FLW Tour Championship
 

This big tournament just finished up and the winner got $500,000. I have been
reading about it, trying to figure it out. It was a bracket tournament - the 48
pros were paired up, first to last, second to 47th and so on. They were not in
the same boat but competed against each other's weights.

If I have it figured right, after two days the winner of each pair moved on to
the next day. So, your total weighed did not matter. You could catch one bass
weighing 1 pound and move on if your paired pro did not catch a fish, even if
the other 46 pros had over 20 pounds each. Seems like a strange way to do it to
me!

Ronnie

http://fishing.about.com

FLW Tour Championship
 

No different from any other sport that uses a bracket format (tennis, pool,
ncaa basketball etc). How bout that $500k prize though!

Warren

"RGarri7470" wrote in message
...
This big tournament just finished up and the winner got $500,000. I have
been
reading about it, trying to figure it out. It was a bracket tournament -
the 48
pros were paired up, first to last, second to 47th and so on. They were
not in
the same boat but competed against each other's weights.

If I have it figured right, after two days the winner of each pair moved
on to
the next day. So, your total weighed did not matter. You could catch one
bass
weighing 1 pound and move on if your paired pro did not catch a fish,
even if
the other 46 pros had over 20 pounds each. Seems like a strange way to do
it to
me!

Ronnie

http://fishing.about.com

FLW Tour Championship
 

No different from any other sport that uses a bracket format (tennis, pool,
ncaa basketball etc). How bout that $500k prize though!

Warren

"RGarri7470" wrote in message
...
This big tournament just finished up and the winner got $500,000. I have
been
reading about it, trying to figure it out. It was a bracket tournament -
the 48
pros were paired up, first to last, second to 47th and so on. They were
not in
the same boat but competed against each other's weights.

If I have it figured right, after two days the winner of each pair moved
on to
the next day. So, your total weighed did not matter. You could catch one
bass
weighing 1 pound and move on if your paired pro did not catch a fish,
even if
the other 46 pros had over 20 pounds each. Seems like a strange way to do
it to
me!

Ronnie

http://fishing.about.com

FLW Tour Championship
 

No different from any other sport that uses a bracket format (tennis, pool,
ncaa basketball etc). How bout that $500k prize though!

Warren

"RGarri7470" wrote in message
...
This big tournament just finished up and the winner got $500,000. I have
been
reading about it, trying to figure it out. It was a bracket tournament -
the 48
pros were paired up, first to last, second to 47th and so on. They were
not in
the same boat but competed against each other's weights.

If I have it figured right, after two days the winner of each pair moved
on to
the next day. So, your total weighed did not matter. You could catch one
bass
weighing 1 pound and move on if your paired pro did not catch a fish,
even if
the other 46 pros had over 20 pounds each. Seems like a strange way to do
it to
me!

Ronnie

http://fishing.about.com

FLW Tour Championship
 

"go-bassn" wrote in message
...
No different from any other sport that uses a bracket format (tennis,
pool,
ncaa basketball etc). How bout that $500k prize though!

Warren


Congrats on moving up to that 24th place finish (I think) this past tourney
Warren. I am not a tourney fisherman, but I'd imagine being a non-boater
makes it a tough row to hoe at times.

And speaking of big prizes, why did they do away with the MEGABass or
whatever it used to be, that paid a million out? I'd think with the apparent
resurgence of bass fishing in particular, that some big time almost made for
TV tournies would be in order once again. I know they came out with the
Elite 50 this year, but still, how about some big time bucks for you guys
out there doing this as a job? How lame is it (IMHO) that the Super Bowl
(Classic) winner from our sport only got $200,000 in money? You can just
about score that much by placing in the top 10 of any of a handful of PGA
golf tournaments these days...

Of course I am somewhat jaded by the fact that I also try my hand at
offshore fishing several times a year and I know the boat and guys that won
the Big Rock tournament here a few months ago. A lot of you have probably
never even heard of it, but those guys (the winning boat, crew and fishing
team, though the boat was a charter) won almost 500k for that 1 555lb Marlin
they boated....second place was still over the $200k that Takahiro (sp?) won
at the Classic...

