MLF Announces Changes To Bass Pro Tour

[Choporoz]

I have a ton of respect for the anglers...and I agree with most of the sentiment that it seems there really should be more money in tournament payouts...but, unless/until the trails can find a way bring millions more eyeballs than they have today....they are going to have to reduce the numbers of competitors. Sux for those that get dropped, but it's a pro sport; perform or start thinking about getting a real job.  I don't see how the sport can sustain, what?...maybe a thousand 'full-time pro bass anglers'....and that isn't even providing players' equipment.   When you have to bring 150k of your own cash and equipment the job site, play against 100 others, even win, but not cash a big enough check to pay for a rigged boat...idk....makes me wonder why they do it.  Ironic....how aspirational it seems....fish bass tournaments for a living.  But only the guys doing the best hustle off the water are making a good living doing it 

[Glenn]

5 hours ago, Choporoz said:

Ironic....how aspirational it seems....fish bass tournaments for a living.  But only the guys doing the best hustle off the water are making a good living doing it

It's been like that since the beginning of pro tournaments.  Always will.

[Columbia Craw]

Beats watching re-runs of Gunsmoke 

[fishingtx]

I don't really know what to think about this. I like that the amount paid is increasing and the quality of coverage............. but what about the guys already fishing the league. What if they don't qualify for a year, isn't it at that point already to late to qualify for any other large league? Does this mean that those guys are screwed out of a living for that year? Also I think this will aid their competition, (Mastercup Fishing and BASS), by pushing more competitors to those events. Is there something that I am missing that might would answer my questions?

[Tennessee Boy]

9 hours ago, benburkefishing said:

Does this mean that those guys are screwed out of a living for that year?

I don’t think you could earn money on the BPT in 2024 and not qualify for 2025.  They may not like not make the cut but it will save them a lot of money.

[fishingtx]

2 hours ago, Tennessee Boy said:

I don’t think you could earn money on the BPT in 2024 and not qualify for 2025.  They may not like not make the cut but it will save them a lot of money.

I don't mean to sound rude, but I know plenty of people personally that  fish in the BASS Opens that do, so I really don't know. I sure hope it doesn't, but I imagine if it does those guys will be able to figure it out.

[TOXIC]

Without being privy to the balance sheets from all organizations, I can’t let my business brain make a decision on whether or not it’s a good move.  I would sure like to know how much the parent organizations make from all of the feeder trails and events to get to the pro level and can see what percentage of their balance sheet goes to payouts, expenses and profit.  I have always complained that there are waaaaay too many “pro” level trails, which in my mind is just another way to generate revenue.  Question has to be asked, if I am on track and paying to fish the feeder trails to MLF, you just cut my chances by reducing the field.  And with that said, there are still trails popping up like the Professional Fishing League to further dilute the product.  They are losing me due to the massive number of trails and formats.  

[PhishLI]

22 hours ago, Choporoz said:

they are going to have to reduce the numbers of competitors. Sux for those that get dropped, but it's a pro sport; perform or start thinking about getting a real job. 

The smart move is to build a monetizable social media platform. Scott Martin has 650K subs on YT alone. Matt Stephan is growing. Swindle says he mostly relies on FB revenue. Milliken was able to quit his full-time job with a new family at something like 50K subs and now has 550K. On BTL last week he said he won't be wrapping his boat with sponsors no matter what they offer. Nothing besides the bare minimum for compliance. He also alluded to the idea that ROI for sponsors is much higher through all his platforms like insta, FB, and YT. Not even close. Those metrics are easily measured. Wraps aren't.

 

Not everyone has the personality to grow a channel, but they should probably work on it. Even if they're top tier and can attract sponsors, it seems like sponsorship loot is shrinking anyway according to many pros who appear on podcasts.

[WRB]

B.A.S.S. Became BASS when ESPN purchase them. ESPN thought all bass anglers were (red nick) NASCAR racing fans changing the fishing format into a racing format because they (ESPN) didn’t consult with the anglers who know their sport. B.A.S.S.members bailed out into FLW being with higher  payouts and better ground roots program.

Both B.A.S.S. and FLW changed ownership followed by increasing cost for the anglers to compete requiring more and more high dollar sponsors willing to support anglers who were good at selling themselves.

MLF was born out of the high cost to compete and was successful at recruiting top pros to their format.

