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Sponsorship

Sponsorship of Community Events

Introduction

MeetFighters, together with its partner sites WatchFighters, ChatFighters, and MeetKink, was created and financially supported by the community, and we believe in giving back. We do this through FightersAid, and for the past three years also through direct sponsorship of WrestleFests, large community-created events.

Since our involvement began, more WrestleFest events have been created, and a new system was needed to allocate our sponsorship budget fairly.

Definitions

  • CMWF: The legal company behind MeetFighters, WatchFighters, ChatFighters, and MeetKink. (Further down, when you see "we" or "us", that refers to CMWF.)
  • Organizer: The individual or group responsible for planning, managing, and executing a WrestleFest or other community event. (When we write "they" or "them", that refers to the Organizer.)

Changes for 2026 and beyond

The following part will lay out what we require and expect of organizers when we sponsor an event. There are two tiers of our involvement:

  • Tier 1 for events where we act as the main sponsor (see A.1 below)
  • Tier 2 for events where we are a secondary sponsor (see A.2 below)

There are general rules that apply to both tiers.

New Community Projects (Crowdfunding)

Community Projects are, simply put, a way for the audience of an event to fund the event, either fully or partially. Popularized by sites like Kickstarter, this concept is not new and has funded many independent projects. Recently CMWF deployed Community Projects on WatchFighters and it has led to the funding of some ambitious video projects there.

Going forward, all sponsored events are required to be linked to a community project. This serves two purposes:

  • It helps fund the event, either fully or partially (obviously).
  • It helps us gauge the community's interest in the event.

We will take the level of interest and support shown in these projects into account in the following years, when we to re-evaluate our sponsorship commitments. The relative amount contributed by the community, compared to other projects, will help determine future sponsorship levels and priorities.

We will always cover the difference between our committed sponsorship amount and the amount raised by the community. For example, if we agree to sponsor 10,000 EUR and the community project raises 2,000 EUR, we will contribute the remaining 8,000 EUR. The organizer will still receive the full 10,000 EUR as agreed.

Benefit: Our sponsorship commitment can be requested as an advance payment, which may be issued in multiple installments, depending on the total amount, regardless of the duration or current state of the community project

The outcome of the community project does not directly affect the current sponsored event but will be considered for future sponsorship decisions. It also helps us offset some of the costs. Therefore, we strongly encourage organizers to raise awareness and actively promote their community project. It is in everyone's interest that these projects be successful. Neglecting to promote your community project might negatively impact our involvement with your project in the following year.

Officially sponsored events listed on MeetFighters will include a direct link to the corresponding community project on WatchFighters.

FAQ:

  • Can I raise my own funds in addition?
    • Yes, you can. However, the official community crowdfunding project must remain active and cannot be removed.
  • Do members need a WatchFighters account to donate?
    • No. While the community project is hosted on WatchFighters, payments will be possible on both sites and still count toward the same goal. Members can click “Donate to this event” and complete their payment directly on the MeetFighters main event page.
  • Will I receive the money raised?
    • The funds raised by the community project are there to pay for costs associated with your event. You will receive the full amount of our sponsorship agreement, regardless of the funds raised by the community project. See below what happens if the community project overshoots its goal.
  • What if the donated amount is lower than CMWF’s sponsorship?
    • As mentioned, you will always receive the full agreed sponsorship amount, regardless of the current or final status of the crowdfunding community project. This, however, does not mean that the amount raised by the community project should not concern you, for reasons explained above.
  • What if the donated amount is higher than CMWF’s sponsorship?
    • That’s awesome and fantastic. In such a case, we either reserve the surplus for the following year, or pay it out to the organizer. Be prepared to write us an invoice for the increased amount, because the money is technically taxable income to CMWF. In any case, this means next year’s sponsorship budget can be increased!

