The Inevitable 2017 Pros Switching Sponsors Thread

[Toro71]

Huh, this page changes my mind on some things. I'm a convertate.

 

[Hyzer Ale]

Will S. just posted on Facebook "The last four years have been great. Today I am making a big change. Stay tuned! ��"

Leaving Prodigy?

 

[Anon]

Will S. just posted on Facebook "The last four years have been great. Today I am making a big change. Stay tuned! ��"

Leaving Prodigy?

That would be pretty shocking considering what Big Jerm said about Will on the Smashboxx podcast he was on (or maybe it was the CCDG one).

Paraphrasing but he pretty much said that "Will should have a Prodigy tattoo on his forehead" for how hard he promotes the brand when he's not playing.

 

[wims]

Will would be a great salesman for any brand he chooses to represent, that's for sure. There's a lot of value in Will for the various potential sponsors

 

[wproct]

I'm really pleased to see Paige Pierce's move to DD, and how enthused she seems to be with it and how well she seems to be treated by them. Not only is she a great player but also a great personality. I will actually be buying some DD discs this year just in support of this move.:thmbup:

 

[DanJon]

Based on what we've seen recently with Val and Paige, Innova is the "largest supporter" of women's disc golf only because they are BY FAR the largest company in disc golf. What DD is doing for Paige right now blows away what any other company is doing for their female pros.

How does individual support for a female player translate into overall growth in female participation?

Supporting one player isn't necessarily going to grow female participation on a large scale.

People on here have repeatedly said in the past, that the Pro side of our sport doesn't contribute much to the overall growth. They would rather see investment in grassroot, bottom up models of growth.

So why is it that people on here all of a sudden think that investing money into FPO players will create a surge in overall female participation?

Contradictory thinking.

 

[lyleoross]

Will S. just posted on Facebook "The last four years have been great. Today I am making a big change. Stay tuned! ��"

Leaving Prodigy?

He's gonna start winning again? Ricky, Paul and Will at the top of their game for a season would be great watching.

 

[JedV]

I'm really pleased to see Paige Pierce's move to DD, and how enthused she seems to be with it and how well she seems to be treated by them. Not only is she a great player but also a great personality. I will actually be buying some DD discs this year just in support of this move.:thmbup:

Same here. Been a Paige fan since 2011.

 

[Finny]

There are two sides to that. The first is, they're doing more for females based on what? What's your measure. Innova started doing things for women a very long time ago, before they become the evil Empire. (My expectation is that Paul will do a Darth imitation in the next Champs and Chumps). Discraft gets the same credit.

If I am DD I'm going to leverage the talent I have to my benefit. At the moment that is PP. So we're getting PP. Yep, it's good, and good of them, and great for Paige. But if they had Innova's stable would they do the same?

BTW, if Val really wants to help women, a move in the same direction would be smart. Go to a company that is good at marketing and wants the most high profile face it can get.

BTW, DD is smart. What they are doing is smart. If the big boys aren't careful they're gonna take a bite.

Yes, Innova and Discraft were the first major companies to sponsor female pros. But weren't they also basically the ONLY companies at the time. Based on what we know, doesn't seem like they've always supported women financially at the same level as their male players.

I agree that Paige is DD's biggest star, period. But I think they'd push her even if they had big male stars. They seem interested in doing the "right" thing.

Agree that a move to DD would be great for Val. Based on her comments during McCabe's livestream from the DD warehouse, Paige would welcome Val and would love to see Val get a signature disc.

DD does seem very smart. They are marketing Paige even more than Innova markets Paul, at least on social media terms.

 

[Finny]

How does individual support for a female player translate into overall growth in female participation?

Supporting one player isn't necessarily going to grow female participation on a large scale.

People on here have repeatedly said in the past, that the Pro side of our sport doesn't contribute much to the overall growth. They would rather see investment in grassroot, bottom up models of growth.

So why is it that people on here all of a sudden think that investing money into FPO players will create a surge in overall female participation?

Contradictory thinking.

I think that marketing your female stars makes a difference in getting women to play. I think the pro side does contribute to growth. But I could be wrong.

I wasn't thinking about Innova's support of women-specific events, though. I assume that's what you're thinking of, and it's a good point.

 

[Finny]

Huh, this page changes my mind on some things. I'm a convertate.

Literally LOL'ed.

 

[@iDiscGolf]

Will S. just posted on Facebook "The last four years have been great. Today I am making a big change. Stay tuned! ��"

Leaving Prodigy?

No. He got a new sunglasses sponsor... He's gonna stick with the good ol' herky jerky putting.

 

[snappyj]

No. He got a new sunglasses sponsor... He's gonna stick with the good ol' herky jerky putting.

He announced his sunglasses sponsor 2 days ago. He said to stay tuned for more news today.

 

[Royalhghnss]

Si senor. All Signature and Tour series discs give some profits to the player. However, Sig gets more of a percentage than Tour.

That's backwards. The total for sig might be higher (due to volume), but the player gets more from each Tour series disc.

Honestly, I'd be more inclined to assume Prodigy. Not only has Cat stated that they have the same contracts for men and women, but they have release TONS of women's Signature discs. Hell, even Mandy Sharp, a relative unknown, has a signature stamped M4 with 100 run (I think) While I'm sure it was a fundraiser with that low number of a run, but, still, it's a disc with her name on it as a young, rarely recognized, 887 ranked player with as many wins last year as some locals I know. (no disrespect to Ms. Sharp, but stating that she's not a household DG name) Prodigy definitely does a ton more to recognize their players than most teams.

