Pro's using different brands of discs

[anonyduce]

I'm just saying if I were to get springs sponsored soon it would be legacy and I hope they'd let me use other midrabges because i don't live theirs

Legacy has always allowed pros to use discs from other companies, but the majority of companies don't allow you to throw other brands


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[Nova P]

MVP's pros can throw Axiom and/or Streamline

Minor nitpick: I would like to hear about an MVP pro throwing Streamline. I know many members of team MVP, hang around with them, go to their parties, etc., and I have never heard any member say that they bag any Streamline, have never seen them throw one in competition, or seen one in their bag at a competition.

 

[mcodyclapp]

Minor nitpick: I would like to hear about an MVP pro throwing Streamline. I know many members of team MVP, hang around with them, go to their parties, etc., and I have never heard any member say that they bag any Streamline, have never seen them throw one in competition, or seen one in their bag at a competition.

On the Facebook fan page a couple of them came out and said they aren't allowed to bag Streamline. No gyro, no throw.

 

[DinosaurThunder]

I remember hearing that too. But, Eagle has a few Innova discs in his bag (gator and max and maybe a few others i can't recall). Why would they let him and not Simon?

Eagle has the "okay" to carry discs that DM has no equivalent of to my understanding - gator/max. Nate Perkins may have a different contract agreement since he carries a beat in roc and firebird.


On a semi related note (this is all second hand btw) - only three players have ever been sponsored by both Discmania and Innova - Avery, Will S and Sexton. The dropped the duel sponsorship idea 2 years ago but have allowed Avery to stay as an ambassador/grandfathered in being the first duel sponsored player (I think they struggled promoting Nate/signature discs, in addition to Innova putting a lot of PR behind him). Paul had the s-line P2/PDx and that was a nice marketing driver/money maker for Paul and Jussi/DM. But from what I heard Innova highly encourage McBeth to only throw Innova and I don't think he bags that FD3 anymore (although I believe he threw the FD3 at The Memorial).

 

[Audible Vibration]

I wish more players threw mixed bags. Nikko's ITB's are fun to check out because he's got such a variety of plastic, and he's throwing some discs he's been throwing for 10 years.

I suppose all it would take is a non manufacturer offering a player a solid contract would th comparable or better terms. But what company would be in a position to do that? Maybe an online retailer like Disc Golf Center it GGGT? Or maybe a bag/apparel sponsor like Grip or UPD bags? I know both of those companies sponsor players on a smaller level, but if they could sweeten their offer enough to get players to drop their main sponsor, that could lead to more mixed bags.

 

[anonyduce]

I wish more players threw mixed bags. Nikko's ITB's are fun to check out because he's got such a variety of plastic, and he's throwing some discs he's been throwing for 10 years.

I suppose all it would take is a non manufacturer offering a player a solid contract would th comparable or better terms. But what company would be in a position to do that? Maybe an online retailer like Disc Golf Center it GGGT? Or maybe a bag/apparel sponsor like Grip or UPD bags? I know both of those companies sponsor players on a smaller level, but if they could sweeten their offer enough to get players to drop their main sponsor, that could lead to more mixed bags.

some players have bag only sponsorships, but for the most part bag companies have no incentive to give a major sponsorship to get people to drop their disc sponsor. Lots of players are also sponsored by stores. These players get discounts when buying from the store. For example Bradley Williams and GG of throwers choice. Some however don't have a disc sponsor like nikko for a long time was only sponsored by stores and bought all his discs from that store. But once again the stores have no incentive to get people to drop disc sponsors.


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[JC17393]

Forget incentive, no bag company or disc retailer has the money to compete with a disc manufacturer when it comes to sponsoring players. Manufacturers are always going to have the advantage in this sort of thing.

Just take sponsoring one player as an example, and not even a top tier player. If the player gets, say, 50 free discs a year as the bulk of his sponsorship, what does that cost the sponsor to provide? For the retail store owner, that's anywhere from $4-10 a disc at wholesale cost (depending on plastic type), so let's split the difference and call it $7 a disc. At that rate, it would cost $350 to supply one player his allotment of free plastic. It will cost the manufacturer no more than half that amount to supply the same number of discs to that player. Already the manufacturer is going to be able to sponsor at least two players for the cost of the retail store sponsoring one. That's a tough deficit to overcome for even the biggest retailers.

