WHY WORLDS

[rhatton1]

I also think that a match-play event will be much more dramatic than stroke play, and has a better chance of gaining eyeballs.

This, this so much this.

Presidents cup should be the focus if we are looking to make an exciting event that can be televised and interesting and potentially bring in non players

You only need a few camera locations around the course to make it a fascinating story, with live scores feeding back from the holes alongside some footage cut back and forth a live production team could make an incredible event out of this, more so than trying to follow an entire round from a couple of cards.

Look at viewer numbers on the Ryder Cup compared to any other Golf major. The Ryder Cup is estimated to be one of the mostly widely viewed sporting events in the world in the year it is on. Millions of non golfers tune in. Why? because it is more of a story than normal golf, the twists and turns of team match play is incredible viewing, the rivalry between Europe and America played out in a sporting arena is addictive viewing.

I really hope this year Jussi makes a bigger push on this, PDGA should push this idea forward to the max and stick any of their promotions budget into it. Yes there are no payouts for the players but they get to play for their country/continent, playing for honour over cash is something the average layman can get behind a bit more easily.

 

[rhatton1]

I described it as "...the dreamland where we become a spectator sport...", because there's little evidence that people want to watch disc golf, in anything like sufficient numbers to support it. Lots of people have put a lot of effort into trying. (I'm of the school of thought that disc golf isn't inherently interesting to watch, and will never draw more than a tiny following, in person or online).

I'm not sure I agree.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=central+coast+disc+golf

Look at the viewer numbers on here 50k views in five days of round one of worlds.

5 years ago that would have been 5k views after five days.

The Finns think it's good enough to get primetime afternoon national television slot and good enough to do this a couple of years in a row, we'll see what happens after the shocking weather at last years Euros which made the event tough to run and film, hopefullly they will stick with it.

The footage is getting better so more people are watching. You're on Reddit David, you've seen the subscribers number ticking away in the top right corner - 46012 as of today, when I joined a couple of years ago it was 20k, many of those people have been bought to the sport through Youtube videos they've stumbled across.

Things are rolling on this front, the excellent production values we are seeing from CCDG, Jomez and The Spin is taking it to a new level. What constantly amazes me is how much better they keep getting on limited budgets, these guys are learning their craft so quickly and innovating more and more to make things so much more professional to an outside viewer. 10 years ago I would have been embarrassed to show most online videos to non disc golf friends, now I'm happy to, these things look good, they make the players look good, they make the sport look good.

The sport tried big sponsors and big videos in the 90' early 2000's, it was too early then, it was forced and it didn't take hold (despite some blo&dy good videos TBF!) Things have changed massively in the ensuing 20 years, we're getting close to a point where it will work, where filming can be done on a smaller budget and getting the product out there can be too. There are people that want to watch! There are people that don't even know about the sport that will want to watch.

 

[DavidSauls]

This, this so much this.

Presidents cup should be the focus if we are looking to make an exciting event that can be televised and interesting and potentially bring in non players

You only need a few camera locations around the course to make it a fascinating story, with live scores feeding back from the holes alongside some footage cut back and forth a live production team could make an incredible event out of this, more so than trying to follow an entire round from a couple of cards.

Look at viewer numbers on the Ryder Cup compared to any other Golf major. The Ryder Cup is estimated to be one of the mostly widely viewed sporting events in the world in the year it is on. Millions of non golfers tune in. Why? because it is more of a story than normal golf, the twists and turns of team match play is incredible viewing, the rivalry between Europe and America played out in a sporting arena is addictive viewing.

I really hope this year Jussi makes a bigger push on this, PDGA should push this idea forward to the max and stick any of their promotions budget into it. Yes there are no payouts for the players but they get to play for their country/continent, playing for honour over cash is something the average layman can get behind a bit more easily.

I didn't know that about the Ryder Cup viewership. But I love match play.

Moreover, I think it's more dramatic and personal. It's hard to say why people like watching certain things---particularly things that we don't like---but reality TV thrives on showing individual emotions. Lots of emotions in 1-on-1 match play. A single-elimination tournament, perhaps with 9 hole matches, would be intense.

I'm not saying it's a formula for Worlds---but I suspect it's a better formula for a media event.

 

[DavidSauls]

I'm uncertain how much post-produced viewer numbers translate to live viewer potential. They're so different, in so many ways.

I'm aware of, and surprised by, the Finland broadcast. But I also see attendance numbers here, where attempts have been made to drum up on-site spectators, and where the events that are viewable live, online, have pretty small numbers---virtually all disc golfers, I'll bet. To be a spectator sport, we need for non-disc-golfers to watch, in big numbers.

It's just my taste, of course, but I find disc golf very dull to watch. And that's as an enthusiast. I have a hard time imagining non-disc-golfers getting hooked on it, to any significant degree.

