High Times In Trouble
March 7, 2018High Times is in financial trouble.
Heavy debts and limited sources of revenue have put the company in a precarious predicament.
High Times is looking to raise money for its debts by going public.
In order to do that, they have announced to potential investors that they plan on holding 11 Cannabis Cup events in 2018.
High Times generates the bulk of its revenue by staging Cannabis Cup events, these days mainly in the US with murmurings of offering more events internationally.
Today High Times has announced several of the Cannabis Cup events they plan to hold this year.
In addition to three California events in April, May and June, and a Michigan event in June, High Times claims they will hold a Cannabis Cup in July in Amsterdam.
Whether an Amsterdam Cannabis Cup takes place is not without doubt.
High Times held 27 consecutive annual Cannabis Cups in the Dutch capital through 2014.
They quit going to Amsterdam after multiple clashes with local authorities, but in 2017 they returned to stage a very rushed and, quite frankly, sub-par 30th anniversary event in Amsterdam.
Now they say they are returning to Amsterdam again in 2018, despite last year's debacle.
What makes their return dubious is the fact that they were driven out of town because of their vendor expo.
The vendor expo is where High Times makes their big money, charging vendors thousands of dollars each for the privilege of hawking their wares under a High Times banner.
But Amsterdam authorities will not allow a vendor expo to be set up.
So how High Times will navigate that costly little obstacle is the 64 thousand dollar question right now.
Will they find some magical way set up a vendor area and make their big bucks?
Or will they have to bite the bullet (again) and go without a vendor expo, making worthwhile profitability out of reach? Perhaps even canceling the event?
High Times has canceled plenty of events.
This year was supposed to see a Cannabis Cup in Jamaica and in Spain. The events were promoted on their website for months earlier, only to disappear without a trace before the scheduled event dates.
Other Cannabis Cups such as Las Vegas were also scrapped.
Another doubtful signal for an Amsterdam Cannabis Cup this year is the event dates. It would mark the first time for a High Times Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam to be held outside of Thanksgiving week.
Local players took over the Thanksgiving time-slot in 2015 after High Times high-tailed it out of there.
From public documents regarding their public offering, the only thing keeping High Times afloat is their brand-name. But if they can't deliver the goods with their Cannabis Cups - and in short order - then the well may soon run dry on the ability to continue attracting badly needed investment capital.
