With the progress of DGPT and DGN and signing a contract, for letting someone borrow his family farm for a weekend.
I dare say he might be the one laughing?
I dare say he might be the one laughing?
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Are We Still Laughing at Steve Dodge?
- Thread starter ru4por
- Start date
seedlings
* Ace Member *
I don't know the back story, but I love a good laugh.
I also don't know the back story but Maple Hill is in my bucket list of courses to play if I ever find myself out east.
Good on everyone for locking the tournament down for ten more years so I can at least see it in tournament coverage.
Good on everyone for locking the tournament down for ten more years so I can at least see it in tournament coverage.
I never laughed at Dodge. Shook my head sometimes. But he was the "man in the arena", willing to dream big and make the effort to make it happen. Even before the DGPT, which was launched at the same time as 2 other ambitious tours, now forgotten*.
* - Well, a few of us haven't forgotten one of them, and we do laugh when we think of it.
* - Well, a few of us haven't forgotten one of them, and we do laugh when we think of it.
- Joined
- Feb 2, 2014
- Messages
- 8,168
I think they finally took the American DG "tour" event off the espn streaming service. Quite the cautionary tale.
kw83028
* Ace Member *
Not the one with a first place payout of folded up cash in a sandwich ziplock or the Hooters score board girls right?
Not the one with a first place payout of folded up cash in a sandwich ziplock or the Hooters score board girls right?
I like both of those ideas better than the 10 foot whiskers at Las Vegas. I understand the meaning of 10 feet (C1X) but it added nothing to the viewing experience and I found it more of a distraction.
DGPT has become a huge success and Maple Hill is one of the premiere venues in the sport so props to Steve Dodge. I'm pretty sure they laughed at Vince McMahon with the XFL, but some of his ideas worked their way into the NFL.
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2021
- Messages
- 569
Not the one with a first place payout of folded up cash in a sandwich ziplock or the Hooters score board girls right?
If the prize money was rolled up and tied with a rubber band that would it at least be slightly more professional.
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2012
- Messages
- 4,000
Steve Dodge, just give me back my beloved Vibram discs at a reasonable price, and we will laugh together.
CaptainAnhyzer
* Ace Member *
For the second year in a row, several of our local club(DisCap) members went to volunteer for the MVP Open. Keep in mind that we are based in Albany NY, two hours away.
Steve returned the favor by making a $1000 donation to the club. He's also letting us run a bag tag monthly(mini) at Maple Hill this spring.
Steve returned the favor by making a $1000 donation to the club. He's also letting us run a bag tag monthly(mini) at Maple Hill this spring.
spinachd
Eagle Member
Has anyone checked the Maple Hill property for a virus manipulation lab?
frasnow
Eagle Member
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2009
- Messages
- 701
Never forget:
https://discgolf.ultiworld.com/2019/03/21/steve-dodge-single-entity-theory-pro-disc-golf/
"DGPT head Steve Dodge stepped inside the Smashboxx on November 13, 2018, to announce that he was firing the only endemic producers of live tournament coverage: SmashboxxTV."
"The Memorial were a significant downgrade from the JomezPro and CCDG fare to which the viewing public has become accustomed. There are no DGPT post-produced videos from Waco at all"
Jeff Spring did it right by partnering with the greats of disc golf media.
Steve Dodge has done some good for disc golf, but he has had a number of missteps. He may have started Vibram Disc Golf, but the Four20 was a marketing nightmare, and decision Steve owned, that likely caused Vibram to stop selling discs.
https://discgolf.ultiworld.com/2019/03/21/steve-dodge-single-entity-theory-pro-disc-golf/
"DGPT head Steve Dodge stepped inside the Smashboxx on November 13, 2018, to announce that he was firing the only endemic producers of live tournament coverage: SmashboxxTV."
"The Memorial were a significant downgrade from the JomezPro and CCDG fare to which the viewing public has become accustomed. There are no DGPT post-produced videos from Waco at all"
Jeff Spring did it right by partnering with the greats of disc golf media.
Steve Dodge has done some good for disc golf, but he has had a number of missteps. He may have started Vibram Disc Golf, but the Four20 was a marketing nightmare, and decision Steve owned, that likely caused Vibram to stop selling discs.