FLW Tour Championship
 

"go-bassn" wrote in message
...
No different from any other sport that uses a bracket format (tennis,
pool,
ncaa basketball etc). How bout that $500k prize though!

Warren


Congrats on moving up to that 24th place finish (I think) this past tourney
Warren. I am not a tourney fisherman, but I'd imagine being a non-boater
makes it a tough row to hoe at times.

And speaking of big prizes, why did they do away with the MEGABass or
whatever it used to be, that paid a million out? I'd think with the apparent
resurgence of bass fishing in particular, that some big time almost made for
TV tournies would be in order once again. I know they came out with the
Elite 50 this year, but still, how about some big time bucks for you guys
out there doing this as a job? How lame is it (IMHO) that the Super Bowl
(Classic) winner from our sport only got $200,000 in money? You can just
about score that much by placing in the top 10 of any of a handful of PGA
golf tournaments these days...

Of course I am somewhat jaded by the fact that I also try my hand at
offshore fishing several times a year and I know the boat and guys that won
the Big Rock tournament here a few months ago. A lot of you have probably
never even heard of it, but those guys (the winning boat, crew and fishing
team, though the boat was a charter) won almost 500k for that 1 555lb Marlin
they boated....second place was still over the $200k that Takahiro (sp?) won
at the Classic...

FLW Tour Championship
 

Thanks Dude. The fishing up at the Hudson last week was tough regardless of
where you were sittin, believe me! I actually brought more to the scales
than all my boaters combines lol. Too bad the Hudson was showing her worst
side instead of her best. Oh well.

I'm not sure what you mean with million dollar prize, I've never heard of
such a thing.

Warren

"SimRacer" wrote in message
r.com...
"go-bassn" wrote in message
...
No different from any other sport that uses a bracket format (tennis,
pool,
ncaa basketball etc). How bout that $500k prize though!

Warren


Congrats on moving up to that 24th place finish (I think) this past
tourney
Warren. I am not a tourney fisherman, but I'd imagine being a non-boater
makes it a tough row to hoe at times.

And speaking of big prizes, why did they do away with the MEGABass or
whatever it used to be, that paid a million out? I'd think with the
apparent
resurgence of bass fishing in particular, that some big time almost made
for
TV tournies would be in order once again. I know they came out with the
Elite 50 this year, but still, how about some big time bucks for you guys
out there doing this as a job? How lame is it (IMHO) that the Super Bowl
(Classic) winner from our sport only got $200,000 in money? You can just
about score that much by placing in the top 10 of any of a handful of PGA
golf tournaments these days...

Of course I am somewhat jaded by the fact that I also try my hand at
offshore fishing several times a year and I know the boat and guys that
won
the Big Rock tournament here a few months ago. A lot of you have probably
never even heard of it, but those guys (the winning boat, crew and fishing
team, though the boat was a charter) won almost 500k for that 1 555lb
Marlin
they boated....second place was still over the $200k that Takahiro (sp?)
won
at the Classic...

FLW Tour Championship
 

Thanks Dude. The fishing up at the Hudson last week was tough regardless of
where you were sittin, believe me! I actually brought more to the scales
than all my boaters combines lol. Too bad the Hudson was showing her worst
side instead of her best. Oh well.

I'm not sure what you mean with million dollar prize, I've never heard of
such a thing.

Warren

"SimRacer" wrote in message
r.com...
"go-bassn" wrote in message
...
No different from any other sport that uses a bracket format (tennis,
pool,
ncaa basketball etc). How bout that $500k prize though!

Warren


Congrats on moving up to that 24th place finish (I think) this past
tourney
Warren. I am not a tourney fisherman, but I'd imagine being a non-boater
makes it a tough row to hoe at times.

And speaking of big prizes, why did they do away with the MEGABass or
whatever it used to be, that paid a million out? I'd think with the
apparent
resurgence of bass fishing in particular, that some big time almost made
for
TV tournies would be in order once again. I know they came out with the
Elite 50 this year, but still, how about some big time bucks for you guys
out there doing this as a job? How lame is it (IMHO) that the Super Bowl
(Classic) winner from our sport only got $200,000 in money? You can just
about score that much by placing in the top 10 of any of a handful of PGA
golf tournaments these days...

