The Inevitable 2022 Pros Switching Sponsors Thread

[Raiaramis]

I missed this channel:
https://www.youtube.com/c/TheSpinTVcom/videos

Here you will find the MPO from the 2021 Europeans with Simon Lizotte, Niklas Antilla, Linus Carlsson and Josef Berg (who is one of the founders of the new Frid-bag) etc. with commentary by Discmanias Jussi Meresmaa and Simon Lizotte.

Sorry for answering to offtopic, but EuroTour and Euro Pro Tour have planning to have much more coverage from this season including livecoverage. The plans were already 2021, but this did not happened as whole Tour got canceled.

 

[txmxer]

I did not know he had a 5 year deal, well that changes some of my thoughts concerning where his head is at currently.

Agreed it's odd. Being a contract, there was either an out or the length was reported incorrectly .

If it was an out, it will breed bad blood. That would suck.

 

[Nale72]

Agreed it's odd. Being a contract, there was either an out or the length was reported incorrectly .

If it was an out, it will breed bad blood. That would suck.

For those of you who haven't seen/listened to this episode of "The Upshot" it might be worth checking out if you are interested in contracts/sponsorhips. It's a "Player Sponsorship Roundtable" where contract lenghts, player value, "outs"/ending in advance, how player contracts have evolved and much more are discussed.

"Charlie Eisenhood and Josh Mansfield welcome in MVP-sponsored Sarah Hokom, Discraft Team Captain Paul Ulibarri, and USDGC Event Director and former Innova Team Manager Jonathan Poole for a discussion of the evolution of player sponsorships from manufacturers and the future of endorsement deals in the sport."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chBIhjpMRZY

 

[Flick Maniac]

It's not only about whether you want to watch them but if you see them online or in person in some way. Barsby travels with clinics, Philo and Jerm are on the mike, Juliana has video clips and blogs, Ohn posts regularly on her local events, Garrett promotes his jerky, Sexton is team captain and commentator, Calvin top player w/pro demeanor, Jen Allen is a master female bomber, not sure about Henna and Evalina's media exposure but it wouldn't have to be in the U.S. market.

How does Garrett promoting his jerky help Innova?

 

[Flick Maniac]

Me? yes. . .but here in Sweden we don´t get to see the pros very often so i would drive far to see players like Henna and Barsby.

Just realized that Swedish Linus Karlsson plays for Innova , AND only ONE player on Innovas Star Team is Higher rated than him.
Linus is a monster, few top players train as much as him. . .and he has one of the most insane Aces i have heard of

Hey lets hear it

 

[Jolt]

Mason Ford and Valerie Mandujano Casual round with DD

 

[Nick Pacific]

With all these players leaving Innova and them not bringing anyone new in I have a feeling that none of the current players will be getting raises. Ie Calvin, Big Jerm and Sexton. These guys are the face of their team and I highly doubt Innova is willing to give them more money.

I wouldn't assume that. Companies do reward loyalty and their "company man" people who stick with them and don't hop ship every couple years.

There are pros and cons to being a job hopper versus being a loyal company man. Not advocating for either but I wouldn't assume that Innova isn't rewarding their core team that's sticking with them.

In a time of rampant job (sponsor) hopping it can be a long term strategy to stay loyal to your current employer, especially if you still have the skills to pay the bills.

 

[Billipo]

For those of you who haven't seen/listened to this episode of "The Upshot" it might be worth checking out if you are interested in contracts/sponsorhips. It's a "Player Sponsorship Roundtable" where contract lenghts, player value, "outs"/ending in advance, how player contracts have evolved and much more are discussed.

"Charlie Eisenhood and Josh Mansfield welcome in MVP-sponsored Sarah Hokom, Discraft Team Captain Paul Ulibarri, and USDGC Event Director and former Innova Team Manager Jonathan Poole for a discussion of the evolution of player sponsorships from manufacturers and the future of endorsement deals in the sport."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chBIhjpMRZY

Very good stuff! I found very enlightening.

