The two-part Trilogy finally got its third act last week when its creditors came looking for their €3.6 million, reports Olivia Kelly
It seemed like a fantastic idea. Get together some of the top names in women's tennis (the Williams sisters, Capriati, Seles and the sport's highest off-court earner, Kournikova), combine with the world's most famous models (Kidd, Banks, Dahl), top it all off with a "class A musical act" and hold the entire show in the RDS, Dublin.
It was called the "Trilogy" event, billed as "The Greatest Show on Earth" and hailed as the new Ryder Cup of tennis - Europe v the US. Running from December 5th to 7th last, this was to be just the first year of what was to become an annual moveable feast of tennis. Next year, Britain; the year after, the US.
Then last week, Propriety Management, the company behind Trilogy, went into liquidation, owing €3.6 million to creditors. It became clear that much of the brilliant concept had stayed in the realm of fantasy and that the whole project had suffered from a lack of credibility.
Trilogy was the brainchild of 22-year-old Sean Collins (also known as Sean McCarthy), who marketed himself as a former professional tennis player. He established Propriety Management with a relative, Pat McCarthy, and a schoolfriend, Ciarán Duggan. Last October, in the Clarence Hotel, they announced the birth of Trilogy.
It was advertised as a three-part entertainment event, involving a tennis tournament, a fashion show and a pop concert. Tickets were priced between €70 and €550 (for corporate groups), and Chernobyl Children's Project was to benefit from the profits.
Collins ran into his first stumbling-block just a few weeks later, in November. Another high-profile event, Winter Wonderland, went bust. The names of a number of charities had been used in the marketing of Winter Wonderland, but they never saw a penny.
This matter had, of course, nothing to do with Collins. However, it presented a PR problem as it aroused suspicions about high-profile ventures involving charities. Within days, there were calls to RTÉ's Liveline show, querying the relationship between the Chernobyl Children's Project (CCP) and Trilogy. Collins and Duggan had an opportunity to set minds at rest, but their performances on the show were less than reassuring.
Collins told presenter Joe Duffy that the agreement between Propriety and CCP would be "far too complex for the public to understand", but he couldn't say how much money or what percentage would go to CCP. When pressed, he estimated that it would benefit by €500,000.
At this stage, just three weeks before the event, Duggan told Duffy he couldn't disclose who the concert act would be, although, he added, it would be "A list".
In the end, no act was found and the trilogy was knocked down to a two-act show, although the original title was retained.
Collins was, however, successful in securing his big-name tennis players. All 10 promised sportswomen turned up. The supermodels came too, and the people came out to see them.
Audiences for the events seemed reasonable, with approximately 11,500 seats filled out of a capacity of 17,100, between all the events over the three days. This alone should have meant that earnings topped the €1 million mark; add sponsorship deals and TV rights, and the profits should have been tidy.
However, many tickets were complimentary and only €530,000 was taken in actual seat sales. Sponsorship at the event, meanwhile, was conspicuously lacking, according to Des Allen, chief executive of Tennis Ireland: "It's the first time in my professional life I saw a court bare of advertising." Gains from the TV rights remain undisclosed.
Then there were the appearance fees. The 10 players cost €1.65 million between them, with the Williams sisters alone accounting for €500,000 of that. The money was far in excess of that normally paid for appearances; however, given that Collins was unknown in the international tennis world, the big bucks were probably necessary to draw the big names.
The less than healthy state of Trilogy's finances began to emerge about a month after the event, when the creditors came looking for their cash.
"Myself and about eight other creditors met with Mr Collins; we were told we'd get our money in a few weeks," says Alan Gannon of Frontline Security. The money never came, and last week the liquidator was called in. Gannon, who is owed €37,000 for the 65 security men he provided, says he was shocked at the number of creditors at the meeting.
"I was amazed there were more than 40 people in the room. I had no idea that many people were owed money," he says.
In fact, there are 60 companies listed on the creditors' list. International Merchandising Corporation, part of the International Management Group which represents the Williams sisters and most of the other players at the event, is owed €976,500. Octagon, which looks after Kournikova and Barbara Schett, is down €138,570.
Bill O'Herlihy Communications, which supplied media relations advice to Propriety, was also hit to the tune of €101,331. Its managing director, Bill O'Herlihy, takes a rather benign view of the loss. Propriety's venture, he says, might have worked if people had had a bit more faith.
"The event had funding problems certainly, but with those behind it being unknowns, people didn't believe it would happen," he says. "It suffered from a credibility problem, but they were significantly damaged by sniping from certain sections of the media.
"They were young people with a great concept, but they were inexperienced and didn't take advice."
Gannon, however, believes the Trilogy promoters knew exactly what they were doing.
"There isn't any doubt in my mind that they knew there was no way they could possibly pay us," he says. "They never even asked how much anything was going to cost. Someone going a few thousand over budget is understandable, but €3.6 million?"
For Tennis Ireland, the real disappointment is loss of credibility for Ireland as a serious tournament host.
"It was a brilliant idea and something that's been discussed for some time at European level. It could have been a success, but it's difficult to see now how it could be repeated here," Allen says.
Propriety is now in the hands of the liquidator, but the promoters are not out of the woods yet. There's still the matter of the missing €25,000 that Kournikova asked to be given to the Chernobyl Children's Project from her fee, although the charity does accept that, aside from this money, it was not to gain from the event if it failed to turn a profit.
Kournikova's "people" at Octagon have said they are considering pursuing legal means against the promoter. Gannon, who has been appointed to the creditors' inspection committee, believes the group could be found guilty of fraudulent trading. Since the liquidators moved in, Collins and his associates have been uncontactable.