DGPT Sold to Todd Rainwater

[colink]

We should give this network in the sky a catchy name. . . sky network. . . sky net. . . Skynet! I love it! There's no way this could backfire!

Smashnet

Airmez

Cumulus Cloud Disc Golf

 

[Cgkdisc]

SkyEyezz

 

[mistabman]

It is funny, cause Terry and I were just talking after the podcast on Tuesday about sending a raw feed to another place where they could commentate over it, like another language or something. Or maybe just for fun like to the DGComedy guy.

Formula 1 has been doing this for years with their world feed broadcast. The challenge is similar, but scaled many times for F1 (many locations, insane infrastructure requirements, etc). A standard feed with on track sounds, graphics and stats is sent out worldwide for networks to commentate over. It works quite well.

http://www.fomwatch.co.uk/broadcast/official-tv-feeds/world-feed/

 

[Jouni]

As far as a "dots" style integration. I have thought about it a lot. And we would need a few things.
1. High quality images or graphics of each hole. Either from Google Earth, or maybe a nicely designed graphic.
2. An additional person to mark where the disc landed. And then do we care HOW it got there? Do we care if it bounced off a tree to get there, how accurate do we want our "lines" to be. Or do we just care where it ended up?

Google Earth wouldn't work well in wooded holes I think. Custom graphics would probably work better as you could emphasize important points and reduce clutter. I guess mapping the hole map to actual GPS locations should be simple, but the varying accuracy of GPS could pose some problems, so you would probably need some manual tweaking of the dots.

Of course accurate lines would be great but that would make things much more difficult...

 

[Discslinger12]

Hey Folks, here's a little perspective fwiw.

- Most folks know that 'Pro-only' events are generally not profitable endeavors particularly with the added cash requirements for the purse.
- The DGPT partnered with TDs to run the events, DGPT brought marketing, live broadcast, course dress, merchandising, etc. while the TD provided a course and funds for the purse. TD's have typically done this by running an am event either separately or combined (memorial)
- DGPT's primary revenue sources are:
--Sponsorships (largely DG-focused)
--Merchandise Revenue
--Broadcast ad revenue

- These revenue streams need to cover the costs of the tour (truck/trailer/staff/travel/etc.) and the cost of the championship (purse, expenses, etc.)

--Merchandising (online and at events) is a vital stream but doesn't have the potential to cover the tour expenses alone.

--Sponsorship Cash is also vital but tough and becoming tougher. Again, not likely that it alone or combined with merchandising is enough to support the tour.
---for national brands and who want to reach a specific customer profile - google/facebook/youtube/etc. ads do that and include analytics about the ads performance. Adding $ to a tournament purse as a sponsor comparably doesn't have analytics and the amount provided doesn't readily/easily translate into people seeing the message and buying the product, etc. It's hard to/nearly impossible to justify that $ spent on a tournament sponsorship is more valuable than $ spent via other established channels.
-- for DG-based sponsors - they too are struggling to justify the value of the sponsorship and support they are putting into tournaments. There's value there for sure - but is it commensurate to the ask? tough to say.

-This leaves ads. This is where the potential is.

--Static (inserted) ads running on disc golf broadcasts make sense to disc golf companies but again national brands struggle because the disc golf demographic, while growing, is very diverse. This is what the DGPT did/sold thru 2018. Again, there are likely better alternatives for companies to target specific customer profiles than disc golf.

--Dynamic (ad is selected based on user profile). When you watch a Jomez video, the You Tube provided ads are not the same for each viewer, the ad is selected based on the viewers buying preferences (determined by their online activity) Ad placers can target viewer profiles so it's more valuable to them. Running a popular You Tube Channel (ala Jomez) can generate over six figures in ad revenue annually.

OK, so in it's current form, the future profitability of the DGPT lied in its ability to generate dynamic ad revenue.

The established dynamic ad placers (google, facebook, youtube, etc.) are platform specific and each is not perfect.

Real-time bidding exchanges for dynamic ads are new concepts/startups that have been heavily funded by venture capital. Basically, these new alternatives (like SpotX) promise a much higher % of revenue back than the current platforms (3-4x from what I saw) to broadcast entities like the DGPT (and much bigger players, think more conventional live broadcasts for sports, etc. or broadcasts where 'static' ads are used today like network TV). Here's a little more about that: <https://icrowdnewswire.com/2019/03/07/real-time-bidding-market-2019-2025-estimated-by-top-key-players-adap-tv-appnexus-brightroll-facebook-google-spotxchange-tremor-video/>

Building on their success, the DGPT planned to get into the dynamic ad market in 2019. To do that they needed to 'own' their broadcast and distribution platform (Disc Golf Network Channel). Meaning they needed to bring it in-house and restructure their relationships with their live and post broadcast crews.