I used to joke that I had a Coke sponsorship back in the 90s because the local distributor rep gave me vouchers for 10 cases of Coke product for a couple of years based on disc golf activity. Hearing Paul Uli say his first sponsorship was being comp'd 25 discs makes my deal not to far off from a legit disc golf contract back in the day.

 

[auzcar]

I really hope Linus Carlsson signs with a Swedish brand (I guess Lat64 is the only reasonable option). But Discmania seems very likely as well. I think he has a spot in the top in this sport if he puts in the work, and are willing to travel/move.

 

[biscoe]

I did not know he had a 5 year deal, well that changes some of my thoughts concerning where his head is at currently.

Evidently contracts= Charmin anyway.

Innova chooses to run their business differently than the other companies. They are bigger, older and have been better managed for a long time. They are operating from a position of strength and don't have the need to "get their name out" to the same degree as anyone else.

 

[Cgkdisc]

How does Garrett promoting his jerky help Innova?

Garrett or any player showing up in social media in a positive way will help the player's name recognition which can increase their viewership when playing in groups on video. Innova's logo will be on that player, their equipment, viewable on course signage in the video, discs being thrown or mentioned, and Innova potentially mentioned if player is interviewed. It's McLuhanesque where just being shown in a video medium on topics beyond the disc golf universe can have a broader impact than his "jerky" messages.

 

[wims]

I wouldn't assume that. Companies do reward loyalty and their "company man" people who stick with them and don't hop ship every couple years.

There are pros and cons to being a job hopper versus being a loyal company man. Not advocating for either but I wouldn't assume that Innova isn't rewarding their core team that's sticking with them.

In a time of rampant job (sponsor) hopping it can be a long term strategy to stay loyal to your current employer, especially if you still have the skills to pay the bills.

I don't think they are employed. They are independent contractors, not employees

 

[Three Putt]

Evidently contracts= Charmin anyway.

Innova chooses to run their business differently than the other companies. They are bigger, older and have been better managed for a long time. They are operating from a position of strength and don't have the need to "get their name out" to the same degree as anyone else.

I have no insider info, but from my couch it just looks like some of these other companies are betting on the current boom in the market. Innova doesn't have to. They don't have to worry about getting left behind in this wave of manufacturers out there.

We don't see the sales numbers so we don't see the big picture. The big picture might show that Innova sells more DX Wolfs* at Dicks than they sell Ricky Wysocki Pigs. If that is the case, letting Wysocki walk suddenly doesn't seem like the disaster that people in this thread make it sound like.

*should that be Wolves? I guess I spelled that wrong. Engrish are hard. :\

 

[jakebake91]

We don't see the sales numbers so we don't see the big picture. The big picture might show that Innova sells more DX Wolfs at Dicks than they sell Ricky Wysocki Pigs. If that is the case, letting Wysocki walk suddenly doesn't seem like the disaster that people in this thread make it sound like.

To that point, the two Walmarts closest to me sell a bunch of dx and some pro plastic Innova molds. I know I've seen more leopards, teebirds and aviars out in the wild purchased from there than I have seen tour series anything discs. It's definitely a good point.

 

[Three Putt]

To that point, the two Walmarts closest to me sell a bunch of dx and some pro plastic Innova molds. I know I've seen more leopards, teebirds and aviars out in the wild purchased from there than I have seen tour series anything discs. It's definitely a good point.

It's really easy to get in a bubble in this day and age. Your social media content gets all algorithmed to stuff so mine is full of disc golf content. If you go on teh facembooks and you get hit with Ultiworld articles and posts from disc golf companies you follow; you get this false sort of idea that this is big-time mainstream news and your neighbors know who Catrina Allen is and would care who her sponsor is.

They don't, though. Certainly more people know who Catrina Allen is now than knew who Des Reading was 15 years ago, but we are still a little niche sport. This still is news to a very small % of the population.

Chuck mentioned something that everyone should keep in mind. "Professional" disc golf has always been a facade. When I joined the PDGA I had this dumb idea that I'd go to an A Tier and it would be more than the "bunch of hippies and rednecks hanging around a park pavilion" events I was used to. It wasn't, there were just more hippies and rednecks. Disc Golf World would write up a story like it was something else, like it was an actual sporting event. It wasn't, though. We were in "fake it 'til you make it" mode.