A) General requirements

  1. Event information & publication
    1. A detailed sponsorship request, including the desired amount, must be provided by the Organizer.
      1. Include: purpose of the event, duration, and location (city & country)
      2. Estimated number of total participants
      3. Estimated number or percentage of participants outside the MeetFighters community.
    2. A sponsorship contract will be signed by both parties, provided by us.
    3. The event must be submitted on our event page by the organizer.
    4. All official sign-up requests on third-party websites or social media must include a link to the event on MeetFighters.
    5. Organizers are encouraged to use our MeetFighters built-in ticket payment system, for example to manage sub-events or participant registrations.
  2. Community Project
    1. A Community Project must be published under Community Projects on WatchFighters, either by us and then assigned to the organizer, or directly by the organizer. The target amount of this project must match our sponsoring commitment.
      1. We will send out reminders and messages to raise awareness of the event, encouraging members to consider providing financial support.
      2. We highly recommend that event organizers also raise awareness during the event and on location, encouraging participants to contribute. This helps secure future funding and may potentially increase the available budget.
      3. TL;DR: The more money is raised by Community Projects, the more we can sponsor in the coming years. The projects clearly shows the measurable community interest and support for your events.
  3. Branding & visibility
    1. The total amount of sponsoring depends on the options and creativity of how our brands are incorporated into the event structure.
      1. Example: Branded fighting mats in an area where many social pictures are taken and posted vs payment for an open bar with no bigger impact.
    2. One or more of the following brands are available and will be agreed upon in the sponsorship contract:
      1. MeetFighters • WatchFighters • MeetKink • ChatFighters
    3. In all official event communication, printouts, or posts, our brand(s) logo must be visible. Our logo will be provided in both small and large formats, including our site name.
  4. Payment & financial rules
    1. Sponsorship invoices must be issued to our company, CMWF, following international tax rules and provided as a PDF invoice. For EU payments, a valid EU VAT number is required.
    2. We agree on the final total "gross" amount of sponsoring. This means any VAT, tax regulation, payment, transfer, or conversion fees must be considered upfront by the organizer and, if needed, added to the total amount in advance.
    3. Sponsorship amounts above 3,000 EUR must be split into multiple installments. The first installment can be requested no earlier than 180 days before the event.

A.1) We as main sponsor requirements

  1. Our large logo will be prominent on your website and social media posts for 365 days, starting from the contract start date, using a custom tracking URL.
  2. If other sponsors exist, it must be visible that we are the main sponsor of the event. The size, positioning, and text of logos and mentions must make this clear.
  3. A list of names and URLs (or socials) of possible secondary sponsors is required.

A.2) We as secondary sponsor requirements

  1. The name and URL (or social) of the primary sponsor(s) is required.
  2. A list of names and URLs (or socials) of possible secondary sponsors is required.
  3. Our logo will be on your website or sponsor section for 180 days, starting from the contract start date, using a custom tracking URL.

Our commitment

  1. We will pay the agreed amount of sponsoring at the agreed installment dates (+/- 5 days processing time)
  2. We tag your event on our MeetFighters event page as “Official Event”
  3. We host your event on the main meetups page (optional; requires a banner of w:1900px × h:500px)
  4. We add it to the wrestlefest subpage. (Optional)

Final words

We love and are proud of how our events, especially the WrestleFest section, have evolved over the years, and we want to continue supporting the hard work of Organizers. Without them, none of this would be possible. Our commitment includes not "just" financial support as explained above, but we also help with technical support and rolling out an ever-growing rich set of features on our site to help Organizers focus on the event.

What started as one event in the USA has now grown to more than five events of different sizes. This is simply amazing, but also expensive.

This is our first version of keeping the support and financial security for event organizers high, while involving the community more directly in supporting these kinds of events. Even with the crowdfunding element, we continue to pay the full agreed sponsorship amount, helping to remove some of the financial risk and reduce pressure on organizers. The money we raise - and ultimately save - through community involvement will go right back into funding future events.

While the requirements might sound stricter, if you have a cool idea or need some flexibility, please reach out to us.
Consider this page a framework, not a set of strict rules.

Disclaimer


CMWF reserves the right to reject any submission for any or no reason.
CMWF is not required to provide an explanation for such decisions.
Past sponsorships do not guarantee approval or commitment for future events.
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