Of course I am somewhat jaded by the fact that I also try my hand at
offshore fishing several times a year and I know the boat and guys that
won
the Big Rock tournament here a few months ago. A lot of you have probably
never even heard of it, but those guys (the winning boat, crew and fishing
team, though the boat was a charter) won almost 500k for that 1 555lb
Marlin
they boated....second place was still over the $200k that Takahiro (sp?)
won
at the Classic...

FLW Tour Championship
 

It's good to see Jimmy Millsaps and Mickey Bruce from Georgia do well.I
have had the chance to meet Jimmy and years ago fished with Mickey on
Lanier,both class guys that have paid their dues over the years.
"RGarri7470" wrote in message
...
This big tournament just finished up and the winner got $500,000. I have
been
reading about it, trying to figure it out. It was a bracket tournament -
the 48
pros were paired up, first to last, second to 47th and so on. They were
not in
the same boat but competed against each other's weights.

If I have it figured right, after two days the winner of each pair moved
on to
the next day. So, your total weighed did not matter. You could catch one
bass
weighing 1 pound and move on if your paired pro did not catch a fish,
even if
the other 46 pros had over 20 pounds each. Seems like a strange way to do
it to
me!

Ronnie

http://fishing.about.com

FLW Tour Championship
 

It's good to see Jimmy Millsaps and Mickey Bruce from Georgia do well.I
have had the chance to meet Jimmy and years ago fished with Mickey on
Lanier,both class guys that have paid their dues over the years.
"RGarri7470" wrote in message
...
This big tournament just finished up and the winner got $500,000. I have
been
reading about it, trying to figure it out. It was a bracket tournament -
the 48
pros were paired up, first to last, second to 47th and so on. They were
not in
the same boat but competed against each other's weights.

If I have it figured right, after two days the winner of each pair moved
on to
the next day. So, your total weighed did not matter. You could catch one
bass
weighing 1 pound and move on if your paired pro did not catch a fish,
even if
the other 46 pros had over 20 pounds each. Seems like a strange way to do
it to
me!

Ronnie

http://fishing.about.com

FLW Tour Championship
 

It's good to see Jimmy Millsaps and Mickey Bruce from Georgia do well.I
have had the chance to meet Jimmy and years ago fished with Mickey on
Lanier,both class guys that have paid their dues over the years.
"RGarri7470" wrote in message
...
This big tournament just finished up and the winner got $500,000. I have
been
reading about it, trying to figure it out. It was a bracket tournament -
the 48
pros were paired up, first to last, second to 47th and so on. They were
not in
the same boat but competed against each other's weights.

If I have it figured right, after two days the winner of each pair moved
on to
the next day. So, your total weighed did not matter. You could catch one
bass
weighing 1 pound and move on if your paired pro did not catch a fish,
even if
the other 46 pros had over 20 pounds each. Seems like a strange way to do
it to
me!

Ronnie

http://fishing.about.com

FLW Tour Championship
 

Way to go Warren! If you had been on the front end who knows,you might have
won the darn thing!
"go-bassn" wrote in message
...
Thanks Dude. The fishing up at the Hudson last week was tough regardless
of
where you were sittin, believe me! I actually brought more to the scales
than all my boaters combines lol. Too bad the Hudson was showing her
worst
side instead of her best. Oh well.

I'm not sure what you mean with million dollar prize, I've never heard of
such a thing.

Warren

"SimRacer" wrote in message
r.com...
"go-bassn" wrote in message
...
No different from any other sport that uses a bracket format (tennis,
pool,
ncaa basketball etc). How bout that $500k prize though!

Warren


Congrats on moving up to that 24th place finish (I think) this past
tourney
Warren. I am not a tourney fisherman, but I'd imagine being a non-boater
makes it a tough row to hoe at times.

And speaking of big prizes, why did they do away with the MEGABass or
whatever it used to be, that paid a million out? I'd think with the
apparent
resurgence of bass fishing in particular, that some big time almost made
for
TV tournies would be in order once again. I know they came out with the
Elite 50 this year, but still, how about some big time bucks for you
guys
out there doing this as a job? How lame is it (IMHO) that the Super Bowl
(Classic) winner from our sport only got $200,000 in money? You can just
about score that much by placing in the top 10 of any of a handful of
PGA
golf tournaments these days...

