Has Prodigy Peaked?

[Surge5]

It's now in a legal document that Prodigy discs are "inconsistent" and have "flashing."

Between that being a matter of public record, them deciding to sue a 17-year-old, and the rumors that Chris and Paige also had legal action attempted against them, are we seeing the downfall of Prodigy before our eyes?

Do they win, make Gannon look like a whiny kid, and come back with some big names? Or do KJ and Isaac depart and leave them paddling for air at the end of 2023 (assuming they aren't afraid of being sued)?

 

[vadisc]

If a 17 year old kid takes down Prodigy then Prodigy was well on their way out before this happened. Not taking sides here, haven't read through all the available information and don't plan to as I don't have a vested interest in either side.

 

[Flick Maniac]

If a 17 year old kid takes down Prodigy

Hey their words not ours.

"losing G.B. to one of our competitors, especially when we passed up other sponsorship opportunities under the assumption that G.B. would remain with PDI for the 2023 season, would be a setback that PDI may never recover from."

Straight from Prodigy CEOs mouth in the Ultiworld article.

 

[TheOtherBill]

KJ calls his new Prodigy disc 'boring'. Gannon says "hey you're on live TV"

"So what?" KJ replies

https://streamable.com/4rdchi

 

[dmoore1998]

KJ calls his new Prodigy disc 'boring'. Gannon says "hey you're on live TV"

"So what?" KJ replies

https://streamable.com/4rdchi

And then the commentators talk about it for a bit after drawing even more light to the comment.

 

[uncle pennybags]

Well, they still have Cale, who a lot of people like, so maybe that will be a good thing for them going forward.

 

[dmoore1998]

Maybe this is all a big sales ploy. Gannon announces he's leaving, Prodigy says this may end the company, everyone who throws Prodigy buys up all the stock they can thinking the company is about to disappear forever, Prodigy and Gannon post a "just kidding" video and ride off into the sunset on a mountain of money.

 

[coupe]

Do they win, make Gannon look like a whiny kid, and come back with some big names? Or do KJ and Isaac depart and leave them paddling for air at the end of 2023 (assuming they aren't afraid of being sued)?

Better questions would be, if they win and force Gannon to play out the season using thier equipment does he go on a season-long "2016 Paige Pierce just mailing it in tour" (no promotional appearances, no mention in thanks to sponsors, no branded logo apparel, etc.) on them … and what recourse do they have if he does?

opcorn:

 

[jakebake91]

Well, they still have Cale, who a lot of people like, so maybe that will be a good thing for them going forward.

There's an entire generation of disc golf players who don't even know who he is. Other than maybe "the guy who does the Preserve?". He's far from a highly visible player these days.

 

[nothinbuttree]

No dog in the fight, but I have a hard time seeing Prodigy recover from this. Without lots of marketing dollars, which they probably don't have. If their top name other than GB is disenfranchised with them too...

So if Prodigy really does have inferior overall plastic, and GB at 17 still is a top 5 player, what could he be with superior plastic?

 

[dmoore1998]

Better questions would be, if they win and force Gannon to play out the season using thier equipment does he go on a season-long "2016 Paige Pierce just mailing it in tour" (no promotional appearances, no mention in thanks to sponsors, no branded logo apparel, etc.) on them … and what recourse do they have if he does?

opcorn:

I mean I hope he doesn't have to, but the drama/comedy impact of this might be pure gold. I mean imagine him in every interview commenting on how his hand is torn up from the flashing on the discs, how excited he is for NEXT year, if he can technically get away with throwing other plastic during other times (like the Putting Game), after a big win pointing out to his fans that he likely won't be getting a disc commemorating that win, that he's feeling a bit run down because he had to eat ramen while he waits for "a check" to arrive that he was promised.

 

[jakebake91]

Question:
Prodigy stated that losing Gannon to a competitor this year would be a 1.5 million loss, that they might never recover from......

So what does that say about next year? Because even if he's forced to honor his contract this year, he's obviously not resining with them next. The financial implications are substantially less then? Someone with a better business degree than mine might have to explain that one to me.

 

[elmexdela]

Well, they still have Cale, who a lot of people like, so maybe that will be a good thing for them going forward.

cales leased property was about to go boots up until gggt bailed them out

also heard whispers of things worse than is bein disclosed to public

 

[jakebake91]

I think the answer to the title question is basically being answered by Prodigy themselves. I don't think they are long for the DG world.

 

[oddjob]

cales leased property was about to go boots up until gggt bailed them out

also heard whispers of things worse than is bein disclosed to public

Jbfc, either spill the beans or don't bother mentioning it.

 

[dmoore1998]

Question:
Prodigy stated that losing Gannon to a competitor this year would be a 1.5 million loss, that they might never recover from......

So what does that say about next year? Because even if he's forced to honor his contract this year, he's obviously not resining with them next. The financial implications are substantially less then? Someone with a better business degree than mine might have to explain that one to me.

Theoretically when he leaves next year, they may be able to put those marketing dollars to use on something to help sustain their sales (like paying a different player). I say "theoretically" because they have to massively exaggerate the impact of Gannon's actions because they are requesting an immediate injunction to stop him. They can't say "impact will be minimal, but grant this emergency injunction anyways".

 

[BillFleming]

Better questions would be, if they win and force Gannon to play out the season using thier equipment does he go on a season-long "2016 Paige Pierce just mailing it in tour" (no promotional appearances, no mention in thanks to sponsors, no branded logo apparel, etc.) on them … and what recourse do they have if he does?

opcorn:

Or....does he take a year off from playing in tournaments? Is there a clause in his contract requiring him to play?

One interesting thing I've read about this whole thing....he was a minor when the contract was signed, by his mother. So is it legally enforceable against him?

 

[jakebake91]

Theoretically when he leaves next year, they may be able to put those marketing dollars to use on something to help sustain their sales (like paying a different player). I say "theoretically" because they have to massively exaggerate the impact of Gannon's actions because they are requesting an immediate injunction to stop him. They can't say "impact will be minimal, but grant this emergency injunction anyways".

I kind of understood that. I guess my question was more in how did they get to a 1.5 million number? Did they spend that on marketing Gannon? I can't imagine. Loss is revenue from disc sales? If that's true, I gotta imagine Gannon wouldn't be too upset if they were moving that much plastic with his name.. unless he's getting shorted.

Idk. It just didn't all compute with me. Something seems grossly exaggerated.

 

[dmoore1998]

I kind of understood that. I guess my question was more in how did they get to a 1.5 million number? Did they spend that on marketing Gannon? I can't imagine. Loss is revenue from disc sales? If that's true, I gotta imagine Gannon wouldn't be too upset if they were moving that much plastic with his name.. unless he's getting shorted.

Idk. It just didn't all compute with me. Something seems grossly exaggerated.

I'm guessing it's a combination of "lost advertising because Gannon ends up on coverage a lot" combined with "Gannon leaving like "this" just made us look really stupid and our reputation is suffering".

They definitely didn't spend that on marketing Gannon. They aren't moving that much plastic with his name...they're moving a lot of plastic because of Gannon that has nothing to do with his name on it...simply because he's a top player advertising their product.

But yes, it's probably exaggerated. When you want a court to grant an emergency injunction, you have to imagine worst case scenario, then put that out as your actual damage.

 

[BillFleming]

When you want a court to grant an emergency injunction, you have to imagine worst case scenario, then put that out as your actual damage.

But in court the other side would say those numbers are made up or false. So don't grant the injunction as they have no proof those numbers are valid and granting an injunction on false information would hurt my client (GB).

((Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer....but it makes sense Gannon's side would argue against the numbers being factual if they are being used to request an injunction)).