I believe MLF is falling on their own sword forgetting who they are and the top pros on the cutting board don’t have anywhere to go today. House hold pro names will be lost in the mist and that isn’t good for any sport.

Tom

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Spencer Shuffield was on the Bildge Podcast yesterday, if you think the MLF BPT is on the up and up then I've got a bridge to nowhere to sell you.   

 

The way they were able to only DQ Shuffield, but not DQ ten other guys including the Golden Child is some 4D Chess.    

 

Hot take, but if Wheeler ever wants to be in the goat conversation, he's gonna have to step outside MLF.  

 

Agreed with Phishli, if you want to make it as a professional Bass angler in today's world, you better have a fantastic charismatic personality, and a great understanding of self marketing and social media.

 

Scott Martin and Milliken could stop professionally fishing tomorrow, and still draw a huge income from fishing.    

 

Spencer Shuffield said his dad's first derby win in the late 80s at the Big O was $200k

 

An Elite series pays $100k.     When you consider today's clown world inflation rates especially, professional Bass fishing is a dying business in the traditional sense.   

[12poundbass]

17 hours ago, benburkefishing said:

What if they don't qualify for a year, isn't it at that point already to late to qualify for any other large league? Does this mean that those guys are screwed out of a living for that year?

Professional bass fishing is a huge gamble anyways and most go broke chasing the dream of hitting it big. Very few have sponsorship deals that could actually support them without winnings. 
 

To put things in perspective let’s look at Gerald Swindle.

 

career earnings $2.44 million over 24 years/ 317 tournaments. That’s averaging $7,700 per tournament and averaging 13 tournaments per year. That’s $100k per year. Not bad. Then you figure in taxes, insurance, travel expenses, entry fees, etc and you’re not left with much. He obviously has great sponsors and makes great money off from them but he’s in the minority. 
 

2 hours ago, PhishLI said:

The smart move is to build a monetizable social media platform

Ike gets a bad rap for his antics and over the top personality but he was ahead of the game even before social media. He has a degree in marketing and saw there was untapped potential for non endemic sponsorship and figured out a way to stand out, make money off from sponsorship, and survive without winning. Now you see more and more anglers doing this! Zona saw Seth Feider was a good stick and gave him some advice. He told him to do something to stand out to draw attention to himself (sponsorship) he told Feider to go with a mullet and the llama was born! 

[dickenscpa]

I don't have a problem with MLF making changes to format, 5 or everyone counts, etc. The business, contract law and business ethics I'm required to take each year for my license has a small qualm.

 

The original 80 who went out on a limb for WHATEVER reason were told they had a place AND if they wanted to get out within the first 3 years they had to buy their way out. Wasn't it like $50k? I thought the original 80 had some small percentage of ownership. Of course that didn't help Marty Stone.

 

On the flip side, we hardly get year 3 in our memory as history and they cut 35 of them. The other thing is the first year guys in 2024, like Matt Stefan, those guys are screwed barring a phenomenal year.

 

I wonder if Boyd Duckett will cut himself? Doesn't he finish like 85th out of 80 each round?

[TOXIC]

Professional Fishing, the only professional level sport where the competitors fish for their own money.  

[12poundbass]

Exactly! It’s basically a huge Thursday night fruit jar league. 

[Pat Brown]

On 10/24/2023 at 7:46 PM, Glenn said:

It's been like that since the beginning of pro tournaments.  Always will.

 

 

And IMHO, we are going to see a lot more people coming to the circuit AFTER YouTube monetization success.  BASS wants that money.  MLF wants that money.  Everyone wants a piece of the Milliken Magic™

[Glenn]

I respectfully disagree.  I know some fantastic sticks that will run circles around the pros, but they have no desire to fish the circuits.  Traveling, appeasing sponsors, the grueling schedules, grinding out a living on the road.  Some people are built for it and love it, but most aren't.

 

If they've found success with a lucrative endeavor (e.g. Youtube), then they probably wouldn't ditch that for an entirely different lifestyle and uncertain financial future.

[volzfan59]

I would suggest everyone listen to or watch Like Dunkin's newest Low Budget Live podcast with guest mlf/bpt pro James Watson. It might open your eyes to the crap show that is mlf. James doesn't hold back at all. 

[Pat Brown]

3 hours ago, Glenn said:

I respectfully disagree.  I know some fantastic sticks that will run circles around the pros, but they have no desire to fish the circuits.  Traveling, appeasing sponsors, the grueling schedules, grinding out a living on the road.  Some people are built for it and love it, but most aren't.

 

If they've found success with a lucrative endeavor (e.g. Youtube), then they probably wouldn't ditch that for an entirely different lifestyle and uncertain financial future.

 

 

I think there's a LOT of truth to what you're saying.  I do think that for people pushing their YouTube success to a whole different level AND trying to grow the actual reach/bass fishing fanbase, it may make sense at least for a period of time to grow personal brand etc

 

It's pretty interesting to say the least!

[12poundbass]

2 hours ago, volzfan59 said:

I would suggest everyone listen to or watch Like Dunkin's newest Low Budget Live podcast with guest mlf/bpt pro James Watson. It might open your eyes to the crap show that is mlf. James doesn't hold back at all. 

He stayed quiet up until now. He’s consistently in the bottom 1/3 of the pack when it comes to AOY, so he’s probably going to lose his hobby. He also knows he can’t cut it in the Opens to qualify for the Elites so he’ll likely lose his sponsors. 
 

He’ll be just fine though, he’s loaded and this is pretty much a hobby for him. 

[TnRiver46]

JWWMFW never stays quiet . Sounds like that’s why upper management didn’t like him there haha

[volzfan59]

1 hour ago, 12poundbass said:

He stayed quiet up until now. He’s consistently in the bottom 1/3 of the pack when it comes to AOY, so he’s probably going to lose his hobby. He also knows he can’t cut it in the Opens to qualify for the Elites so he’ll likely lose his sponsors. 
 

He’ll be just fine though, he’s loaded and this is pretty much a hobby for him. 

He alludes to some of that. Says he's around 61st. in mlf/bpt points and he's probably out. Brings up a lot of other stuff too. None of that alleviates the fact that boyd duckett, gary klein and company sold a bunch of people a "bill of goods".

[12poundbass]

Agreed, but going back to my post from yesterday (I believe?) professional bass fishing is a big gamble plain and simple.

[volzfan59]

I agree 100%

[Stratocat_Joe]

15 hours ago, volzfan59 said:

I would suggest everyone listen to or watch Like Dunkin's newest Low Budget Live podcast with guest mlf/bpt pro James Watson. It might open your eyes to the crap show that is mlf. James doesn't hold back at all. 

I listened to it and, to me, Watson came off as being "entitled" with his claims that he "deserves" to be on the BPT.  He's previously openly admitted that the only reason he is in MLF and on the BPT is because Boyd knew he had the money to pay to be there.  Watson's biggest complaint was that the BPT is "his" platform to promote his brand/sponsors and he's concerned about that platform being pulled out from under him.  Conversely, I've also listened to Todd Castledine and Matt Stefan talk about their realization that they don't need to rely on a tournament trail as a platform to promote their brand/sponsors.  Both Castledine, Stefan and, shall I say, R. Blaukut have been fairly successful in this model and I think Watson will be fine if he followed in that direction.  As a fan of the sport, I prefer watching anglers achieve the top level based on their talent, not their marketing ability.  Watson's a good angler but not an elite angler, as his performance has shown.  He is a terrific marketer, though!  As Stefan has said, if bass fishing is to become a true professional sport, then the professional trails need to be built upon angling talent first with marketability further down the list...just like any other sport.  But, as it currently stands, professional fishing is more about marketability than angling talent. 

[Tennessee Boy]

13 hours ago, 12poundbass said:

professional bass fishing is a big gamble plain and simple.

That’s an understatement.  You have much better odds at a casino.   Andy Morgan said once that he had won over $2 million fishing tournaments but that he had spent about that much doing it.  You can see what everyone has won online.  You can see what the current entry fees are.  You can estimate what the expenses are.   There are few if any that I envy for what they’ve made tournament fishing.  Young guys see the big numbers and want to chase the dream.  They don’t understand the economic realities.  If you have a steady job that pays $50K you can buy a house and build a life.  If in one year you win $120K tournament fishing,  you might clear $50K.  You have no guarantee of future earnings and you probably need $50K to cover next year’s entry fees to keep going.