Of course I am somewhat jaded by the fact that I also try my hand at
offshore fishing several times a year and I know the boat and guys that
won
the Big Rock tournament here a few months ago. A lot of you have
probably
never even heard of it, but those guys (the winning boat, crew and
fishing
team, though the boat was a charter) won almost 500k for that 1 555lb
Marlin
they boated....second place was still over the $200k that Takahiro (sp?)
won
at the Classic...

FLW Tour Championship
 

Way to go Warren! If you had been on the front end who knows,you might have
won the darn thing!
"go-bassn" wrote in message
...
Thanks Dude. The fishing up at the Hudson last week was tough regardless
of
where you were sittin, believe me! I actually brought more to the scales
than all my boaters combines lol. Too bad the Hudson was showing her
worst
side instead of her best. Oh well.

I'm not sure what you mean with million dollar prize, I've never heard of
such a thing.

Warren

"SimRacer" wrote in message
r.com...
"go-bassn" wrote in message
...
No different from any other sport that uses a bracket format (tennis,
pool,
ncaa basketball etc). How bout that $500k prize though!

Warren


Congrats on moving up to that 24th place finish (I think) this past
tourney
Warren. I am not a tourney fisherman, but I'd imagine being a non-boater
makes it a tough row to hoe at times.

And speaking of big prizes, why did they do away with the MEGABass or
whatever it used to be, that paid a million out? I'd think with the
apparent
resurgence of bass fishing in particular, that some big time almost made
for
TV tournies would be in order once again. I know they came out with the
Elite 50 this year, but still, how about some big time bucks for you
guys
out there doing this as a job? How lame is it (IMHO) that the Super Bowl
(Classic) winner from our sport only got $200,000 in money? You can just
about score that much by placing in the top 10 of any of a handful of
PGA
golf tournaments these days...

Of course I am somewhat jaded by the fact that I also try my hand at
offshore fishing several times a year and I know the boat and guys that
won
the Big Rock tournament here a few months ago. A lot of you have
probably
never even heard of it, but those guys (the winning boat, crew and
fishing
team, though the boat was a charter) won almost 500k for that 1 555lb
Marlin
they boated....second place was still over the $200k that Takahiro (sp?)
won
at the Classic...

FLW Tour Championship
 

RGarri7470 wrote:
Seems like a strange way to do it to
me!


You only gotta beat the guy you're fishing against. I think it's
ridiculous and needlessly injects luck into the mix.

RichZ©
www.richz.com/fishing

FLW Tour Championship
 

RGarri7470 wrote:
Seems like a strange way to do it to
me!


You only gotta beat the guy you're fishing against. I think it's
ridiculous and needlessly injects luck into the mix.

RichZ©
www.richz.com/fishing

FLW Tour Championship
 

Thanks brother. The guys that won there on *their own fish* deserve alot of
credit. I stayed with Randy Romig, one of the greatest tidewater fisherman
on the planet. He had a very tough week. Guys like Kenyon Hill & OT Fears
fellon their faces on the Hudson. It was TOUGH!

Warren

"BassMr" wrote in message
link.net...
Way to go Warren! If you had been on the front end who knows,you might
have
won the darn thing!
"go-bassn" wrote in message
...
Thanks Dude. The fishing up at the Hudson last week was tough
regardless
of
where you were sittin, believe me! I actually brought more to the
scales
than all my boaters combines lol. Too bad the Hudson was showing her
worst
side instead of her best. Oh well.

I'm not sure what you mean with million dollar prize, I've never heard
of
such a thing.

Warren

"SimRacer" wrote in message
r.com...
"go-bassn" wrote in message
...
No different from any other sport that uses a bracket format
(tennis,
pool,
ncaa basketball etc). How bout that $500k prize though!

Warren


Congrats on moving up to that 24th place finish (I think) this past
tourney
Warren. I am not a tourney fisherman, but I'd imagine being a
non-boater
makes it a tough row to hoe at times.