 

[Porthos]

Traditional golf is just as boring to watch but they make up for it but having cameras everywhere and jumping from player to player. They get every shot so if someone makes a good one it is shown right away. Traditional golf gets especially boring to watch when the final players are coming in and they can't jump to another hole. When it's close though it adds drama. I say all this as someone who watches the golf majors.

I've watched disc golf streamed live and I find it boring too but I enjoy edited coverage. If someone could get edited coverage shown on late night ESPN it might help build an audience.

As for the Worlds, I watched a lot of this years coverage and found it pretty high quality.

 

[Therealgoat]

I think the largest group that will watch live coverage in the next 10 years aren't either the regular disc golfers (who may be out playing a round instead) or the totally non-disc-golfers (who really don't know what they're watching). I think it's people who have heard about it, maybe they have friends or co-workers that play, and they've tried it once or twice.

Go out the first couple of times and try to throw a disc far, probably a high speed driver, and see how it dumps quickly into the ground. Then go watch a YouTube video of pros. HOLY ****, you can do THAT with a disc?!?

I remember being in awe when I first started watching tourney's online. Made me want to get out and play again, get better, and throw (roughly) like the people I was watching. Which made me want to watch more. Then as I got better, it just made me appreciate even MORE how good those guys are. It's been like that in every sport for me. If I play it, I want to watch it, because I can see and understand the nuance and appreciate the really good plays.

I think what you're saying is that feeling fades over time. Either the "awe" factor gets stale and you stop watching, or you get into the sport enough that you'd rather be out playing (when talking about live streams). Maybe you've moved on to where a highlight reel would be up your alley, instead of watching a whole round, where you get to watch and appreciate an 1100 rated round in rapid succession, or Eagle/Simon/McBeast bombs or Ricky's lights-out putting or whatever (recap videos?).

So then you need a revolving door of newer players discovering the sport, discovering the live coverage, and wanting to watch it. That's growth. We need sustained growth to support that.

Otherwise, it's the elderly. 100% conjecture here, but I'd bet there's a large portion of the BG watching population that's in retirement. A) they have the time to watch, B) they can't physically participate anymore. Both driving them to be TV and on-site spectators. You can still appreciate the sport without playing it anymore. We haven't reached this stage in DG yet, numbers wise. With the ever-growing participation, we'll see ever-growing age protected divisions, and with that increase down the road, comes a larger group of people who have the time and desire to watch the sport, but not necessarily keep playing it as often as they did in their youth.

To summarize, we need continued growth to drive new players to discover the sport and its coverage, in combination with elderly/EX players who have the time but not the physical prowess to get out and play as often and still want to keep up with the professional scene. I think both of those populations are currently growing. Is there a breaking point #'s wise in their growth where it starts to make financial sense for live coverage? No idea where that is, but I'll second the notion that the continued progress of all the DG media groups is really impressive, and is making great strides towards setting us up to be prepared for an influx of $$/sponsors/advertisement.

Personally, I watch every post-produced round I can. I try to hold off to watch them with my wife when possible, but life gets in the way quite often and with all the multiple card coverage of so many great events we have now, it's actually hard to keep up! (I'm also like 400 movies and 25 TV shows behind...). I play DG as often as I can practically find the time for, and I'd LOVE to watch any live coverage I could...but, ya know, real life responsibilities always have other things in mind.

 

[bradharris]

"World Champion" is an arbitrary title that has meaning only to whoever chooses to recognize it.

There are plenty of allegories in other sports.

In baseball, the winner of the World Series is called the "world champion." But the argument could be made that the winners of the World Baseball Classic hold a better claim on that title.

College football used to have some controversy over who the actual national champion was. It could be the team voted by the AP, or it could be the winner of the top bowl game.

In our sport, the PDGA World Championships has long been regarded as the premier championship event. However, we have plenty of other outlets to crown champions (pro tours, majors, ratings, etc). As a fan, it's up to you to decide what championship holds the most meaning for you.

 

[DavidSauls]

Traditional golf is just as boring to watch but they make up for it but having cameras everywhere and jumping from player to player. They get every shot so if someone makes a good one it is shown right away. Traditional golf gets especially boring to watch when the final players are coming in and they can't jump to another hole. When it's close though it adds drama. I say all this as someone who watches the golf majors.

I've watched disc golf streamed live and I find it boring too but I enjoy edited coverage. If someone could get edited coverage shown on late night ESPN it might help build an audience.

As for the Worlds, I watched a lot of this years coverage and found it pretty high quality.

It would certainly be interesting to see disc golf covered at the level that golf is---multiple cameras and angles, switching from hole to hole, and overhead shots. In disc golf, particularly, overhead shots.

But I doubt it would be as interesting. I'm not sure why golf is compelling to so many, but it is. Watching the putts twist and curve with so little margin for error is part of it; nothing in our putting, or in anything I've seen suggested to change our putting, compares. The settings are magnificent, and there's a moneyed aspect to it (settings and the rest). I'm not that dazzled by the drives in golf---other than the fact that they don't occasionally kill people standing along the fairways---but disc golf drives wouldn't be any more exciting.