 

[Jolt]

Emac is DD but throws the Ballista pro and Explorer all the time, and Ricky is with Lat64 and throws the Enforcer alot

I know there allowed but it still feels abit strange. .. Paige only throws DD, she said in an interview that she wants to thow only DD if possible because DD is her sponsor not lat64 or westside

 

[_MTL_]

They're usually allowed to use discs from related companies.

Innova folks can use Discmania, Hyzerbomb, Millenium (I believe), and Infinite (GG has a tour disc from them)
Discraft people can use DGA
Players sponsored by any of the Trilogy brands can bag any of the other two Trilogy brands
MVP's pros can throw Axiom and/or Streamline

I'm sure there are probably others.

Discraft can also use Plastic Addicts.

 

[F. Howl]

I would imagine pros can throw 1-3 discs that aren't the manufacturer. For example, if they have a putter they really like it would make the pro do better making the brand look better. I throw a mix of legacy and innova as do all of the pros near me that aren't exclusively legacy. I'm not a pro yet but soon. Probably not sponsored for a while though...

Sounds like you're from SoCal.

 

[_MTL_]

As a sponsored player, it's nice the perks we get and we are truly thankful for our companies.

But every single one of us would throw a mixed bag if we could. I guess we can, but it's just a numbers game. It's not worth the few discs we really miss to give up our sponsorship.

 

[Mocheez]

As a sponsored player, it's nice the perks we get and we are truly thankful for our companies.

But every single one of us would throw a mixed bag if we could. I guess we can, but it's just a numbers game. It's not worth the few discs we really miss to give up our sponsorship.

What disc do you miss the most?

 

[JC17393]

As a sponsored player, it's nice the perks we get and we are truly thankful for our companies.

But every single one of us would throw a mixed bag if we could. I guess we can, but it's just a numbers game. It's not worth the few discs we really miss to give up our sponsorship.

This is the truth, however for the most part, every company that sponsors players (and restricts them from throwing other companies) has a line of discs robust enough that players can find a reasonable substitute. In other words, while we might wish we still had disc X from company Y at our disposal, our sponsor makes a comparable disc that can get the job done well enough. No one disc is going to dramatically change or improve one's game or vice versa.

 

[JTacoma03]

I remember hearing that too. But, Eagle has a few Innova discs in his bag (gator and max and maybe a few others i can't recall). Why would they let him and not Simon?

Simon really only threw Firebirds because DM didn't make lower speed driver that was stable enough for him at the time. The FD3 was essentially designed for Simon...and McBeth likes it so much he switched from firebirds as well, lol.

Eagle has the "okay" to carry discs that DM has no equivalent of to my understanding - gator/max. Nate Perkins may have a different contract agreement since he carries a beat in roc and firebird.

Yeah, it's a case by case thing. They talk it out ahead of the season. Discmania is constantly taking feedback from its team and factoring that into their R&D/product decisions (as I'm sure most brands are), but since they rely on another company to do their molding the process takes longer. Innova obviously is going to prioritize their own brand over their white-label deals.

On a semi related note (this is all second hand btw) - only three players have ever been sponsored by both Discmania and Innova - Avery, Will S and Sexton. The dropped the duel sponsorship idea 2 years ago but have allowed Avery to stay as an ambassador/grandfathered in being the first duel sponsored player (I think they struggled promoting Nate/signature discs, in addition to Innova putting a lot of PR behind him). Paul had the s-line P2/PDx and that was a nice marketing driver/money maker for Paul and Jussi/DM. But from what I heard Innova highly encourage McBeth to only throw Innova and I don't think he bags that FD3 anymore (although I believe he threw the FD3 at The Memorial).

This is pretty close, only one distinction. Innova nixed their pros having Discmania sig/tour discs (like the Sexton DD and the Mcbeth S-P2). They brought that all in-house to the Innova Factory store and beefed up the support of the team. Innova players can still bag Discmania if they choose.


Avery...is just Avery. He is in his own category.

 

[SD86]

If a pro is sponsored by a disc company, are they allowed to use other brands of discs? I have seen many players like Big Jerm and McBeth use discmania P2's even when they are sponsored by Innova and always wondered why/if they are allowed to use different brands other than their sponsorship?

Okay, after reading through the thread, I'll distill this for the OP:

There are "sister companies" that have the same ownership or partnership situation. Some are a European/American affiliation, some are affiliations for other reasons. Innova/Discmania is one, Discraft/DGA is another, and of course there's the Trilogy of DynamicDiscs/Latitude64/Westside Discs.

Players sponsored by one company may have contracts allowing them to throw discs made by sister companies. This used to be more common, but the recent trend has been to encourage players to throw discs from one company only when possible. Paul McBeth used to throw some Discmania discs, but has given them up (unless he sneaks an FD3 into his bag on occasion). Eagle and Simon have streamlined their bags to be all-Discmania (or nearly so; Eagle has that Gator stashed in his bag). On the flip side, Ricky Wysocki is Latitude64, but that Westside Harp is not likely to leave his bag any time soon.

What you're not going to see is Paige Pierce (Dynamic Discs) throwing Prodigy discs, or Big Jerm Koling (Innova) throwing MVP, or Ricky (Lat64) throwing Innova discs. No affiliation or sister-company relationships there, and contracts would likely forbid such crossovers.

 

[anonyduce]

Okay, after reading through the thread, I'll distill this for the OP:

There are "sister companies" that have the same ownership or partnership situation. Some are a European/American affiliation, some are affiliations for other reasons. Innova/Discmania is one, Discraft/DGA is another, and of course there's the Trilogy of DynamicDiscs/Latitude64/Westside Discs.

Players sponsored by one company may have contracts allowing them to throw discs made by sister companies. This used to be more common, but the recent trend has been to encourage players to throw discs from one company only when possible. Paul McBeth used to throw some Discmania discs, but has given them up (unless he sneaks an FD3 into his bag on occasion). Eagle and Simon have streamlined their bags to be all-Discmania (or nearly so; Eagle has that Gator stashed in his bag). On the flip side, Ricky Wysocki is Latitude64, but that Westside Harp is not likely to leave his bag any time soon.

What you're not going to see is Paige Pierce (Dynamic Discs) throwing Prodigy discs, or Big Jerm Koling (Innova) throwing MVP, or Ricky (Lat64) throwing Innova discs. No affiliation or sister-company relationships there, and contracts would likely forbid such crossovers.

This is all correct except a technical thing. Eagle also bags the Max so 2 Innova Discs.


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[JC17393]

Players sponsored by one company may have contracts allowing them to throw discs made by sister companies. This used to be more common, but the recent trend has been to encourage players to throw discs from one company only when possible.

For what it's worth, there is no trend in the Trilogy companies to encourage players to throw only one company. In fact, we're encouraged (but not required) to have all three companies represented in our bag, so long as we feel the discs we carry are the ones that best fit our games. So like you say, it's unlikely Latitude will push Ricky to throw something Latitude branded instead of the Harp. But I believe it's just as unlikely that DD will push Paige to diversify if she's good with the all DD lineup she's using.

 

[Tigga]

Discmania discs literally have the full Innova company name/city/state/website stamped on the bottom of them, the ONLY info stamped on the discs is Innova related, they're all made right there in Innova's factory. I cant imagine any player of either team not being allowed to throw either brand. My understanding was whoever your main sponsor was, they needed to have a "majority" of that brand and could fill out with favorites or holes from "sister company(ies)".

 

[anonyduce]

Discmania discs literally have the full Innova company name/city/state/website stamped on the bottom of them, the ONLY info stamped on the discs is Innova related, they're all made right there in Innova's factory. I cant imagine any player of either team not being allowed to throw either brand. My understanding was whoever your main sponsor was, they needed to have a "majority" of that brand and could fill out with favorites or holes from "sister company(ies)".

Innova doesn't require any percentage of Innova bagged. They're just strongly encouraged to bag only Innova. DM does the same thing. Jussi and Dave have very different views on DG and have been slowly separating more. I wouldn't be surprised if by 2020 DM does their own molding with Innova plastics and by 2025 they're completely separate companies.


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[Three Putt]

Gateway has always allowed their sponsored players to use a mixed bag. However besides Nikko, there haven't be a lot of "big names" with Gateway.

Nit-picking, but Gateway required sponsored players to carry all Gateway for a long time. Nikko was on the lead card at World's mid-week one year where Feldberg worked him, must have been '08. At that point it was clear that Nikko couldn't get over the hump with an all-Gateway bag and the "mixed bag sponsorship" where they required you to use a Gateway putter but otherwise could throw what you wanted was born. It was the only way they could get Nikko to the next level and keep him on the Gateway team. Before that the Gateway guys like JohnE McCray, George Smith, Justin Bunnell and Shawn Sinclair carried all-Gateway bags. McCray stuck with an all-Gateway bag for a while after the mixed bag thing started.