Most non-team sports have one organization, where AMs and Pros compete against each with low entry fees and the only difference is who makes/takes cash or is sponsored. This breeds the best competition, not AMs playing for plastic. Pro Circuit Tennis tourneys are only $40 to enter provided you qualify for the event with prize payouts often up $100,000. Corporate sponsorship is where the majority of prize money comes from in all sports(as well as motivation to improve), other than poker. The question is how do you get corporate sponsorship in disc golf, so its not just playing high stakes disc golf that will burn out the players losing $250/tourney?
This is an interesting article, The Future of the Olympic Athlete, about getting more money in sport:
http://www.theraceclub.net/aqua-notes/the-future-of-the-olympic-athlete/
Along those lines you could have Nikko vs Feldy matches, or Climo vs the World to try and garner more attention, but problem is the audience for this would still so relatively low compared to other sports, its hard for any sponsors or TV to justify a ROI.
From USATF.com:
"Visa, a proud sponsor of USATF since 1988, has played a crucial role in athlete development in the sport of track and field. Visa began its support of track and field with the men's decathlon and women's pole vault events and since 2005 has entitled USATF's series of nationally televised, elite track & field events, proudly known as the VISA CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES. Formerly called the Golden Spike Tour, the VISA CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES gives U.S. athletes the opportunity to compete at home, to receive increased television and media coverage, and to be paid significant prize money based on performance. Athletes have the opportunity to participate in an athlete bonus program that culminates with awarding four athletes (two indoor and two outdoor) the title of Visa Champion and presenting each athlete with a $25,000 Visa Check for their exceptional performances. Through 2009, over $750,000 in prize money has assisted USA athletes in their training toward Olympic medals, World Championship titles, and status as the World's #1 Track & Field Team.
From an organizational perspective, USATF has been one of the greatest financial success stories in sport, more than doubling its overall revenues since 1997. The organization currently has an impressive line-up of sponsors that includes Visa, Nike, The Hershey Company, and 24 Hour Fitness, and suppliers that include Gill Athletics, St. Vincent Sports Performance, and Ludus Tours.
This surge in revenue has coincided with a hefty increase in the number of track meets broadcast on television and TV ratings. Our sport has upwards of 40 national TV broadcasts in any given year, and average Nielsen ratings for track and field broadcasts are higher than those of the NHL, the WNBA and Major League Soccer. In addition to securing national TV coverage of the Visa Championship Series, USA Track & Field has worked with ESPN, NBC, Fox Sports Net, and the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) to bring same-day, prime-time coverage of major international events to the American airwaves throughout the summer season."
I don't think following the ball golf organizational model is the best for disc golf.
Wiki:
"[Ball] Golf is one of the more lucrative sports in the world for both men and women, but it has a very different structure from other sports, especially team sports. Almost all (at least 95%) professional golfers make their main income as club or teaching professionals, rather than from competition. "Touring professionals", also known as "Tournament golfers" or "Pro golfers", who make their income from prize money and endorsements, are a small elite within the profession. The very best golfers make up to 8-figure incomes in U.S. dollars from tournament play alone; when endorsement income is taken into account, Tiger Woods is the highest earning sportsman in the world, according to Forbes magazine, retaining this status in 2010 even after a tumultuous year in which he failed to win a tournament and lost his marriage and many of his sponsors after his 2009 sex scandal.
For the less successful, trying to make a living from tournament golf can be precarious: tournaments have entry fees and the associated costs of travel and lodging, plus the hire of a caddy. Moreover, most tournaments have a "cut" after the second of four rounds, in which a minimum aggregate score is selected to eliminate roughly half the field, and advance the remaining to pairings for the final rounds. Only those players remaining after the cut earn any prize money at all. Thus, after costs are taken into account, lesser-known tournament golfers who are playing erratically (and do not have a steady income from endorsements) can be in dire financial straits in a bad year."
opcorn:
