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Interesting article about a future pro tour

Nice read - thanks for posting.

A couple of very ambitious goals jumped out at me:

1) $50K purse for each event.
Revenue from entry fees: 144 x $225 = $32,400. So just for the purse $17,600 needs to be raised. Then there are all the overhead costs.

2) "A gallery of over 1,000 spectators is expected,"
At each event? Good luck with that one
.....and a lot more than that will be needed if each event needs to raise ~$20K from sponsors.
 
Lake Tahoe in April? Hope the snow has melted. No mention of Oregon on the proposed tour. That would take away the best tournament course out there at the moment, Milo McIver. Not sure that flies well. I do think having a geographically based tour makes a lot of sense from the perspective of the tourning pros though. However, until the money part is determined (as Dave mentions above) all of this is merely wishful thinking. That's not a damning critique. Wishful thinking can be a powerful force.
 
That's a crazy expensive entry fee! Even the Japan Open is only $150, and IMO it is a world class event. I'd say the article is a pipe dream/hell, and I think they will turn away more competition rather than grow it due to the expensive entry fee. They don't seem to understand the disc golf player demographic of being cheap.

The PGA tour players don't pay entry fees, but for other ball golfers its like $400. Although the US Open is only like $125 entry fee.
 
Yeah - if payouts were like this, lots more top players would tour. The effect of that would be a huge decrease in the number of suckers willing to come out and hand their $$ over to then for the chance they might get a good pairing for the first round. And at $225.......good point sidey.
 
$1M in lawsuits is not really a surprise. Let's assume an hourly rate of $250/hour - ignoring the fact that you probably can't even talk to a lawyer like this for $250 an hour. 4,000 hours x $250/hour= $1M. It doesn't take a lot of lawyering to get to 4,000 hours across this many companies.

But yes, that $1M would do a lot to promote the sport to true 'professional' status. Once there, though, it would be a drop in the bucket if you want ~300-400 pros trying (competing) to earn a living and get onto the tour permanently. $50k in purse x 44 events still doesn't pay a lot of decent livings or get elite-level athletes to choose this over baseball/basketball/football/ball golf/etc. . The few guys out there now who have chosen to go 'full time' are likely struggling with their choice and I would guess that less than 10 players are solely sustaining themselves on tour winnings and endorsements/sponsorships. No offense to those guys, I really wish them the best and do my part to make sure I'm contributing to their success. Their success and growth of the sport will go hand in hand, but something has to give first and maybe this vision is a (or part of a) way to get there.
 
It's a myth that pro golfers don't pay entry fees. On the PGA tour, non-tour members pay $400 per event for entry fees. To go to the PGA tour Q-school, check out these entry fees.

Also, check out the steep entry fees for the NGA Hooters Tour events.

I've known several people that have gone out on mini-tours. The standing rule of thumb to make a run at a mini-tour season is that you need $30,000 cash in the bank before you start. Most of these players solicit some sort of sponsorship before they hit the road and expect to not make any cuts for a while. It helps a lot if you're a country club kid that knows a lot of rich guys that like to "play the ponies".
 
Joe, thanks for that post. I agree with almost all of Dave's article. This is my favorite part:

We should work to create exclusively 18-hole courses, not 19- or 23- hole courses, and making top tournaments all 72 total holes. When we start having too much room for an 18-hole course, maybe we should start redesigning and making the holes longer. More holes that are par fours and par fives will push course pars into the upper 60s and will make disc golf scores look more like ball golf scores
Click to expand...
 
I agree that top level tournament courses need real par 4s and 5s, though not necessarily for the same reason stated in the article. I don't agree though that 19 or 21 hole courses have anything to do with keeping disc golf from making it big.
 
Joe-wasn't that kind of what you were trying to convince everyone of when you first showed up here?
 
I read this "article" in an old old b/w magazine that used to circulate. I'd guess it's from 1990-1995.

Pipe dream to say the least.
 
The guys on tour won't "pony up" for a Motel 6, what makes anyone think they would pay a $250 entry fee?

Future DGCR post: NE1 got a Doller for the US Tour?
 
i think all the posts complaining about the entry fee fail to take into consideration the increased size of the purse. it's not as big of a deal as soon as you realize that over 20 players will take home over $1000 per event.

i'm not saying this is likely to happen, but you have to critique the proposal as a package. obviously a $250 entry fee would not fly with the current payouts.


the point here is not to say "this won't work because look at how things actually are" but to address the way things could be if we are willing to transform the paradigm. the vision is one where pro players can begin to act more like professionals, as in ball golf, because they will be part of a system that is more professional and rewards professionalism. and this is the path to more money in the sport.
 
i really like the idea of an ADGA. why should the PDGA concern itself with accommodating players who are not professional pros? it spreads them too thin. 2 separate organizations will be better equipped to deal with the distinct issues each group needs addressing.

better amateur events and organization, better pro events and a better tour.
 
dreadlock86 said:
i think all the posts complaining about the entry fee fail to take into consideration the increased size of the purse. it's not as big of a deal as soon as you realize that over 20 players will take home over $1000 per event.

i'm not saying this is likely to happen, but you have to critique the proposal as a package. obviously a $250 entry fee would not fly with the current payouts.


the point here is not to say "this won't work because look at how things actually are" but to address the way things could be if we are willing to transform the paradigm. the vision is one where pro players can begin to act more like professionals, as in ball golf, because they will be part of a system that is more professional and rewards professionalism. and this is the path to more money in the sport.
Click to expand...
Its increased risk as well as payout, but also players will need to increase their bank roll and plan for more bank roll fluctuation. The guys that hardly ever cash will probably stop playing(donating) though, so it will just be the top pros fighting it out at higher stakes. I can tell you I will stop donating and stay AM for life. It will take a much larger leap of faith from AM to Pro than it currently does, and I don't see how this grows anything other than more AM players.
 
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