Last edited:
Cgkdisc
.:Hall of Fame Member:.
A maxim for business success is you only need to be right 1 out of 3 tries. Cut your losses early on the downers and let your good ones run.
Now if he could just start manufacturing Ascents again for pros to throw on tour (and some extra ones for me), then I would be happier.
dehaas
* Ace Member *
I know people poke a bit of fun here and there, I know I have at times, but I think that's partly because he reminds me of myself in ways. No doubt the dude is very passionate about dg. I get the vibe that he's a big picture high level guy, and not good at all with the detailed side of things.
There's not there's anything wrong with that, just means some large talk for things that don't live up to the hype. Vibram was definitely unique for its time, some of the molds were great, others not so much. Personally I thought the medium blend was some of the best material for winter time play. Discraft has been doing the Ace Race forever, but the Birdie Bash allowed you to pick the two molds you played with and was an actual full round of golf. It led the way for the Trilogy Challenge and some of the other "promotional" events. It'll be interesting to see what kind of traction Vibram gets if they come back…newer players see random dg memes making fun of them and probably assume their discs are junk. All the putters were legit, the ibex/obex combo was solid, and I liked the trak and ascent also. Dabbled a bit with the lace, it'd go far but like any warp speed disc it varied in stability. Can't say I threw any of the newer molds after that, but let's not forget their "experimental 420" driver lol.
DGPT vs DGWT…to be fair they were both attempts to legitimize pro disc golf, just had different approaches. I think this is probably what the thread is hinting at, but on paper consider the differences: DGWT ran by Jussi, backed a lot by Innova also. Said pretty much right away no live coverage, would have post production footage available, and had daily recap shows highlighting any major topics. Majority of events were in the US but did have a couple international events. Had branded clothing offered from DUDE (out of business now?), bag offered by Grip, and plastic offered by DM and Innova. DGPT initially was pitched more of a traveling grassroots festival. First year or two they had some random spectator games to play, no idea if they still do? I believe Dodge also talked about having a big block party vibe after the tournament rounds in the evenings, might have mentioned live music and entertainment on hand. He heavily promoted the anticipation and emotion of watching live. There definitely is some energy of watching a crazy finish live, but this was several years ago. This was several years ago, and I don't think anybody expected live coverage to hold a candle to Jomez or Central Coast. On paper DGPT seemed a lot more let's wing it and see how things go, and DGWT seemed more like a polished product.
DGWT caught a lot of flack for not offering an FPO division. I don't think that's what did them in though. My own take: DGWT was a lot more exclusive, meaning it was basically a handful of events funded by Innova and Discmania. DGPT was partnering with pretty much any manufacturer for sponsorship. I always felt like DM/Innova budgeted a set amount of time and money towards DGWT and it just hadn't grown enough for them to keep dumping more money into it. I think a situation like that helped Dodge with the DGPT…keep going and just trust that things will come around. No clue if he had always planned on selling it off and walking away after a few years, or if it was a necessity to keep DGPT afloat.
I want to think he owned Prime Discs at one point, and sold the business off to Disc Nation? I know Maple Hill and Marshall Street are very close to each other, but don't the two have kind of a sibling rivalry thing going on? Not saying each are owned by the same family, I think the MST owner is known for being abrasive?
The players all seem to speak very highly of Steve though. I think he's just not afraid to let his personality show. All in all a great deal for MVP and Maple Hill both. It's a good thing knowing there is funding available to help cover course improvements, payouts, or whatever will help the tournament grow. It also speaks well for MVP if they're kicking in 200k a year, they wouldn't be doing it if they weren't seeing a return on the investment. Deals like this and the DGPT/Jomez one hopefully encourage others to lock into similar commitments. I'd imagine it makes things easier to plan if you know you have x amount of sponsorship dollars already committed.
