Annual salary of DG professional

[Posey Ching]

Just a curious question but does anybody know an estimate of how much money the top DG pros make annually?

And I'm talking about total income with endorsements or sponsorships before taxes and not including expenses. Just the total income. Of course it depends how many tournaments they win, etc. But for example, if you look at the innova website, Avery Jenkins made something like $34,000 in earnings in 2008. So I guess what I'm really getting at, do they get a lot more than this from sponsors?

A friend asked me this and I had no idea of an estimate to tell him. Anybody know? What is an estimate of the total income of the best DGer in the world?

 

[waynewf]

Whatever it is, it's not much....I think most of the "professionals" who "earn their living" playing disc golf are just trust fund kids

 

[Incognito1989]

Not sure but when i was in the proffessional paintball community. The way it went there were that the "proffessionals" would make a low salary something like the 30k to 60k range and then where they would make a majority of there money was that they would be employed one way or the other within the sponsors company...assuming thats somewhat the way it works in pro DG

 

[Posey Ching]

Whatever it is, it's not much....I think most of the "professionals" who "earn their living" playing disc golf are just trust fund kids

lol that'd be nice. I've heard and assumed that most of them have regular jobs outside of DG.

 

[scarpfish]

As far as prize money, only about one guy a year, if any eclipses the $40K mark, and he pretty much needs to win USDGC to do it. Note, those are gross earnings which do not imply just the 'profit' above their entry fees.

Just the same, I'm sure the top pros get a degree of these fees covered by sponsors, as well as some degree of travel expenditures, the more elite they are, the better their sponsorship package is.

Some get bonuses from their disc manufacturer sponsors for winning elite tournaments. Eric McCabe I believe got a nice bonus from Discraft for winning the Glass Blown Open.

And the world champions who have a signature disc (Climo, Schultz, Doss, Feldberg, Avery Jenkins, Juliana Korver) I believe get some sort of a royalty for those discs. Something like 25 cents per.

I've heard with prize money, sponsorships, and royalties Climo, albeit not the best player anymore, pulls down something in the $80-100K range. Far and beyond anyone else. In short, nobody is getting rich playing DG. You'd be surprised how many of our "top pros" who will opt to stay at the local player's house rather than get a $40/night motel. That's how tightly they often have to budget.

 

[Lewis]

I figure most of them have at least part-time "day jobs." There's also a few extra ways some of them can make money on disc golf, such as producing videos, teaching the sport at a local high school, college, university, etc. And don't forget the "extra" sponsorships that some of them get from manufacturers like Keen, which may not be much, but might fly under your radar as far as estimating their earnings.

If you're trying to figure whether you can make a living at it, I'd say treat the disc golf as a second job, and plan to make something else your breadwinner.

 

[dmalexander]

You can look on the innova website and it states their yearly winnings, but it's not much above 40K, not including endorsments. But many of them have other jobs as well, like Feldburg, he's a professor at the university of oregan I think.

 

[Dayute]

Seems like all the Pro's I know also supplement there income by selling discs, or have some other form of income. Matt Orum's dad owns SkySouth discs, Rivers Sherrod's dad (also a pro) Joe Sherrod also used to sell discs out of his house. The Sherrod family all made an impact in the Pro world but I don't think they ever came close to even being able to get by on just Disc Golf. Who knows though, I sure wish I had the funds to just travel and play disc golf, would be a sweet life.

 

[Posey Ching]

Maybe Feldberg can hook up with Phil Knight in Oregon and get Nike to put tons of money into this wonderful sport. It would change the "underground" feel of the game we have now, but it would bring in more money and make the sport grow. So it's a tradeoff i guess. Just me rambling...

I was just thinking about how extremely nice and top of the line the University of Oregon campus and facilities are because of all the money that Knight has given to them.

Who knows, maybe in the future people will be throwing Nike swoosh drivers...

 

[aarikc17]

I think Innova sponsored players get bonuses for winning super tours and nts but only like $500 for first. If you have your own signature discs like KC I think he get 10 cents for each disc sold with his name on them. I think I said he makes like $2500 a month during the summer just from discs sold.

 

[DannyM]

I personally know Sarah Stanhope, she just got sponsored with Innova, she's currently the #3 ranked woman in the world, she is a teacher at a high school. I really don't think there is much $$$ to be made as a pro, but it sure is fun!

 

[Posey Ching]

You'd be surprised how many of our "top pros" who will opt to stay at the local player's house rather than get a $40/night motel.

Yeah but I think staying at someone's house would be more comfortable and luxurious than a motel. Considering the friend had an extra bed...

 

[Posey Ching]

I personally know Sarah Stanhope, she just got sponsored with Innova, she's currently the #3 ranked woman in the world, she is a teacher at a high school. I really don't think there is much $$$ to be made as a pro, but it sure is fun!

It would be nice if Innova at least paid for the tournament expenses, plane tickets and hotels though. Traveling the world playing disc golf for free wouldn't suck one bit.

 

[solomon.trenton]

i know the Jenkins have a large trailer that they drive cross country, cheaper than all the plane tickets. probably rent a campsite and its cheap too

 

[waycowins]

That's not true. A lot of them worked their butt off to be able to tour financially. I know Eric Oakley had 3 jobs at one point.

 

[brutalbrutus]

 

[mentos]

 

[scarpfish]

I know we're laughing at the necrobump, but think how much in our sport has changed in the last seven years. I'm sure the answer to the OP's question has changed somewhat, although perhaps not as much as we'd like.

Fun fact: 3 out of 7 courses worldwide did not exist when this thread was last replied to.

 

[ILUVSMGS18]

I saw that this thread had been necro-bumped but im curious what the answer would be today. I'm not talking about Paul or Ricky but more about Nate Sexton, Eagle, Philo, and Simon.

 

[Sid Discus]

These salaries seem preposterous compared to other sports. Disc golf, like soccer, can be played by anyone and shoukd be a worldwide phenomenon.

What it needs is SOMEONE to promote and take it to the next level. Actually many levels could be easily achieved with the right marketing approach