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I'm very interested to see how McBeth manages his sponsors over the next few years. He's the most marketable commodity in the sport currently, and these moves he's made are basically him trying to assert a certain monetary value on his brand. It's a risky strategy, similar to how NFL draftees sometimes hold out of their rookie contracts because they (or their agents) disagree with the monetary value dictated by their pick #.
I'm not totally convinced that any disc golf pro has that kind of leverage with a non-disc-golf-specific sponsor, because those sponsors' ROI is a) harder to directly correlate and b) just a much, much higher bar that you need to clear in order to impress.
My read on this is that Paul would disagree with that statement, based on the way he's playing his cards.
I do think he needs to capture a US Major this season to strengthen his case. He's only won 1 Major (2017 European Open) since his Grand Slam season in 2015, and while those are astronomically high expectations, the level of income and recognition he's trying to achieve seems to be astronomically more than everybody else.
Not necessarily going to disagree with you that McBeth is the most marketable, he might be. However he might not be the most marketable, but the most marketed.
From a disc golf viewership and exposure standpoint (if that is what sponsors are looking at) I don't know if winning a major is as big of a thing anymore with plenty of big tourneys in lots of tour events. To me, there is the World Championships on top and then a big grouping of larger tourneys right below it. Maybe USDGC is between there but to me it is also just another big tournament. I guess if plenty of big names show up then I consider it consider it a notable tournament. The designation or title of the tournament doesn't mean much to me and I wonder if it means anything to discerning potential sponsors.
I'm very interested to see how McBeth manages his sponsors over the next few years. He's the most marketable commodity in the sport currently, and these moves he's made are basically him trying to assert a certain monetary value on his brand. It's a risky strategy, similar to how NFL draftees sometimes hold out of their rookie contracts because they (or their agents) disagree with the monetary value dictated by their pick #.
I don't think it will ever be accurately quantified how much money Adidas made from Paul and really the disc golf community as a whole from those Terrex GTX shoes over the past few years. I've already ran through 2 pairs and am on pair 3/4 myself, and the sheer % of people I see playing that wear them is quite significant.
I would wager anything that their marketing and finance people have no idea how many disc golfers are actually buying their shoes, because if they did, throwing cash and free shoes towards sponsoring pros wouldn't be a big deal at all for a company whose gross revenue in 2016 was 20,000,000,000.
I bet Paul knows this, and realizes he's getting hosed, and rightfully so.
If I remember correctly, terra gtx was built for cross fit. Makes sense to market them to disc golfers.
As far as Adidas not knowing how much money they are making from disc golfers, I would wager you wrong.
I have done a small bit of marketing, and I do mean small, but I did learn how companies market.
The discount codes arn't there just to drive sales, they are there to track their advertising; In this case McBeth.
The highest rated left hand player, Chris Clemons has switched to DD from Latitude. I find this interesting as it is the first time I know of where a player actually switched teams within the trilogy family. Chris is living in KC, so maybe the relative closeness to Emporia was a factor?..
We (Prodigy) will be making team announcements on FB today. A couple of surprises are in store! Our team was solid already and we got better this winter.
If I remember correctly, terra gtx was built for cross fit. Makes sense to market them to disc golfers.
As far as Adidas not knowing how much money they are making from disc golfers, I would wager you wrong.
I have done a small bit of marketing, and I do mean small, but I did learn how companies market.
The discount codes arn't there just to drive sales, they are there to track their advertising; In this case McBeth.
ROI is the key here... I still think his best move would be to have Innova produce his own full line of discs similar to when you see skaters start their own brands. Every disc golf store and event would want a piece of that action. He has that much demand. That would be the best way to show a shoe/clothing maker what he can bring to the table.
Honestly given the way Adidas is marketing these days...I see McBeth as more of a fit for Nike's branding, especially considering how fast Nike is shedding hard goods (for example Golf Clubs/Equipment, but keeping and expanding their sponsored Golf athletes)
but when 98% of those sales are from disc golfers using steep online discount codes are they really gaining much? If those coupon codes start running at like 20% off instead of 40-50% with the same type of volume then I'd say that's a much better measure. There's a definite impact on sales, but how many of these dudes who bought their shoes for $60 are going to pay $100+ for them when Adidas feels they no longer have to give them away?
This is crucial. Great point. Disc Golfers traditionally have been seen as "cheap" - but lately that label is fading as higher price point specialty gear floods the market. Remember when Grip killed Revolution's sales and nobody challenged them for a minute? Now Innova and DD make specialty backpack bags, Pound is in the game, etc.
I still don't see a willingness by most disc golfers to spend that same money on bigger companies' crossover offerings, which speaks to our grassroots or "buy local" identity. I think eventually it's inevitable (given our growth rate) that that identity will dilute somewhat, but that's probably what big companies are looking at - can they dilute that mindset enough to profit off of handing guys like McBeth 6 figures? It remains to be seen, and most disc golfers don't make those endorsement deals public so we have no concrete way of knowing.
Not necessarily going to disagree with you that McBeth is the most marketable, he might be. However he might not be the most marketable, but the most marketed.
From a disc golf viewership and exposure standpoint (if that is what sponsors are looking at) I don't know if winning a major is as big of a thing anymore with plenty of big tourneys in lots of tour events. To me, there is the World Championships on top and then a big grouping of larger tourneys right below it. Maybe USDGC is between there but to me it is also just another big tournament. I guess if plenty of big names show up then I consider it consider it a notable tournament. The designation or title of the tournament doesn't mean much to me and I wonder if it means anything to discerning potential sponsors.
I hear this argument, but it borders sounding like you think Paul is having it all done for him. He actively participates in his brand more than any other golfer I know. Just in my experience alone making video content, Paul is the most willing to give you his time and effort if you come at him with a mutually beneficial idea. Other people don't see the opportunity as quickly. They're too short-term focused (can I get $100 for this? Can we shoot at *insert weird hour* so that I can not disrupt my schedule? etc.). I've approached pros to do commentary with me and they ask what they'll get paid...which to me shows that they don't get it. They're grinding in that paycheck-to-paycheck mentality, while others are building empires. It's just different mindsets.
Paul sees the bigger picture for his brand...and I'm not trying to sh*t on anyone else, just relating my experience in wrangling pro disc golfers. Most of them are just along for the ride, Paul is trying to build a theme park. I'll always give him due credit for that.
and...I know I'll catch some flak for this, but despite the two tours, neither has displaced the PDGA Majors as the top-tier events. I've yet to see concrete evidence of the standalone DGPT/DGWT events (meaning non NT/M dually 'sanctioned' tourneys) give anybody a leg up in the wider world. We as the hardcore fans like the drama, but the PDGA tour is still king because of the prestige of the titles.
Remember when Grip killed Revolution's sales and nobody challenged them for a minute? Now Innova and DD make specialty backpack bags, Pound is in the game, etc.
I remember telling Dave Henrickson (founder of Revolution Bags) some time in the late 90's that no one was ever going to pay $100 for a disc golf bag. Joke was on me on that one.
