Wild West Bass Trail 2018 Season Questions & Answers
Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2017 3:12 pm
2. Who are the new owners? WWBT’s new ownership group has chosen to remain private and out of the spotlight, allowing WWBT events and media to place one hundred percent of the focus on the West’s best anglers and its dedicated sponsors. WWBT is owned and operated in the West by team devoted to keeping it in the West.
3. Who will be running and directing WWBT events? WWBT is not interested in wholesale change. WWBT wishes to continue its success while retooling and honing its product for 2018. To those ends, Jeremy DeHart will remain on board with the WWBT as its General Manager and Director of Operations. Jason Bubier will continue to serve as the Tournament Director for all California team events and now for all Pro Am events. Longtime tournament pro Shane Moline will serve as the new Tournament Director for Arizona team events.
4. Will WWBT still be televised? Absolutely. Television coverage of the Wild West Bass Trail Pro Am and Team Championships, along with the Western Classic Championship, will be available to the viewer on the Pursuit Channel. Combined with the network airings, there are YouTube video links and live internet weigh-ins at the events. This will include a full production weigh-in, angler interviews, sponsor commercials, billboards, highlights and multiple venues of social media to maximize our partners’ products and brand impressions to the viewer. The Pursuit Channel reaches into 47 million homes and is adding full HD every quarter. As of spring 2017, Pursuit Channel is upgraded into full HD on DirecTV and AT&T.
5. Will WWBT still have a live show? Yes. The Wild West Bass Trail Live broadcast kicks off on Friday of each Pro Am event and runs through the final awards ceremony on Sunday. WWBT Live is not your typical web stream. Our viewers both online and on location are presented with a multi-camera production of the weigh-in with added anglers’ insights during each flight. Fans can tune in at http://www.wildwestbasstrail.com on any device.
6. What is WWBT’s mission and purpose? WWBT has not changed its mission and purpose. WWBT’s mission is to promote and advertise for the highest quality companies and anglers by providing premier competitive fishing events in the West for nationwide viewing. Anglers and sponsors combined will showcase their skills and products with the most innovative television, web, print and social media available. Put simply, we exist to:
a. Promote our western anglers;
b. Promote our sponsors; and
c. Promote western fisheries and host destinations.
7. Will WWBT’s schedule change now that there is a new ownership team? No. The WWBT ownership transfer has been a friendly, collaborative project occurring over approximately four months in an effort to maintain its existing schedule, relationships with host lakes, cities and governmental entities, and sponsors. The WWBT schedule will not change from what has been posted on our website.
8. Will there be a change in WWBT Sponsors? Sponsors can and will change on a year to year basis. That is the reality in the fishing business as well as any other business from which our anglers come. However, WWBT is dedicated to maintaining all existing sponsorship relationships. At this juncture we do not foresee any significant sponsorship changes for 2018. In fact, we hope to be able to announce a couple of new sponsors for our anglers in the upcoming weeks.
9. Will Gary Dobyns and Craig Gottwals have any role in the new management? No. Both Gary and Craig have truly enjoyed their work with WWBT, but both are ready to stop watching the WWBT anglers catch fish and get out on the water to fish alongside of them.
WWBT knew that Dobyns could not compete against WWBT anglers as an owner. It would have been bad for business. His efforts were designed to launch this circuit and to see it succeed. Gary will still be in California until the April to June timeframe as he moves his business to Texas. He is also going to keep a home in northern California. In addition to assisting the new ownership team in the transition, Gary plans to fish all or nearly all of WWBT’s Pro Ams in 2018. It could be Gary’s last year to compete in Pro Am events in California and he is eager to do so one last time. Numerous times during 2016 and 2017 anglers approached Gary and other WWBT personnel and asked why Gary wasn’t fishing. The majority of anglers expressed that in order to be the best, they wanted to beat the best and “take Gary’s entry fee!” In 2018 anglers will have that opportunity.
Gottwals, on the other hand, simply wants to donate his entry fees out of the kindness of a benevolent heart. He has enjoyed his time as an emcee and host and will assist WWBT in securing a replacement. He will also be available to fill in and support WWBT in its media efforts on an as needed basis. He too plans to fish all of WWBT’s events in 2018.
10. What will happen to Last Cast with Gary and Craig? The award winning (Jeremy bought them dinner once) and critically acclaimed (Richard Dobyns told them they weren’t the worst fishing show he’d seen) show featuring WWBT anglers and techniques will continue in 2018. Dobyns and Gottwals will now take their live show to the air (and via podcast) twice a month. They’ll cover all things bass fishing with a focus on the Western half of the country (yes, Texas is in the left half) and an emphasis on the WWBT. WWBT winners and winning techniques will be featured along with WWBT sponsors, management, anglers and locations.
11. Will there be Rule Changes in 2018? Yes. WWBT will have a few rule changes in 2018. Those changes, however, are not due to the sale. Those changes are part of WWBT’s ongoing effort to continually improve its product for the anglers and sponsors. The rule changes will be a direct result of the angler survey conducted in September and October of 2017. Both the new and old ownership team crafted that angler survey and have worked together to ensure all changes are for the better. The new rules will be posted on our website and linked at http://www.WesternBass.com on or before December 1, 2017.
12. Will the WWBT Payout change in 2018? Yes. Simply put, Dobyns and the Morgans added money to every payout in 2016 and 2017 in an effort to bolster boat count as much as possible. WWBT regularly paid out over 100% at team evens and 108% or 109% at Pro Ams. With the inclusion of Ranger Boats and Evinrude motors at the Championships, WWBT paid well over its standard 108%. At its present level of sponsor support, WWBT cannot maintain 108% payout. WWBT must continue for the western anglers and, therefore, it must sustain itself. Thus, WWBT’s 2018 payouts will be 90% or better at each event.
We are still finalizing our budget but are fully committed to keeping angler payout at or above 90%. WWBT strives to provide the highest possible payout. As our budget allows and sponsor support grows, we will continue to reinvest that back into our product by augmenting media coverage and bolstering angler payout.
If any anglers are uncomfortable with that we truly regret that we may lose their business. Nevertheless, at 90% per event, WWBT is highly competitive with all similarly priced professional fishing events nationwide.