There are probably a hundred other small, niche sports that think that the world would love to watch them, if only given the proper introduction.

 

[lyleoross]

It would certainly be interesting to see disc golf covered at the level that golf is---multiple cameras and angles, switching from hole to hole, and overhead shots. In disc golf, particularly, overhead shots.

But I doubt it would be as interesting. I'm not sure why golf is compelling to so many, but it is. Watching the putts twist and curve with so little margin for error is part of it; nothing in our putting, or in anything I've seen suggested to change our putting, compares. The settings are magnificent, and there's a moneyed aspect to it (settings and the rest). I'm not that dazzled by the drives in golf---other than the fact that they don't occasionally kill people standing along the fairways---but disc golf drives wouldn't be any more exciting.

There are probably a hundred other small, niche sports that think that the world would love to watch them, if only given the proper introduction.

Marbles. "OMG! He crushed that aggie with his three ounce steely. Literally shattered it.". Roll slow mo of steely smashing aggie with glass shards and dust flying into the air. Crowd moans in sympathy.

 

[araytx]

Yeah I'm not up on my DG history, so it's good to hear that perspective. But in my mind a World title carries so much more weight than USDGC title. And when listening to commentary, World titles are the ones that are always brought up when talking about a player.

hmmmm. Interesting thought but Ricky's win this year makes him only the 6th player ever to even have more than one title - (Climo, McBeth, Doss, DuVall, and Schultz) -- so whatever commentary you were listening to had to be very short.

 

[Cgkdisc]

hmmmm. Interesting thought but Ricky's win this year makes him only the 6th player ever to even have more than one title - (Climo, McBeth, Doss, DuVall, and Schultz) -- so whatever commentary you were listening to had to be very short.

Open player

 

[araytx]

hmmmm. Interesting thought but Ricky's win this year makes him only the 6th player ever to even have more than one title - (Climo, McBeth, Doss, DuVall, and Schultz) -- so whatever commentary you were listening to had to be very short.

Open division.... before anyone starts;

Oops, Chuck got me.

 

[Finny]

Open division.... before anyone starts;

Oops, Chuck got me.

Men's Open

 

[araytx]

Men's Open

Open.

It's the only division open to all competitors. It's Open. The abbreviation is MPO, but it's Open.

 

[Finny]

Open.

It's the only division open to all competitors. It's Open. The abbreviation is MPO, but it's Open.

"Open to all competitors, even if that's totally unfair." Let's get over this nonsense, please. Saying that there's one "true" open division is only slightly less ridiculous than inviting men to a breastfeeding contest.

 

[air show]

Call the MPO what you will... but one cannot deny they are the best at this sport we call disc golf. And right now without argument Ricky Wysocki is king of the hill.

 

[DanJon]

"Open to all competitors, even if that's totally unfair." Let's get over this nonsense, please. Saying that there's one "true" open division is only slightly less ridiculous than inviting men to a breastfeeding contest.

Men can't breastfeed.

Men and women can both play disc golf.

 

[1978]

Not saying that it has happened, i just can't think of another sport with a championship midway through the season. What if the super bowl was week 8, or the PGA championship was in July? Just doesn't make sense.

You must not pay much attention to sports. Nascar's biggest event is the first race of the year. The race all drivers would give up any other to win. Bristol is early, Charlotte 600 early... The last 10-12 races no one cares about at least up to last year where a win at the last race there won you the championship. It was never like that.

Indy 500 is early too

The Masters is in early spring.

July (usually) is hardly the middle of the year since the season ends the first week of October with the USDGC.

To run the typical (not new Worlds) type event and have all the fun players stuff, you need to run it when the days are the longest. In the not too far past they ran 3 rounds per day!! (we did that in 2011) You can't have Worlds in the traditional sense (not the NWO version) when days are as short as they are in September.

Also, Worlds takes up a ton of time for players. Many of the best are in the 18-24 age range, you need to have it during summer break.

July is one of the dryer months so it makes sense for weather in your biggest event.

If you have a hot year in many sports, the last few events, races, games are meaningless with a giant point lead, so you have your biggest event in the middle when there is still excitement.

Player of the year takes into consideration a full years performance (most of the time).

and so on and so on...

Why did I get trolled by the OP? Why!!

 

[1978]

I agree, like the PGA, NASCAR, soccer... etc. A points system into a play off would be better IMO, close races are more appealing, playoff ratings are much great for all sports.

Maybe, but no one cares about the FedEx cup, but everyone watches the masters. And the popularity of golf is mind numbingly higher than disc golf.

 

[Ye Olde Am]

Men can't breastfeed.

Men and women can both play disc golf.

It depends whether the contest is to give or get the most milk.