? about Bassmasters Pay out

[Ray L.]

Did anyone notice that bassmasters based there payout based on 125 boats in the western opens. Well there were a few more than that at the Delta......Do you see my point yet, if not check the payout and you will see 148 boats and still only paying 35 spots payed where did all the extra money go.The same for the non boaters......Think about it that is around $28,000 in entry on the pro side they got beyond the pro field size of 125 boats and Aprox. $12,000 on the am side.Where is all that extra payout money at.If someone can tell me where it is I would like to know,because I thought bassmasters paid aprox. 1 in 3.75 or 1 in 3.5 well check the payout it is like 1 in 4.25 hmmmmmm makes you think doesn't it.
A very good friend of mine pointed this out to me last night and said there payout is based on 125 boats well they had many more than that and where is the money
Ray L.
If anyone can explain this to me ...Please do.I want to know

[Ray L.]

I am not bashing on bassmasters or anything like that.......I am just wondering about the payout for the anglers because I think there are some anglers due some money that finished below 35th. or there are some anglers due some more money at least. I have fished events held by bassmasters when the tour was here and I also fish the Fed. I would just like an explanation.
Ray L.

[Noluk]

They payed down to 39th on both boater and AM side due to the increased number of boats. The cut remained at the top 35 though for the third day of fishing.

[rickyshabazz]

All that I can say is that it SUCKED. But most of us are in it for the competition. It cost me about $2,000 to fish the event from So. Cal. EverStart has a much better payout outside of 2 and 3 place. I had a ball and BASS runs a good show.

[Ghost]

Ray,
Did you stop to think that the cost of running an organization such as BASS is very high. I don't imagine that they are trying to burn anyone but simply making some money to keep on keepin' on. Think of where bass fishing would be without them?
Just a thought.

Ghost

[Cooch]

The payback for BASS was much better the first 5 years when it was only a $600 entry fee. Compare it to the payback of the last two years with a double entry fee of $1200, it's purty bad outside of the top 5 right now by comparison.

My guess is with BASS, most anglers don't care about the payback. Your fishing a BassMasters event, the grand daddy of all tournament orgs. 55% of the guys are there, just because it's BASS, the other 30% are there trying to qualify for the Tour or the Classic, the other 10%, well, like most tournaments, they are there just because they can afford to be there! And maybe 5% are there to earn money for a living.

All that excess money Ray, goes back to the TOUR, Elite 50 and Classic bound boys. Oh yeah, and that news caster guy on Bass Center, ummm, yeah the Bachelor, you know him, Velvick!

[mark poulson]

Cooch is right. The old saying of, "Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it" really applies here, I think. Everyone who has been pushing for bass fishing to become a national sport now sees that it has become, first and foremost, entertainment, like the other pro and college sports. Just a platform to sell products, and, with ESPN, not necessarily fishing product. But their overhead is high, not to mention how much those at the top want to rake off. It's just the nature of getting really big. For those who dream of national competition, and making a living fishing, it's a good thing. For the rest of us, it means more people on the lakes, and more local tournaments, as more and more people try to break into the big time. Kind of a two edged sword.
Mark

[ash]

And I know I am not the most articulate writer, so please do not mis read this.


What bugs me is this, with ESPN BASS now has TV Media coverage, Magazine Media Coverage, Federation Media Coverage. Companies are purchasing time, space, and exposer of their product to be advertised. One would think with this new advertising $$ the paybacks to fish BASS would become deeper, offering Advertisers more chances of exposer. Ultimatly there are very few "Proffessional" sports where the athelete is staking himself and are dissolowed to recieve their own endimnic sponsorship monies.

The sad state of affairs is BASS is trying to grow a business and at the same time cutting into the pockets of the people they NEED in order to have a business at all. Without an angler there is nothing to watch on TV or ads to fill. I guess there is always the deep pocket fisherman, but I dont relate to those guys.

BASS needs to take care of the Anglers or they will start fishing Everstart,BFL, and FLW where the payouts are worth the entry. Would you gamble on a 4.5 - 1 bet consistantly? Neither would I the odds for breaking even are always going to beat you.

[NaCl]

Look at Pro Football....the players make great money in the "pros". But, how much money do they make in the "amateurs"? Most pro football players come from college developmental programs where they primarily get scholarships. Sure, a few college superstars get under the table cars, trips and assorted perks from alumni, but the vast majority live in a dorm room on campus.

Consider Pro Basketball. Same thing!

Pro Baseball is a little different since they developed their own farm system for player developoment. Those "SEMI" pro players are paid lousy, ride on busses to games and most never make the big time.

Pro Golf has lots of qualifying events you must survive to earn a shot at the "PGA Tour". While trying to make it, most are club "pros" earning a mediocre living teaching rich snobs how to improve their hopeless swings.

Pro stock car racing and Pro drag racing draw from thousands of amateur weekend warriors, Guys who sacrifice countless hours wrenching on their own cars before they MIGHT be noticed and get a shot at driving for one of the big teams. Teams sponsored by deep pockets like Budweiser, Miller, Home Depot, US Army and....yes, even unconventional sponsors like Viagra! I can't wait to see the paint job for the first top fuel rail sponsored by Tampon! HAR HAR!

