It doesn't make them a 'better' sponsor. It simply means they are paying more for advertising in order to be more high profile on the boards.
It's not about favoritism on the part of the boards. Message boards are a business, period. They sell ad space, like any newspaper or ad vehicle out there. You aren't going to get a full page ad in a newspaper unless you pay the big bucks for it, why should a message board behave any differently?
There are plenty of ways to get exposure to a smaller program without resorting to having to part with thousands they might not yet have. Paying for a sticky doesn't cost all that much and is pretty high profile. Program owners can also buy the sigs of a handful of posters and glean a lot of exposure across several boards that way. Or try offering a few smaller prizes in some of the webmaster events such as sports pools.
But BV you know all this already. You've been at this game for some time.
Lastly, I don't see anyone getting defensive here.
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