And speaking of big prizes, why did they do away with the MEGABass or
whatever it used to be, that paid a million out? I'd think with the
apparent
resurgence of bass fishing in particular, that some big time almost
made
for
TV tournies would be in order once again. I know they came out with
the
Elite 50 this year, but still, how about some big time bucks for you
guys
out there doing this as a job? How lame is it (IMHO) that the Super
Bowl
(Classic) winner from our sport only got $200,000 in money? You can
just
about score that much by placing in the top 10 of any of a handful of
PGA
golf tournaments these days...

Of course I am somewhat jaded by the fact that I also try my hand at
offshore fishing several times a year and I know the boat and guys
that
won
the Big Rock tournament here a few months ago. A lot of you have
probably
never even heard of it, but those guys (the winning boat, crew and
fishing
team, though the boat was a charter) won almost 500k for that 1 555lb
Marlin
they boated....second place was still over the $200k that Takahiro
(sp?)
won
at the Classic...

FLW Tour Championship
 

Thanks brother. The guys that won there on *their own fish* deserve alot of
credit. I stayed with Randy Romig, one of the greatest tidewater fisherman
on the planet. He had a very tough week. Guys like Kenyon Hill & OT Fears
fellon their faces on the Hudson. It was TOUGH!

Warren

"BassMr" wrote in message
link.net...
Way to go Warren! If you had been on the front end who knows,you might
have
won the darn thing!
"go-bassn" wrote in message
...
Thanks Dude. The fishing up at the Hudson last week was tough
regardless
of
where you were sittin, believe me! I actually brought more to the
scales
than all my boaters combines lol. Too bad the Hudson was showing her
worst
side instead of her best. Oh well.

I'm not sure what you mean with million dollar prize, I've never heard
of
such a thing.

Warren

"SimRacer" wrote in message
r.com...
"go-bassn" wrote in message
...
No different from any other sport that uses a bracket format
(tennis,
pool,
ncaa basketball etc). How bout that $500k prize though!

Warren


Congrats on moving up to that 24th place finish (I think) this past
tourney
Warren. I am not a tourney fisherman, but I'd imagine being a
non-boater
makes it a tough row to hoe at times.

And speaking of big prizes, why did they do away with the MEGABass or
whatever it used to be, that paid a million out? I'd think with the
apparent
resurgence of bass fishing in particular, that some big time almost
made
for
TV tournies would be in order once again. I know they came out with
the
Elite 50 this year, but still, how about some big time bucks for you
guys
out there doing this as a job? How lame is it (IMHO) that the Super
Bowl
(Classic) winner from our sport only got $200,000 in money? You can
just
about score that much by placing in the top 10 of any of a handful of
PGA
golf tournaments these days...

Of course I am somewhat jaded by the fact that I also try my hand at
offshore fishing several times a year and I know the boat and guys
that
won
the Big Rock tournament here a few months ago. A lot of you have
probably
never even heard of it, but those guys (the winning boat, crew and
fishing
team, though the boat was a charter) won almost 500k for that 1 555lb
Marlin
they boated....second place was still over the $200k that Takahiro
(sp?)
won
at the Classic...

FLW Tour Championship
 

"SimRacer" wrote in message
r.com...
How lame is it (IMHO) that the Super Bowl
(Classic) winner from our sport only got $200,000 in money? You can just
about score that much by placing in the top 10 of any of a handful of PGA
golf tournaments these days...

I've seen others compare fishing to the PGA, but it's night and day. Golf
tournaments have thousands of paying spectators, millions of TV viewers and
big-dollar sponsors. When that happens in fishing, you'll see the big bucks,
but don't hold your breath.

FLW Tour Championship
 

"SimRacer" wrote in message
r.com...
How lame is it (IMHO) that the Super Bowl
(Classic) winner from our sport only got $200,000 in money? You can just
about score that much by placing in the top 10 of any of a handful of PGA
golf tournaments these days...

I've seen others compare fishing to the PGA, but it's night and day. Golf
tournaments have thousands of paying spectators, millions of TV viewers and
big-dollar sponsors. When that happens in fishing, you'll see the big bucks,
but don't hold your breath.

FLW Tour Championship
 

"go-bassn" wrote in message
...
No different from any other sport that uses a bracket format (tennis,
pool,
ncaa basketball etc). How bout that $500k prize though!