In addition to the dynamic exchanges not yet being proven, the effort to transition in the off season outstripped the capacity of the staff and things went poorly as many on this site have pointed out throughout the year. When it came time for the Memorial, the roll-out went from being 'clunky' to not working at all, ie delivering no ad revenue. The people who sold Steve on the concept quickly evaporated leaving Steve to hold the bag.

As the season went on, Steve chased a few false hopes then ultimately reverted back to past practices.

Amazingly, he delivered a broadcast for every event. To do it, however, he took it on the chin publicly, ended up breaking promises and burning some bridges.

In the end, the financial hit from the misfire was too big to be handled by the cash flow from the tour.

 

[JTacoma03]

Building on their success, the DGPT planned to get into the dynamic ad market in 2019. To do that they needed to 'own' their broadcast and distribution platform (Disc Golf Network Channel). Meaning they needed to bring it in-house and restructure their relationships with their live and post broadcast crews.

In addition to the dynamic exchanges not yet being proven, the effort to transition in the off season outstripped the capacity of the staff and things went poorly as many on this site have pointed out throughout the year. When it came time for the Memorial, the roll-out went from being 'clunky' to not working at all, ie delivering no ad revenue. The people who sold Steve on the concept quickly evaporated leaving Steve to hold the bag.

As the season went on, Steve chased a few false hopes then ultimately reverted back to past practices.

Amazingly, he delivered a broadcast for every event. To do it, however, he took it on the chin publicly, ended up breaking promises and burning some bridges.

In the end, the financial hit from the misfire was too big to be handled by the cash flow from the tour.

That's a great story, and I'm quite sure the main points hold water, but it's also a spin job. It comes off as painting Steve as an innocent, trusting Tour Director who was shafted by people in the know...and that's just not an accurate picture. The people who were technologically knowledgeable felt generally like they were either ignored, or not asked, about the viability of the 2019 plan.

Source: I've talked to the people that I believe you're referencing in your "left Steve holding the bag" characterization.

Another Source: I told Steve media would eventually have to be in-housed after his first year of the DGPT if he ever wanted to invert the payment-for-rights structure. I told him this the day after the inaugural championship as we drove together from Smugglers Notch to Bristol, CT to tour ESPN. We had a 4 hour car ride where we brainstormed about waxed philosophically about media, new tours, and the future of the sport. I'm not claiming to be the first person to ever tell Steve these things, but we had an in-depth conversation about how his tour would have a media revenue ceiling BECAUSE he did the opposite of the DGWT and outsourced (aka gave away) the rights to save money in year 1.

 

[Discslinger12]

Did not mean to paint Steve as innocent. Just providing context. No doubt he handled communications and feedback from existing partners poorly.

The people who left early in the year were not disc golf folks as far as I know. But I could be wrong.

You're wise to have recognized the potential of ads/broadcast revenue. Early on I believe Steve was counting on revenue from the disc golf carnival that didn't materialize as planned.

 

[JTacoma03]

Did not mean to paint Steve as innocent. Just providing context. No doubt he handled communications and feedback from existing partners poorly.

The people who left early in the year were not disc golf folks as far as I know. But I could be wrong.

You're wise to have recognized the potential of ads/broadcast revenue. Early on I believe Steve was counting on revenue from the disc golf carnival that didn't materialize as planned.

Steve did learn some hard lessons about the patterns of the audience/consumer in this niche that honestly you can't 100% blame him for. We all got a better picture of what people will do and spend on, and it's not always what people say they will do or spend either.

I may be biased, but I think our fanbase is an interesting cross-section where despite being fans of a physical sport that incorporates nature over technology for its challenge and appeal, the consumer patterns seem to me to trend like digital or technologically forward events/competitions (such as eSports).

There's still never been a live broadcast or post-produced video that adequately replicates the vibes and "feel" of being there, but that didn't matter to the Jomez stans when there was beef with the Tour (ideologically representing the physical game itself in this contest). It's an interesting case study IMO.

 

[Orchestra]

I had forgotten about the "Festival of the Disc"/Dodge City. Did that run for all four years?

 

[DiscFifty]

Dodge should have hired Jeff Spring to be the face/voice of the DGPT and let Dodge handle the biz behind the scenes.