There's not there's anything wrong with that, just means some large talk for things that don't live up to the hype. Vibram was definitely unique for its time, some of the molds were great, others not so much. Personally I thought the medium blend was some of the best material for winter time play. Discraft has been doing the Ace Race forever, but the Birdie Bash allowed you to pick the two molds you played with and was an actual full round of golf. It led the way for the Trilogy Challenge and some of the other "promotional" events. It'll be interesting to see what kind of traction Vibram gets if they come back…newer players see random dg memes making fun of them and probably assume their discs are junk. All the putters were legit, the ibex/obex combo was solid, and I liked the trak and ascent also. Dabbled a bit with the lace, it'd go far but like any warp speed disc it varied in stability. Can't say I threw any of the newer molds after that, but let's not forget their "experimental 420" driver lol.
DGPT vs DGWT…to be fair they were both attempts to legitimize pro disc golf, just had different approaches. I think this is probably what the thread is hinting at, but on paper consider the differences: DGWT ran by Jussi, backed a lot by Innova also. Said pretty much right away no live coverage, would have post production footage available, and had daily recap shows highlighting any major topics. Majority of events were in the US but did have a couple international events. Had branded clothing offered from DUDE (out of business now?), bag offered by Grip, and plastic offered by DM and Innova. DGPT initially was pitched more of a traveling grassroots festival. First year or two they had some random spectator games to play, no idea if they still do? I believe Dodge also talked about having a big block party vibe after the tournament rounds in the evenings, might have mentioned live music and entertainment on hand. He heavily promoted the anticipation and emotion of watching live. There definitely is some energy of watching a crazy finish live, but this was several years ago. This was several years ago, and I don't think anybody expected live coverage to hold a candle to Jomez or Central Coast. On paper DGPT seemed a lot more let's wing it and see how things go, and DGWT seemed more like a polished product.
DGWT caught a lot of flack for not offering an FPO division. I don't think that's what did them in though. My own take: DGWT was a lot more exclusive, meaning it was basically a handful of events funded by Innova and Discmania. DGPT was partnering with pretty much any manufacturer for sponsorship. I always felt like DM/Innova budgeted a set amount of time and money towards DGWT and it just hadn't grown enough for them to keep dumping more money into it. I think a situation like that helped Dodge with the DGPT…keep going and just trust that things will come around. No clue if he had always planned on selling it off and walking away after a few years, or if it was a necessity to keep DGPT afloat.
I want to think he owned Prime Discs at one point, and sold the business off to Disc Nation? I know Maple Hill and Marshall Street are very close to each other, but don't the two have kind of a sibling rivalry thing going on? Not saying each are owned by the same family, I think the MST owner is known for being abrasive?
The players all seem to speak very highly of Steve though. I think he's just not afraid to let his personality show. All in all a great deal for MVP and Maple Hill both. It's a good thing knowing there is funding available to help cover course improvements, payouts, or whatever will help the tournament grow. It also speaks well for MVP if they're kicking in 200k a year, they wouldn't be doing it if they weren't seeing a return on the investment. Deals like this and the DGPT/Jomez one hopefully encourage others to lock into similar commitments. I'd imagine it makes things easier to plan if you know you have x amount of sponsorship dollars already committed.
It seemed to me that DGWT was just trying to elevate the then-existing formula, while Steve diverged from that by really pursuing the spectator side, particularly live spectators. Not just with the sideshows, but trying formulas like match play to generate more drama. He was willing to try a lot of new things. I was skeptical that it would ever work, but in his wake it looks like online coverage and viewership is succeeding.
dehaas
* Ace Member *
That's a good point, maybe part of the reason why DGWT didn't catch on as quickly? If I recall they only had like 6-8 events also? Where DGPT had more, and basically took some of the larger already established events and said ok your event is part of our tour now. Your event will benefit from our visibility.
Yep.....this is the kind of discussion I was hoping to spark.
It sounds like a bigger party/festival is what Dodge is not angling for, at the MVP Open. IMO...that sounds great. As a potential spectator, this is what would draw me in.
I wonder how this deal impacts other tournaments. Should the MetroParks here start negotiating with Discraft, for naming rights to use Toboggan, for DGLO and USADGC? Are there other courses, offering the amenities to rival Maple Hill, that could look into this kind of deal? What does this mean for private courses, like Cale's? How about current private courses, that have the gold level courses and amenities now? Do they pursue a deal with a disc company, to curry favor in attracting DGPT event? Or is Dodge again leading disc golf down a dark tunnel?
