The Inevitable 2022 Pros Switching Sponsors Thread

[seedlings]

Gavin Rathbun leaving Discmania via his Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/p/CWQ5syKpjTH/?utm_medium=copy_link
And rumors on Reddit have Eric Oakley in Utah possibly signing with infinite.
https://www.reddit.com/r/discgolf/comments/qt7aoz/eric_oakleys_new_sponsor_leak/

Is Gavin healthy, or still injured?

 

[Orioles_Lefty]

Gavin Rathbun leaving Discmania via his Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/p/CWQ5syKpjTH/?utm_medium=copy_link
And rumors on Reddit have Eric Oakley in Utah possibly signing with infinite.
https://www.reddit.com/r/discgolf/comments/qt7aoz/eric_oakleys_new_sponsor_leak/

Gavin's statement seems to include most of the "moves" you would expect to find in one of these statements. I love but also hate how all these sponsor-switching social media posts read like bad breakup letters. Not something that started in disc golf—common to athletes changing teams as well. Just always strike me as melodramatic: "You gave me so much and we experienced so much together, but I have to go my own way now."

 

[Rol6566]

Gavin's statement seems to include most of the "moves" you would expect to find in one of these statements. I love but also hate how all these sponsor-switching social media posts read like bad breakup letters. Not something that started in disc golf—common to athletes changing teams as well. Just always strike me as melodramatic: "You gave me so much and we experienced so much together, but I have to go my own way now."

The "It's not you, its me" vibe

 

[dreadlock86]

I'm curious to what the 5 or 10 year plan is for Infinite though. They are basically taking Discmania's place under the Innova umbrella. You'd have to assume they encourage their sponsored players to throw their molds, but allow open bags. That's a good move from a retailer's perspective, because regardless of what they're throwing you carry it and can sell it. If you're filling out your own lineup though won't you eventually want to have your players exclusively throwing your stuff? And will they get to the same point where Discmania did, and get handcuffed by Innova's production?

It just seems like the retailer and disc brand combo will eventually conflict itself as things grow. Dynamic sold other brands online for a while then went exclusively trilogy. I've not been to one of their shops in person, but others have indicated they carry non trilogy brands in store though.

why is that necessarily a bad thing? it worked out for Discmania and DD

 

[Flick Maniac]

Most often natural variation on which side of the basket you putt from is enough, so unless your course is on completely flat ground across all the holes, I see no need to mess around with basket heights. A severely raised backet will lead to more layups. (not by the pros but we arent talking about the pros only are we).

re: specific topic, Low baskets just look and feel stupid IMO.

Lol, what thread am I even Should have been in the Basket low thread.

Anywhoo... Lets see what Gavin comes up with. he was hella trending for a while there.

 

[autocrosscrx]

As a Gavin fan, I'm glad to see it.

Dismania didn't really do anything for him as far as discs/promotion, Simon/Eagle don't really promote other guys on the brand (when they were doing the lists, they said they didn't even know him), and he couldn't get discs. Dude is out there trying to bid on discs on Facebook groups during competition.

 

[dehaas]

why is that necessarily a bad thing? it worked out for Discmania and DD

It isn't, just seems like they're kinda all over the place right now. Gotta figure they have a long term plan of some type.

 

[autocrosscrx]

Infinite seems to be a great spot. They are a power house in the retail game and their discs are proving to be legitimate.

The thing about Oakley is that I think he is polarizing. Personally, I walk in our local store, grab up Felons, then images of Eric Oakley yelling for no apparent reason or uttering complete non-sense non-stop comes to mind. And then I spin around and grab the flattest Champ Firebird that is on the shelf.

 

[discerdoo]

Personally, I walk in our local store, grab up Felons, then images of Eric Oakley yelling for no apparent reason or uttering complete non-sense non-stop comes to mind. And then I spin around and grab the flattest Champ Firebird that is on the shelf.

Sounds kinda like an allergic reaction.

 

[Tyler V]

Looks like Gavin officially moved to Dynamic Discs.

 

[1978]

Lol, what thread am I even Should have been in the Basket low thread.