 

[SD86]

Dodge should have hired Jeff Spring to be the face/voice of the DGPT and let Dodge handle the biz behind the scenes.

Looks like it's working out correctly now: Dodge is no longer a part of the business at all.

 

[mmblink86]

And it won't come out of no where and be good. It takes time and development and we are seeing that happen in front of us. I seriously don't understand criticizing the push by Steve for trying to get things like live coverage up to his vision instead of a bit of praise and to think I wonder how long until we get live coverage? Things need a starting point and time. ****ting on the guy that pushes to get stuff rolling and developed because the initial quality isn't up to the level of something like a major broadcast sports network is silly.

not really following your post. i think most of us have separated what Steve attempted with live and what is consistently put forward by Smashboxx.

yes, it has taken time and development. we have seen Smashboxx live coverage evolve.

however, if people continue to be overly sensitive regarding criticism, it will lead to counter-productivity and non-development.

fact: live disc golf is not perfect.
fact: live disc golf can be improved.
fact: no one is saying that live disc golf should be at the quality level that major broadcast networks produce at. especially regarding picture quality.

however, i do not feel it is off-base to say that improvements can be made regarding run-time, production, and logistics. there are many ways to improve these aspects, which IMO, will add more value to the live product than improving stream or picture quality.

i do not feel it is off-base to say that current technology is a limiting barrier and improvements to technology and technological access can and will benefit the quality of the product in the long term.

like Jeff said: let's work smarter, not harder. there is more fragmentation in DG media this year, and inefficiencies exist in all areas of disc golf media production.

let's stop being defensive. let's team-up collectively for the sake of timely innovation and advancement.

 

[dreadlock86]

now that i realize that some of the people doing the work are in this thread, please allow me to back pedal

i don't enjoy the live product but thank you all for your effort and hard work. we have to start somewhere and you are getting the ball rolling.

 

[trasf]

Curious about their plans to try attract major crowds outside regulars to view/spectate discgolf.

 

[gammaxgoblin]

First I said blimps....then it was drones with laser optically transmitted gigaband....now im thinking AI managed entangled qubits...quantum entanglement eliminates the lines of sight and wooded remote location problem and having AI manage it just frees everyone to up to......Lets Watch Some Disc Golf!

 

[jvphobic]

now that i realize that some of the people doing the work are in this thread, please allow me to back pedal

i don't enjoy the live product but thank you all for your effort and hard work. we have to start somewhere and you are getting the ball rolling.

Thanks. Honestly, I am ok with that. I can totally understand someone not being a fan of the live broadcast. Truly. I have thought a lot about this, and to me, our live broadcast is a LOT like a baseball broadcast. It is about 3.5 hours long, you can only film when there is action. We just need to find creative ways to fill time when there is downtime.

We can improve a few ways.
1. Hire someone to create nice filler material.
2. Hire additional cameramen for the broadcast to fill time with extra shots.

Both obviously require money. And right now the broadcast is paid for by sponsors. It was mentioned earlier about dynamic 3rd party ads. If you showed 36 ads (2 per hole) and you got an average of about $15 CPM (CPM is basically cost per 1000 viewers). That would make about $1600 per round. Assuming we are at about 3000 viewers. That isn't bad. But one of the main complaints that we have is that we show too many commercials. So we would have to cut that down in order to show more golf. Or, we try to put them in bigger chunks and miss some action.

Just food for thought. Not sure where to go from here. Lots of ideas and people to bounce them off of.

 

[Cgkdisc]

Does the CPM change if the ads are shown in some percentage of the screen while live action is showing? Seems like that's how soccer dealt with the getting ads shown during constant action.

 

[Casey 1988]

Whoa, didn't see that coming.

FYI, this is the BILLIONAIRE Todd Rainwater. Holy smokes. Disc golf's been asking for a big time investor. Well, this is pretty big folks. Google him. It's that Todd Rainwater, son of Richard Rainwater.

That hopefully does not mean we end up with Pay per view Disc golf.

 

[Casey 1988]

Jomez back in the picture for DGPT (or I assume so based on their reaction)!

More permanently for them and CCDG to be filming the tour this next year. Who will do the live coverage? is all that needs to be hashed out.

 

[jvphobic]

I have no idea if Jomez will be back or not. According to the DGPT they are opening up an RFP for post production coverage. So that could mean that CCDG, Gatekeeper, GK Pro, etc gets the nod depending on what they are offering. I have a lot of faith in the new direction of the DGPT.