# Tournaments currently on the calendar will have first right of refusal to their traditional date (same weekend of the month, same holiday weekend, etc.). This only applies to tournaments held in the same geographic location as the previous tournament (i.e., moving to a new venue a few miles away is acceptable, but moving to an entirely new city is a new event that does not qualify for the right of first refusal).
# If more than one tournament within a conflicting radius has rights to the same date, and both seek sanctioning more than 10 months in advance of the tournament, the competing directors may each apply to the NASPA Tournament Committee (TC), which will determine which tournament may be held on the conflicting date (brief, but sufficiently detailed, applications are preferred). The TC will consider all factors it deems relevant, including without limitation:
## The history of the respective tournaments (how many years running, average attendance, etc.).
## Other dates traditionally available to the respective directors.
# Directors who have previously held tournaments may request tournament dates up to 3 years into the future, but such tournaments are subject to being delisted if a director with rights to the same date also requests a tournament, and prevails in the TC application process. For that reason, directors are encouraged to communicate with other directors in their region with competing rights to a date, in order to coordinate scheduling.
# If a director wishes to secure a date, and other directors also have first right of refusal to that date, the director may elect to identify the other directors to the TC when requesting sanctioning. The TC will contact those directors specifically identified in the request, and provide them with a 30-day period in which to submit a competing request. If the other directors decline to request the date, or fail to respond within the 30-day period, their first right of refusal to the date will lapse.
# Tournaments not previously held can be scheduled no more than 10 months in advance. Tournaments that take more than a 2-year hiatus will be considered tournaments not previously scheduled for the purposes of this policy. Any rights of first refusal must be exercised more than 10 months prior to the first date of the tournament, after which time all tournament sanctioning shall be on a first come-first served basis.
# Certain tournaments will be accorded special status, as determined from time to time by the NASPA Executive Committee, and may be scheduled without reference to this policy (currently including: NSC; CNSC; Can-Am; WSC Qualifier).
# The TC may remove a director’s first right of refusal if, in the judgment of the committee, such removal is in the best interests of tournament SCRABBLE, considering all relevant factors.