Anywhoo... Lets see what Gavin comes up with. he was hella trending for a while there.

Thanks for the advertisement.

 

[ejvogie]

Infinite seems to be a great spot. They are a power house in the retail game and their discs are proving to be legitimate.

The thing about Oakley is that I think he is polarizing. Personally, I walk in our local store, grab up Felons, then images of Eric Oakley yelling for no apparent reason or uttering complete non-sense non-stop comes to mind. And then I spin around and grab the flattest Champ Firebird that is on the shelf.

Polarizing? Maybe. I chalk it up to just being goofy.

 

[robdeforge]

according to a DD guy on reddit:

re: Gavin signing. "This will not be our "biggest splash" signing."

"One will be announced in January, another may be announced before then or may also have to wait until January. Cant say much more yet, as that's literally all I know. Lol"

 

[dreadlock86]

It isn't, just seems like they're kinda all over the place right now. Gotta figure they have a long term plan of some type.

yeah, occupy the position they are in until they grow enough or the market grows enough that they can expand. and like DD, they can grow both the brand lineup and their retail side. they are not in opposition to each other.

when DD became a manufacturer, they only people that affected were pros they sponsored who could no longer maintain 2 sponsors. the two halves of the business are not in opposition nor do their expansions mean that they have to pick a side once one gets bigger.

 

[jdm0514]

I think this benefits both DD and Gavin. For DD their mpo touring pros were getting stale. So having young up and comer can boost interest and make waves in a somewhat quite off season. For Gavin I felt like he was treated like the red headed step child. No signature disc and having to bid on discs as a touring pro is pathetic on Discmania's part. Hopefully he recovers fully and gets on some media coverage quickly because it's been awhile since I seen a DD sponsored player on a lead card or chase card.

 

[Arisugawa]

I think this benefits both DD and Gavin. For DD their mpo touring pros were getting stale. So having young up and comer can boost interest and make waves in a somewhat quite off season. For Gavin I felt like he was treated like the red headed step child. No signature disc and having to bid on discs as a touring pro is pathetic on Discmania's part. Hopefully he recovers fully and gets on some media coverage quickly because it's been awhile since I seen a DD sponsored player on a lead card or chase card.

Chris Clemons?

 

[tomsdiscs]

How far down the list do you expect players to be substantively (more than some free discs) sponsored ?

Do you expect the top 25 to be sponsored ?

How about the top 50 ?

With respect to the gentleman parting ways with DD, when I look at his 2021 finishes, on average, he finishes in 38th place.

I first did it raw (37th), then noodled with the numbers, dropped his 2 A-Tiers (1st place and 36th place), which rendered 39th, then also dropped his best and worst finish across the NTs+USDGC, then 38th.

So on average, 10th card.

Not really trying to focus on him, but if you are running a disc company (manufacturer or retailer), you do have to look at ROI, so can not spend too much money unless it pays you back in some discernible way.

If someone is not on the top cards and making it onto Jomez and Gatekeeper vids throwing rad shots where the mold gets called out, then you need to bring something else to the game that disc golfers can relate to and spend a few bucks on.

 

[txmxer]

Tomsdiscs asks a valid question. Of course sponsorship is often more complex than a balance sheet.

But it's a valid question that I dividual MFRs have the only answers for.

And of course there are tiers for sponsorship. And then sponsoring events versus players.

All business decisions.

 

[mas30066]

How far down the list do you expect players to be substantively (more than some free discs) sponsored ?

This is a totally fair way to approach the competitive part of the equation. There are guys (let's take Simon and Uli) whose brand/presence brings value to a different part of the equation. You can't be a non-performer (mathematically multiplying by zero), but tournament finishes aren't the entirety of the picture either. I do think Eric has a ton of potential as an extrovert teacher/influencer (as much as I hate that word, it's exactly right here). He may have significant value to Infinite in that role, although to your point, that value only increases if he plays into coverage.

 

[jdm0514]

Chris Clemons?

In 2021 was he ever on chase or lead card in a major tournament? I'm honestly asking. Feature card doesn't count imo.