]

Like other people have said, toughest part is getting everyone together to work on it, etc. Especially tough in our group is the varying levels of skill sets, as some are better at other things than others. Seems to help knowing most of us sort of have our role, but it means a lot of late nights and frustration for some of us that have to do the actual fabrication, etc. This was probably our best year overall IMO, not a lot of issues, most everything worked right, and everyone had time and did their fair share. Money was easy to grab from everyone as we added things or racked up charges.

We have been through some changes as a group for sure. Lost people, added, lost, added again...hell we were going to stop tailgating after the 2013 year but decided to keep going.

Honestly, a key to keeping everyone happy and locked in during a long season(these playoff runs really drag it out) is to take a week or two off. We might pick a week we are all tired, boring game, etc and we just end up tablegating and walking over closer to game time to see other friends. Otherwise, it's pretty easy to get burnt out when there are 2 or 3 weeks in a row with games, whether home or away. Don't be fooled - it is quite a commitment...especially when people start expecting your rig to be there as sort of a de facto home base.

[MNLonghorn10]

yep. we take a couple games off. thats key..this year it was USD & WIU. this last 3 playoff game stretch is tough with game tickets, booze, tailgate spots easily going over 600 bucks.

also if youre getting a rig...you need to have a place to store it 97% of the calendar year...whether its at a fellow tailgaters shop, a space you can rent which costs money, whatever...also having someone knowledgeable with diesel engines in your group is helpful in case something goes bad and you dont have to pay for wrench work(100 /hr) at a shop.

[MNLonghorn10]

another thing you pointed out...your fargo people are really gonna have to commit. sounds good in jan or feb. but 3 outta 4 weekends is tough wh essentially your weekend revolves in bus sitting...tailgating, goto game and then getting the bus out afterwards...either after the game or on sunday. that becomes a little PITA

[BisonAccountant44]

Thanks for the input guys. Exactly what I was looking for.

[75NOVA]

Our group of six formed a LLP and not a LLC. The group has it's own checking account and every body puts money in once a year unless a large unexpected bill comes up (old buses can sometimes be a money pit) then we may put a little extra in. One of the wives is the treasurer and handles all the bills. Really for six people things go pretty smooth and I would not trade the memories we've had for anything.

[abc123]

Our group of six formed a LLP and not a LLC. The group has it's own checking account and every body puts money in once a year unless a large unexpected bill comes up (old buses can sometimes be a money pit) then we may put a little extra in. One of the wives is the treasurer and handles all the bills. Really for six people things go pretty smooth and I would not trade the memories we've had for anything.

Do you guys have to file any sort of tax return or does the company not show any revenues so there is none?