2023 PDGA Majors Awarded

[davetherocketguy]

You as a TD aren't shelling out anything for your B tier. (Well maybe the $75 sanctioning fee if you don't build it back into the event costs.) The players are shelling out $3 each. In my area that has been repeatedly proven to be money well spent. YMMV.

Disagree. I am part of the DG community therefore I and the community are shelling out $350 and I am taking care of how my dg buddies money is being spent therefore I treat it as if it were my own money. I just ran an event three weeks ago and after it was all said and done we really did shell out $350 to the PDGA between the $75 sanctioning fee and then the round fees or whatever they are called. Not a real good ROI IMHO.

Running a Major is an insane amount of work- it is surprising that they get any bids at all imo. Outside sponsorship is growing however and that is the key to profitability for those events. IMO there will be more bids in the upcoming years than we have these days.

Exactly. Its a gigantic PITA to run an event for the PDGA. I am not as optimistic as you about sponsorships though. It's going to take A LOT of money to make a significant change in this situation...I really hope you're right and it works out better than I think it will.

On a side note; I find it funny how people seem to think I as a TD should be out getting sponsorships. What? I'm already running the event you want me to go out and beg for free money too? Hard pass...

-Dave

 

[DavidSauls]

Disagree. I am part of the DG community therefore I and the community are shelling out $350 and I am taking care of how my dg buddies money is being spent therefore I treat it as if it were my own money. I just ran an event three weeks ago and after it was all said and done we really did shell out $350 to the PDGA between the $75 sanctioning fee and then the round fees or whatever they are called. Not a real good ROI IMHO.

It's their money, not yours. The $3 is a pass-through fee that the players pay, to play in a B-tier. If that's too steep for the benefits they receive, they can sit it out or choose non-sanctioned events with no guaranteed standards. But if they find the B-tier worth paying $3 for, it doesn't become your money.

 

[davetherocketguy]

It's their money, not yours. The $3 is a pass-through fee that the players pay, to play in a B-tier. If that's too steep for the benefits they receive, they can sit it out or choose non-sanctioned events with no guaranteed standards. But if they find the B-tier worth paying $3 for, it doesn't become your money.

No. If I am being entrusted to manage the money players give me to make sure it goes to the right place then I treat it AS IF it were my money. I am smart enough to realize it isn't actually MY money.

 

[ru4por]

Disagree. I am part of the DG community therefore I and the community are shelling out $350 and I am taking care of how my dg buddies money is being spent therefore I treat it as if it were my own money. I just ran an event three weeks ago and after it was all said and done we really did shell out $350 to the PDGA between the $75 sanctioning fee and then the round fees or whatever they are called. Not a real good ROI IMHO.



Exactly. Its a gigantic PITA to run an event for the PDGA. I am not as optimistic as you about sponsorships though. It's going to take A LOT of money to make a significant change in this situation...I really hope you're right and it works out better than I think it will.

On a side note; I find it funny how people seem to think I as a TD should be out getting sponsorships. What? I'm already running the event you want me to go out and beg for free money too? Hard pass...

-Dave

As a club and as a TD, the PDGA sanctioning provides quite a bit. The insurance is paramount for us, sanctioning attracts players, gives us a bit more leverage for disc company sponsorship and avails us of the live PDGA scoring/score entry. We run around half and half, sanctioned/unsanctioned.

A club or TD hustling sponsorship is an interesting quandary. It sure boils down to time and resources. We have taken a little different tact. Now, we get sponsors coming to us, often. They are looking for a relationship that benefits both of us. With so many people now making shirts, selling gear, selling discs and selling disc golf (and non disc golf) accessories, they are often looking to make use of our tournaments, for marketing and advertising. In return we get a break on pricing and some new or cool swag. If really fosters a solid relationship between the community and the club. It also helps promote disc golf business in the area. In the last couple years it has sort of gotten easier. Honestly, the last couple deals were initiated, by a couple of us sitting in our lawn chairs, at a course, having a couple cold ones after a round. We seem to attract people to stop by and chit chat. We are just gregarious, they are networking.

This likely all varies by area and benefit.

 

[DavidSauls]

No. If I am being entrusted to manage the money players give me to make sure it goes to the right place then I treat it AS IF it were my money. I am smart enough to realize it isn't actually MY money.

The players paid a $3 fee to play in a B-tier. You sent the fee to the PDGA, where it belongs. Where's the problem?

 

[_MTL_]

Agreed - but if there are so few bids then obviously standards are too high. Want more bids? Lower the standards - make it easier on those running the events or maybe start paying those who run the events.

Quantity is no longer an issue in disc golf. Disc golf, and majors and elites especially, are doing everything they can to make a shift into quality.

Quality and quantity are not the same thing.

 

[The Shide]

Standards for Majors needs to high. And if it's too high for some cities/venues/clubs, then so be it, for now. We shouldn't sacrifice quality just because some entity puts their hand up and says, "I'll do it." Without having ever done it before.
I've experience as a volunteer during the 2015 AM Worlds & 2017 Masters Worlds, and it was not a walk in the park, although we did a lot of that.
In fact, maybe one of the reasons we do not see repeat offers from cities/venues/clubs is that they have done it before & said, "Never again" because of how much work it truly was. To those folks (Smugglers Notch, Ledgestone, Maple Hill, et al) who seem to have a working system to do repeat performances, I say "thank you for stepping up." But we need more like you.

 

[DavidSauls]

Also, let's bear in mind that with 7 U.S.-based majors, over a decade that's 70 hosts. Some places will do multiple events, some will do one and "never again", and some will just need a recovery period before stepping up again.

 

[davetherocketguy]

Quantity is no longer an issue in disc golf.

It isn't? There was only one bid for Pro Worlds and one for the Champions cup. What am I missing here?

 

[_MTL_]

It isn't? There was only one bid for Pro Worlds and one for the Champions cup. What am I missing here?

Bids last year were still during a Covid concern time frame. Champions Cup was also bid prior to the format change back to stroke play of the event.

You will see much different numbers when we release 2024 bid selections.

 

[brutalbrutus]

Quantity is no longer an issue in disc golf. Disc golf, and majors and elites especially, are doing everything they can to make a shift into quality.

Quality and quantity are not the same thing.

It's quality, not quantity man...