Well, there is a slight difference--in all those sports, the opponents face
each other and influence how the others play, thus actually defeating them.
I can't think of another sport that parallels fishing, with the total weight
component.

500k is a huge prize, but I wonder if that's the right way to do it. I know
they get lots of ink with that payoff, but the 2nd place got just 10% of
that, whereas the Classic paid 2nd place 25% (I think) of 1st place. Golf
tournaments pay a much higher % of the 1st prize to other top finishers.
Those are just observations, I don't know what the "right" way is, if there
even IS a right way. What if they dropped 1st prize down to 300k, say, and
spread the wealth around a little more? I just don't know.

FLW Tour Championship
 

"go-bassn" wrote in message
...
No different from any other sport that uses a bracket format (tennis,
pool,
ncaa basketball etc). How bout that $500k prize though!

Well, there is a slight difference--in all those sports, the opponents face
each other and influence how the others play, thus actually defeating them.
I can't think of another sport that parallels fishing, with the total weight
component.

500k is a huge prize, but I wonder if that's the right way to do it. I know
they get lots of ink with that payoff, but the 2nd place got just 10% of
that, whereas the Classic paid 2nd place 25% (I think) of 1st place. Golf
tournaments pay a much higher % of the 1st prize to other top finishers.
Those are just observations, I don't know what the "right" way is, if there
even IS a right way. What if they dropped 1st prize down to 300k, say, and
spread the wealth around a little more? I just don't know.

FLW Tour Championship
 

"go-bassn" wrote in message
...
No different from any other sport that uses a bracket format (tennis,
pool,
ncaa basketball etc). How bout that $500k prize though!

Well, there is a slight difference--in all those sports, the opponents face
each other and influence how the others play, thus actually defeating them.
I can't think of another sport that parallels fishing, with the total weight
component.

500k is a huge prize, but I wonder if that's the right way to do it. I know
they get lots of ink with that payoff, but the 2nd place got just 10% of
that, whereas the Classic paid 2nd place 25% (I think) of 1st place. Golf
tournaments pay a much higher % of the 1st prize to other top finishers.
Those are just observations, I don't know what the "right" way is, if there
even IS a right way. What if they dropped 1st prize down to 300k, say, and
spread the wealth around a little more? I just don't know.

FLW Tour Championship
 

"Marty" wrote in message
...

"SimRacer" wrote in message
r.com...
How lame is it (IMHO) that the Super Bowl
(Classic) winner from our sport only got $200,000 in money? You can just
about score that much by placing in the top 10 of any of a handful of
PGA
golf tournaments these days...

I've seen others compare fishing to the PGA, but it's night and day. Golf
tournaments have thousands of paying spectators, millions of TV viewers
and
big-dollar sponsors. When that happens in fishing, you'll see the big
bucks,
but don't hold your breath.



Trust me, I understand business, I own several. I just don't get how bass
fishing can be a billion dollar + a year industry and NOT at least be on its
way to becoming more big time. I won't hold my breath, but I would not be so
pessimistic as you, it took 40 years for NASCAR to really catch on (outside
the South), and now look at it...if ESPN can find the right "angle" and
build it, they will come.

I guess you just had to be at this year's Classic to see what I am talking
about. There are lots of folks that would be ticket paying customers if it
came to it, based on the crowds and the gallery on little old Wylie Lake
anyway. As for paying spectators, charge us, we'll still go. NASCAR tickets
already start @ $75 a pop and rise astronomically from there. TV viewers?
Put more of it on TV and fishing will too, then the sponsors will come.
Given that a lot of males fish and watch fishing I'd bet Levitra, Cialis and
Viagra are just chomping at the bits to break into another male-dominated
sport...and who, besides insurance companies today, have more money than the
pharmecuticals? BASS's main albatross at this moment, sadly, is ESPN iteslf.
It's a shell of its old self since losing NASCAR and at times seems to want
to show billiards or table tennis in lieu of recent fishing tournaments, but
that's just me. They'll never grow the sport with maybe an hour (on a
Saturday morning no less, when I am most likely to BE fishing myself) a week
and Classic coverage IMO.