Seriously, virtually all "pro" level sports have one common characteristic. They ALL are supported by thousands of "fans". Who are these "fans"? Some are pure spectators. They just enjoy watching the competition and rooting for their favorite "pro". The so-called "diehard" fans are a different crowd. These are the guys who love the sport so much they are compelled to participate. They dream of making it to the "pro" level and they make sacrifices to take a shot at that dream. Aspiring football "pros" suffer through college classes just so they can play football. Stock drivers hoping to make the pro levels, spend hours running old stock cars in races at county fairs.

Bass fishing is different in ONE important way. In all the other sports, the semi-pro levels go by appropriate designations..."semi-pro", "collegiate athlete", "weekend warriors", "club pro", "minor leaguer"...even the Olympics carefully include the term "amateur" in their characterizations of their athletes.

In bass fishing, our egos label our minor leagues as "pros". In reality, BASS Opens are just the minor leagure for the "majors". Everstarts are the semi-pro pool for their nastional tour. Bass Federation are just guys racing on local tracks all over America, hoping to get noticed by a national tour team. These levels are ALL less than "pro" in the context of their sports. Guys competing at these levels are still paying their dues while hoping become a "pro".

So, the payback in the semi-pro level of bass fishing (BASS Opens, Everstarts and all the regional "Pro-Ams") are actually excellent in relation to the level of competition they represent. And, their payouts accurately reflect the national audience they command. Like Cooch said, most guys are chasing a dream....it ain't about the money!

Just my $.02

.....NaCl

[ash]

Great distinction. However I am speaking of the "PRO" level tours as well. Like what is the deal that if you make the third day cut in the elite 50's the pro has to pay an additional 1k? That is the money day for BASS because that is the day they are in wrapped boats and film crews everywhere.

A professional, that has to put up 100k a year on his own is not going to make it very far, without personal sponsorship. With the way the FLW's go you cant even promote your sponsors yet the money pay back is enticing. If a company is paying your entry, or cutting you a check for your placement, then it is your duty to promote that company, and the PRO tours should be responsive to Anglers in achieving that duty.

I still believe this is a growing process that is being worked through, and I believe that their needs to be a distinction between, Pro, semi-pro,ametur etc... Racing is a good example of the different levels, and more costly then fishing.

HH

[mark poulson]

Professional fishing is just what it says. It is a business. And those who are most successful have found a way to combine the skills of fishing with the skills of being a business person.
Most of the rest of us (I am speaking for me) are either fishing to keep in some kind of competition doing what we love, or are fishing and competing to have fun and be with our friends. It is very seductive to think that BASS, or the FLW, or any large tournament organization has the best interest of Joe fisherman at heart, but the reality is they won't last as a business if they don't treat what they do as a business first. BASS says all the right things, and Ray Scott is a great man and spokesman, but it is a bustiness run to make money for the owners, ESPN.
The rest of us are actually risking the thing we enjoy most by supporting the commercial tournament trails. They will only be successful by expanding their markets (that's why they have the Bass Fishing thing on Saturday morning, when most of us fish) to new people. They already have us, and we're not enough for them to continue to grow and sell. And the more people they bring in, the more crowded the lakes we fish will become, the more pressured the fish will become, and, eventually, our lakes will look like those pictures of Japanese tournaments, where the anglers can't even cast without hitting each other. No wonder they invented drop shot. All they can do is drop their rigs straight down so they don't hit someone else.
I know that sounds like an exaggeration, and maybe it is a little far fetched, but the basic idea is true. If ESPN has it's way, everyone will fish and buy fishing products. That's got to be their goal. They are a business. They're not about improving fishing for everyone, they're about increasing the number of pocketbooks open to their sponsors.
So we, as people who love to fish for the fishing, should look long and hard at how commercial we want our sport to get.
End of sermon.
Mark

[NaCl]

Golf, Basketball, Auto Racing, Football, Tennis, Bowling, Soccer, Baseball, Field & Track, Hocky.....virtually EVERY "pro" sports venue must make concessions to its pro's because they all have a strong player's union or strong association. Bass fishing pro's will never receive their fair piece of the revenue "pie" until they unite and can dictate terms to BASS and FLW. In the meantime, BASS and FLW will continue to get rich on the stupidity of its pro's who haven't figured out the real importance of collective bargaining.

.....NaCl

[sTony]

That's happening now and KVD and Mark Davis are the 'players' reps currently. But this is something that doesn't involve the regular joe tournament angler as of yet and likely never will. Your first post hit the nail on the head, the guys fishing the Big Show tours are our version of the major leagues. Everstart and BASS Open events don't rank in with that group of anglers.

sTony

[Cooch]

David Fritts, Kelly Jordan, Jeff Kriet, Ishama Monroe and Kevin Worth ALL have in common?

These 5 guys all fish the Elite 50 TOUR, no entry I believe. These 5 guys all BLANKED over two days at Lake Wissota, Wisconsin, yet each walked away with $5k apiece.

There'sa some proof of what I stated last week as to where that money taken off the Invites ends up! There certainly is an imbalance here.

[sTony]

you're comparing the pro ranks to the semi pro division Cooch. It's very clear that the BASSMASTER Opens are a semi pro division and treated thusly. If y'all wanna get into the big bucks you have to qualify to fish at the higher level and go back east to fish with the pros. With BASS moving to Florida it's also clear that all of their professional tournaments are gonna stay out East. And as long as the power within the anglers resides in the east the writing is clearly on the wall.

sTony