So now we have the DGPT and it looks like we made it. Obviously much progress has been made. It's disc golf, though. We have decades of experience in faking it to look like we made it. So how much has DGPT made it and how much is this disc golf instinctively faking it? How much of the facade is still up? I don't really know.

 

[Superbford]

He may be the nicest person in the world in person but, his social media persona is that of a loud mouth, arrogant D-bag.

I see it as way more of him being "has to talk person and has strong opinions".... I certainly disagree with many, but I think this sport needs more of people questioning things or having different ideas. Even if they aren't always the best maybe....

 

[txmxer]

It's really easy to get in a bubble in this day and age. Your social media content gets all algorithmed to stuff so mine is full of disc golf content. If you go on teh facembooks and you get hit with Ultiworld articles and posts from disc golf companies you follow; you get this false sort of idea that this is big-time mainstream news and your neighbors know who Catrina Allen is and would care who her sponsor is.

They don't, though. Certainly more people know who Catrina Allen is now than knew who Des Reading was 15 years ago, but we are still a little niche sport. This still is news to a very small % of the population.

Chuck mentioned something that everyone should keep in mind. "Professional" disc golf has always been a facade. When I joined the PDGA I had this dumb idea that I'd go to an A Tier and it would be more than the "bunch of hippies and rednecks hanging around a park pavilion" events I was used to. It wasn't, there were just more hippies and rednecks. Disc Golf World would write up a story like it was something else, like it was an actual sporting event. It wasn't, though. We were in "fake it 'til you make it" mode.

So now we have the DGPT and it looks like we made it. Obviously much progress has been made. It's disc golf, though. We have decades of experience in faking it to look like we made it. So how much has DGPT made it and how much is this disc golf instinctively faking it? How much of the facade is still up? I don't really know.

Still very much a work in progress. As long as your events require all volunteers and the game* is played in public parks, you've got a ways to go.

The public parks is a bit of a misnomer though. The big three sports in the US have conned the public for billions to build mega stadiums and given all the profit to the leagues.

*pro tour

 

[R-Ogre]

Hell, I have to google 3/4's of the names that get posted here. Posts using first names only drive me crazy. Somebody posted something about "Kona to Discmania with Colten"; Kona Panis I had already looked up (didn't know who she was until her name kept being dropped here) but I have no idea who "Colten" is. Colten could be the name of her dog for all I know.

The truth is that I don't really care, either. Disc golf used to be a very small thing and it was kinda fun to look and see who won the A tier that week. Trying to keep track of people who are out playing DGPT events and finishing outside the top 10 isn't fun.

That's why I'm surprised any of these lower-tier players push the needle at all. It's got to be a very low % of disc golfers who actually know who these people are. Maybe with social media it's easier to follow these people? I'm not sure why I'd want to read a post from some guy I don't know about his 58th place finish at some disc golf tournament, but I don't understand a lot of things these days.

Kinda seems like Innova is betting on the bubble bursting and people still wanting aviars, rocs, and teebirds and not a new version of the joe smith color glow flex 3x gmc winner stamp Fairway Disc every 6 weeks.

 

[Hampstead]

Grooves kept selling because Dick's had an SKU for them and when inventory got low, they ordered more. Casuals bought them because it was a driver available at a sporting goods store. No marketing necessary.

 

[dehaas]

Kinda seems like Innova is betting on the bubble bursting and people still wanting aviars, rocs, and teebirds and not a new version of the joe smith color glow flex 3x gmc winner stamp Fairway Disc every 6 weeks.

Something a lot of the newer dg faces probably don't comprehend…the destroyer was approved in 2007, while the ion was approved in 2009 and Dynamic's first molds in 2012. The destroyer itself predates both companies, and is still the gold standard in distance drivers.

Aviar, roc, leopard, teebird, valkyrie, and firebird are all dg royalty.