Not trying to be argumentative here, but fishing could be a bigger money
sport than it is, and I just don't understand no one even giving it a
chance. Like I said, the Big Rock Marlin tournament a few months back paid
out over $710,000 gross to the winning boat and it got a blurb on the local
news and some columns in the local paper...I just don't get that. Although,
Curtis Strange (yes, that Curtis Strange) recently came on board the Big
Rock's board of directors (www.thebigrock.com) as a marketing guy so *maybe*
they are starting to see the writing on the wall...dunno.

FLW Tour Championship
 

"Marty" wrote in message
...

"SimRacer" wrote in message
r.com...
How lame is it (IMHO) that the Super Bowl
(Classic) winner from our sport only got $200,000 in money? You can just
about score that much by placing in the top 10 of any of a handful of
PGA
golf tournaments these days...

I've seen others compare fishing to the PGA, but it's night and day. Golf
tournaments have thousands of paying spectators, millions of TV viewers
and
big-dollar sponsors. When that happens in fishing, you'll see the big
bucks,
but don't hold your breath.



Trust me, I understand business, I own several. I just don't get how bass
fishing can be a billion dollar + a year industry and NOT at least be on its
way to becoming more big time. I won't hold my breath, but I would not be so
pessimistic as you, it took 40 years for NASCAR to really catch on (outside
the South), and now look at it...if ESPN can find the right "angle" and
build it, they will come.

I guess you just had to be at this year's Classic to see what I am talking
about. There are lots of folks that would be ticket paying customers if it
came to it, based on the crowds and the gallery on little old Wylie Lake
anyway. As for paying spectators, charge us, we'll still go. NASCAR tickets
already start @ $75 a pop and rise astronomically from there. TV viewers?
Put more of it on TV and fishing will too, then the sponsors will come.
Given that a lot of males fish and watch fishing I'd bet Levitra, Cialis and
Viagra are just chomping at the bits to break into another male-dominated
sport...and who, besides insurance companies today, have more money than the
pharmecuticals? BASS's main albatross at this moment, sadly, is ESPN iteslf.
It's a shell of its old self since losing NASCAR and at times seems to want
to show billiards or table tennis in lieu of recent fishing tournaments, but
that's just me. They'll never grow the sport with maybe an hour (on a
Saturday morning no less, when I am most likely to BE fishing myself) a week
and Classic coverage IMO.

Not trying to be argumentative here, but fishing could be a bigger money
sport than it is, and I just don't understand no one even giving it a
chance. Like I said, the Big Rock Marlin tournament a few months back paid
out over $710,000 gross to the winning boat and it got a blurb on the local
news and some columns in the local paper...I just don't get that. Although,
Curtis Strange (yes, that Curtis Strange) recently came on board the Big
Rock's board of directors (www.thebigrock.com) as a marketing guy so *maybe*
they are starting to see the writing on the wall...dunno.

FLW Tour Championship
 

"SimRacer" wrote in message
r.com...
snipped

I don't know that I'm being pessimistic, it's just what I see ahead. And I'm
not trying to be argumentative, either. I'm strictly a recreational
fisherman and have no particular interest in whether fishing becomes a
bigtime sport or not, although that may be of huge interest to those who
have a business interest in it.

But what I see as the most important element, is that NASCAR, PGA, and other
sports are SPECTATOR sports, in addition to some of them being participation
sports too. I just don't see fishing as becoming a significant spectator
sport among non-fishermen. I'm a non-golfer, but I follow the Tour; I don't
see golfers interested in following fishing.

FLW Tour Championship
 

"SimRacer" wrote in message
r.com...
snipped

I don't know that I'm being pessimistic, it's just what I see ahead. And I'm
not trying to be argumentative, either. I'm strictly a recreational
fisherman and have no particular interest in whether fishing becomes a
bigtime sport or not, although that may be of huge interest to those who
have a business interest in it.

But what I see as the most important element, is that NASCAR, PGA, and other
sports are SPECTATOR sports, in addition to some of them being participation
sports too. I just don't see fishing as becoming a significant spectator
sport among non-fishermen. I'm a non-golfer, but I follow the Tour; I don't
see golfers interested in following fishing.