That's more analogous to a Tour series or even fundraiser disc than a signature disc to stay consistent with the terminology being used in the thread.

OK, and just to confirm, it is on a per disc sold basis? So the more popular the disc is, the more money the Champ would make?

Yup

That would be pretty shocking considering what Big Jerm said about Will on the Smashboxx podcast he was on (or maybe it was the CCDG one).

Paraphrasing but he pretty much said that "Will should have a Prodigy tattoo on his forehead" for how hard he promotes the brand when he's not playing.

can confirm it was the CCDG one :thmbup:

 

[skizzle34]

I think people are mistaking the newness of the Paige move as DD showing an extreme amount of support for women. When you get anything NEW of course you are going to fixate on it for a short while. Will DD continue to push Paige as hard as they are now? Unlikely because after awhile the novelty will wear off and she will just be another player on their roster. They would be extremely poor business people if they didn't push hard now.

 

[lyleoross]

Yes, Innova and Discraft were the first major companies to sponsor female pros. But weren't they also basically the ONLY companies at the time. Based on what we know, doesn't seem like they've always supported women financially at the same level as their male players.

I agree that Paige is DD's biggest star, period. But I think they'd push her even if they had big male stars. They seem interested in doing the "right" thing.

Agree that a move to DD would be great for Val. Based on her comments during McCabe's livestream from the DD warehouse, Paige would welcome Val and would love to see Val get a signature disc.

DD does seem very smart. They are marketing Paige even more than Innova markets Paul, at least on social media terms.

So the fact that at a time when women's sports were receiving little to no support at all, that Innova and Discraft supported women, and women's events, occurred only because no one else was doing it? I don't understand your logic flow.

BTW - on the top two teams for Innova vs the top two teams for DD, the ratio of men to women is, let me see, do do do, that would be 2 to 1 (12 to 6) for Innova and 7 to 1 for DD. And the one is? Oh yeah, PP.

The argument that is being made about Innova is that they are essentially sexist.

So, as I understand it, Innova took on almost a twenty year path to mistreat women. They decided that they were going to compensate women differently, and unfairly from men, and they stuck to that through thick and thin. They were so committed to their sexism and mistreatment of women that, not only did they bring lots of them onto their team - nothing like proximity so you can exercise your bias - when their top female pro came to them, negotiated hard, told them she was going to leave if they didn't modify their stance, that they stuck to their guns. I mean that takes some serious chutzpah. Talk about your commitment. It's almost like they looked at the numbers and decided that the support that player wanted wasn't merited by the money being discussed and decided that they'd stick with their... sexism.

The argument is, ludicrous. At least I hope someone out there thinks it is.

Ive written this before, but... it isn't a matter of a player's name decreasing sales, it's a matter of it increasing sales. If I give said player $1 per every disc with "her" name on it, that I sell, how many extra discs do I have to sell to cover the additional cost, and make more money? Sixth grade math, who knew it was relevant! Because the goal in sponsoring players is to add to your brand and make more money.

No manufacturer has an obligation to support the women's sport. They have a legally punishible obligation to not discriminate. Yet many are beating all around the edge suggesting that Innova has, when there is zero evidence of that, and lots of evidence that they've supported women, most likely at a cost.

You are making the point that the women's game needs to be supported, and that will generate capital. Great, stand by your position. I'd love to see the PDGA take on the issue to flesh it out.

If you are gonna argue that the sport should be doing more, then you need to step up and do that through the PDGA. If you are morally committed to the concept, then shouldn't you be willing to pay for it's testing? Shouldn't you be arguing to the PDGA that they need to move in this direction with a separate women's tour and additional support?

It isn't the job of a for profit company to do that. It's why there are some things best left to capitalism, and some things that should be handled in a different way. As a note, at some level we've done this. Coverage and support of the women's game has been driven by the PDGA. It's part of the reason why the women's game carries the financial weight it does.

 

[wims]

I think people are mistaking the newness of the Paige move as DD showing an extreme amount of support for women. When you get anything NEW of course you are going to fixate on it for a short while. Will DD continue to push Paige as hard as they are now? Unlikely because after awhile the novelty will wear off and she will just be another player on their roster. They would be extremely poor business people if they didn't push hard now.

Not only the novelty of having Paige on their team but they also realize that Women is a hot topic in DG these days. DD are very savvy when it comes to social media

 

[Reniger]

That's backwards. The total for sig might be higher (due to volume), but the player gets more from each Tour series disc.



That's more analogous to a Tour series or even fundraiser disc than a signature disc to stay consistent with the terminology being used in the thread.



Yup




can confirm it was the CCDG one :thmbup:

AHH! TOO MANY NAMES FOR THE SAME DAMN THING!!! MY LITTLE BRAIN CAN'T TAKE IT! I'm so confused by now... They have a person's name, and they might get a couple bucks, better than nothin', right!

I'll see myself out.

 

[Anon]

DD are very savvy when it comes to social media

They definitely seem to have the FB social side locked down compared to others.

 

[@iDiscGolf]

I think people are mistaking the newness of the Paige move as DD showing an extreme amount of support for women. When you get anything NEW of course you are going to fixate on it for a short while. Will DD continue to push Paige as hard as they are now? Unlikely because after awhile the novelty will wear off and she will just be another player on their roster. They would be extremely poor business people if they didn't push hard now.

Not only the novelty of having Paige on their team but they also realize that Women is a hot topic in DG these days. DD are very savvy when it comes to social media

Paige is not a novelty. She IS one of the best players in the game...