Annual salary of DG professional

[alex513ninja]

I've heard discraft treats their pros the best. $25k bonus for winning worlds compared to $6k bonus that Ricky got for his first worlds win. I could be wrong but that's what I heard from a local discraft pro at putting league over the winter. It was the main reason his daughter chose discraft over latitude 64 when they both came knocking. That said, the putting league was at a brewery so I may have misheard lol...

 

[discgolfer25]

I've heard discraft treats their pros the best. $25k bonus for winning worlds .

Pretty safe bet on their part

 

[philstine]

I realize that you are skeptical, but the fact of the matter is he actually made close to $500,000. Just because you can't wrap your brain around the fact that he makes way more $ than what you realized, doesn't make it not true.

I'm not at all skeptical that McBeth could have earned over $400k in 2015; I'm skeptical of your assertion that because he paid over $100k in taxes he must have grossed over $400k in disc golf related income, since, even if one grants the assumption that the entire $100k liability stemmed solely from dg-related income, for the sake of argument, there are any number of scenarios in which one could incur $100k in tax liability based on as little as $200k net income, e.g., resident of CA and subject to AMT:

$200k * CA 2015 income tax rate (10.3%) = $20,600 state tax liability
$200k * AMT tax rate = [1.25 * basic federal tax rate (33%) = 41.25%] = $82,500 federal tax liability*

* does not include Social Security and Medicare (15.3%) liability and penalties for underpayment of estimated taxes, late payment, etc., if any, prior or future year payments; foreign tax liability, if any; "jock taxes," if any, etc.

The point being that the relationship between tax liability and income is not a straight-line equation, so without knowing more details about McBeth's (or ANYONE's) tax situation than are publically available, you can't simply look at the amount one paid in taxes in a given year and conclude, "Oh, (s)he grossed $x."

 

[zontar]

I don't mind not knowing McBeth's tax situation. not like he's president or anything....

 

[dbaledge]

You'd think dominating the last 2 Worlds would earn Ricky a little leverage to land a similar deal to McBeth's with Adidas, but I don't think it's in the cards.

If you compare professional achievements in 20 years Ricky might have the edge, but no way he out earns Paul.

Well in a small sport like disc golf that a lot of people have heard of but few people play even semi competitively its not really all about winning. Paul, Nate, Simon, and Eagle self promote better. I would guess they all earn more (outside of tournament winnings) than Ricky. My Basis for that statement is that Paul said to have Paid at least 100k in taxes in one season, while his career earnings are just over 350k. He would have had to bring that in in one year to pay out 100k. Also to your Adidas point he will get something, within the paintball world one team got Nike and now every team has someone. It went from one team to 10 in a year, clothing companies love doing that because it costs them little to nothing out of pocket and they get a large market share of something and cheap marketing.

 

[araytx]

Source???

So we can confirm, too.

My taxes were over 6 figures one year but that was because I had a good year/ bonuses/ many sponsors and not spending much money.

There is money in our sport but you need to WORK for it. I could sit around and just play disc golf and finish well and get by but that's not a goal. I want to make 7 figures through disc golf, I want to retire with disc golf, I want to own my own course one day, I want to teach disc golf one day, I want my family to be comfortable one day. I have dreams I have big dreams, I'm willing to work 24hrs a day to accomplish these dreams. These players don't truly understand, they are whining rather than taking responsibity and making their light. The McBeast Diaries, Champs vs Chumps, Eras Challenge..... those don't happen by accident. They were never funded they were ideas started from scratch to help promote Disc Golf, Players, Companies, Courses.... the list goes on and on. I enjoy those things because I know people love entertaining disc golf. I make myself available as much as possible for the public, for sponsors, for events but I do it because I have dreams not because I feel privledged or because I feel I deserve this or I deserve that. I work for what I have and I work HARD for what I have.

I didn't post to brag, Ian knows quite a bit about me because he is one of the few in this sport who has worked for what they have as well as Jomez and they make themselves available to the players and public.

Honestly these are the ones who should be making $ because with better equipment and better production that means more eyes on the players which mean more $ to them in sponsorship and sales. It's a chain of supportive and hard working people who will make this sport successful not whiners and "the privledged"

Here ya go.

OK, OK, I remember that post from Paul. However, I am guessing that I misinterpreted. When he states "My taxes were over 6 figures one year...," I took that to mean that when he DID his taxes the AGI that he paid tax on was well over 6 figures (Like ScottyLove quotes below) -- not that he PAID well over six figures. I guess we can get Paul to clarify, though. If I misunderstood, then I certainly will acquiesce to your position.

I read "my taxes" as "my taxable income" when I first read Paul's comments... I'm pretty sure that's what he meant anyhow. He posted a question around that time on Facebook asking who might be "the first 6-figure disc golfer" which I surmise he already knew the answer to.

 

[BuiltTooLong]

Paul's answer was to confirm Ian Anderson's letting the cat out of the bag that Paul made over $400,000 that year. Everyone was skeptical when Ian said it, much like this thread has been skeptical, which is why Paul felt the need to confirm. Ian believes that this information should be common knowledge to help legitimize the sport to those who only think in $$$. Paul obviously doesn't want to reveal the actual amount made, but he also feels indebted to Ian for everything he does for the sport.

 

[_MTL_]

I've heard discraft treats their pros the best. $25k bonus for winning worlds compared to $6k bonus that Ricky got for his first worlds win. I could be wrong but that's what I heard from a local discraft pro at putting league over the winter. It was the main reason his daughter chose discraft over latitude 64 when they both came knocking. That said, the putting league was at a brewery so I may have misheard lol...

You did.

I'm sponsored by Discraft and while our bonuses are outstanding - not to mention the top women's bonuses in the game - 25K for worlds, or any single event, isn't accurate.

However, I could see 25K being the total based on tour series profits, etc. But not a single event bonus check.

 

[Sid Discus]

Pretty safe bet on their part

OUCH! [emoji23]

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

 

[Sid Discus]

Here's how I look at it:

I know lots of sales reps (pharmaceutical, medical supplies, videogame companies, etc. The list goes on forever) that make $300,000 + just for stopping in, doing a little ass kissing and understanding the product well enough to sell it. They are not the "best in the world" at what they do. They're just guys.

Sponsored disc golfers are in a lot of ways, sales reps, but they're sales reps that are semi famous and are the best in the world at what they do with the products they sell.

I bet a lot of the sponsored guys make 6 figures in salary alone.

 

[bhadella]

I bet a lot of the sponsored guys make 6 figures in salary alone.

#giggles

Like maybe 3 or 4. Maybe.

 

[Vonbeezy1]

Here's how I look at it:

I know lots of sales reps (pharmaceutical, medical supplies, videogame companies, etc. The list goes on forever) that make $300,000 + just for stopping in, doing a little ass kissing and understanding the product well enough to sell it. They are not the "best in the world" at what they do. They're just guys.

Sponsored disc golfers are in a lot of ways, sales reps, but they're sales reps that are semi famous and are the best in the world at what they do with the products they sell.

I bet a lot of the sponsored guys make 6 figures in salary alone.

Lol this is a terrible comparison. Might be the worst comparison I've ever seen

 

[Halcón]

I know lots of sales reps (pharmaceutical, medical supplies, videogame companies, etc. The list goes on forever) that make $300,000 + just for stopping in, doing a little ass kissing and understanding the product well enough to sell it.

First of all, if this is true, it's disgusting.

I bet a lot of the sponsored guys make 6 figures in salary alone.

Like maybe 3 or 4. Maybe.

This is probably closer, but do we know how the contracts are structured? There might be less of a base salary and more payment based on performance and disc sales.

 

[DanJon]

One, maybe two making six figures in base pay.

Using the sales rep analogy, the majority of people in sales make a small base salary.

It's all in commission and bonuses.

I would be willing to bet that there are more than a handful of pros who make six figures when you factor in winnings, bonuses and royalties.

 

[scarpfish]

Here's how I look at it:

I know lots of sales reps (pharmaceutical, medical supplies, videogame companies, etc. The list goes on forever) that make $300,000 + just for stopping in, doing a little ass kissing and understanding the product well enough to sell it. They are not the "best in the world" at what they do. They're just guys.

Sponsored disc golfers are in a lot of ways, sales reps, but they're sales reps that are semi famous and are the best in the world at what they do with the products they sell.

I bet a lot of the sponsored guys make 6 figures in salary alone.

Yep, that's why they're all crashing at each other's houses and sharing transportation when they tour. Gotta love the sweet life.

 

[Sid Discus]

Everybody pick on the new guy!!! [emoji851]

Just how I see it. No need for any wadding of panties.

I'm in sales, too, so I know a few things about base salaries, no salaries, and commissions.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

 

[Zanguini]

Eagle and Simon cannot be making that much if they are stopping in April to play a B-Tier in Arkansas with a grand prize of 550$ at a tourney whose main disc sponsor was innova.

 

[5QU166Y]

Eagle and Simon cannot be making that much if they are stopping in April to play a B-Tier in Arkansas with a grand prize of 550$ at a tourney whose main disc sponsor was innova.

I don't really think that's a very meaningful argument. First, if a tournament is on the way for them between bigger events, why not stop and play it? Even if they won't get that much money, I'm sure they still enjoy competing.

Also, just because the added cash isn't that much, that doesn't mean it's their only source of income related to the event. Sponsored players get bonuses for winning events, so it's possible their bonus for winning a B tier event is as much, if not more than the amount they received in winnings. Also, they probably hosted clinics and sold discs while they were in the area, providing even more income.

 

[discgolfer25]

Eagle and Simon cannot be making that much if they are stopping in April to play a B-Tier in Arkansas with a grand prize of 550$ at a tourney whose main disc sponsor was innova.

It was in between the Texas tournaments and Jonesboro. Plus, they held a flying circus event there as well. Also, I'm not sure about this tournament, but some tournaments will offer some incentives for top pros to come to their events like cross-promoting an event that the pros host like a clinic, challenge or whatever, some will find accommodations, allow them to vend for free, etc. Funny thing is about that tournament, Eagle ended up going home instead of playing in Jonesboro.

From experience, the "Flying Circus" events or the "McBeast Challenges" or whatever each set of pros do, is a better money maker than playing in smaller tournaments. It's probably usually a smarter business decision for Paul to host 3 events on a weekend with no big tournaments, than find a B-Tier to play.

 

[Cgkdisc]

B-tier wins add 5 points to their Player of the Year points which can make a difference for the top contenders.