Craig wrote:
n what people believe a sponsor is suppose
to do.


There is no hard and fast definition of what 'sponsorship' entails in the
fishing industry, so a sponsor's only obligation is to fulfill its
responsibilities under the contract negotiated between the two parties.
Same as the angler's obligation.

95% of the boat "sponsorships" are really nothing more than memo-bill
deals. On reality, anyone running a memo-billed boat is nothing more than a
very low volume boat dealer for that manufacturer.

When it comes to rods, reels, lures, etc., truth be told, there should be a
delineation between "product sponsored" and "paid" anglers. At the
local/regional level, there are some guys who get lures for wholesale or
distributor cost and call that a sponsorship. Other guys get product free.
But it's really only in the upper third or so of the "pro" populace that
you get into guys who have contracts that involve payment of cash, entry
fees or expenses.

Even at that, I wonder about the effectiveness of those deals for the
sponsor. Take a mid-level guy who has fished 2 or 3 classics over the past
decade, and has maybe one or two BASS or FLW wins to his credit. Depending
on how good he is at marketing himself and how much extra work he's willing
to put in, he might be getting 500 to 1000 a month from 3 to 5 larger
sponsors, and 100 to 500 from the little guys. If he is aggressive in
marketing himself, he can cover his expenses at that rate. He'll have to
generate some winnings to actually make a living though.

But is the sponsor paying him a grand a month getting its money's worth?
90% of the fishing tackle sold in this country is sold either through
distributors or at the distributor price level. That means the mfg gets
about 2.25 for that $5 spinnerbait. Which means that mfg, packaging, etc.
cost him somewhere between a buck and a buck and a quarter. Which means
that each pro he gives let's say $750 a month to, must increase his sales
by about 9000 spinnerbaits a year JUST TO COVER HIS BASIC COST, before he
ever put an extra nickel in his sponsor's pocket. The sponsor is in
business to make money. He SHOULD be able to get at least a 40% return on
that sponsorship, shouldn't he? Well, unless that pro somehow incrased his
sinnerbait sales by 12,000 units or so each year, he's not.


RichZ©
www.richz.com/fishing