The Greater Cincinnati area has 100-200 serious golfers, I bet maybe 10-20 are active on here. DGCR is a great resource but it's just a small sample of active players.
So what?
Sure, DGCR is full of dedicated disc golfers who follow the game in a way most players don't. So since I follow the game and watch how it's progressing not only as a sport but as a business, my opinion is less valuable. That's crazy.
There's a decent contingent of people here who would have us believe that nothing is changing in the business of disc golf, Discraft's doing just as fine as always, and the huge proliferation of companies and discs is irrelevant. Seriously, that is nuts. The business of disc golf is changing rapidly, and Discraft needs to change and respond to this new environment. Period. I'm going to go as far as to say that's not an opinion: it is pretty clearly what's going on.
You know what this thread really demonstrates about DGCR? That everybody wants to have lame threads about "growing the sport" but nobody wants to talk about what is actually happening that is changing the sport from the business side.
Keep in mind that this is coming from someone who is a dedicated thrower of three Discraft molds. They make up a core of my bag, and I have no intention of taking them out, ever. But that has absolutely nothing to do with my observation that Discraft really needs to step it up to stay competitive. They do, and I want them to do it.
Look at it this way. Let's take AOL for example. They were once king. They were the ISP, and movies (You've Got Mail) were even made using their iconic brand. But the world changed out from under them, and they are now irrelevant compared to the likes of Google and Facebook. I read an article recently about how instant messaging was their greatest invention, but they didn't get that and focused on building parts of their brand that ended up becoming obsolete, because the game changed and they didn't change along with it. Google comes along and provides a search engine that makes the "home screen" obsolete, and Facebook takes messaging and makes a gazillion dollar business out of it.
But but but! There are still grannies in the middle of nowhere paying for AOL! So that must mean that their service is still alive and kicking right?
Just because people bag Buzzzes and continue to does not mean that their business model doesn't need a shot in the arm. The market is competitive: there is limited space, and if Discraft doesn't capture that space, someone else will. And there are more candidates than ever for that.
Disc golf is changing. Discraft needs to change with it, or they'll find their market share shrinking. It's no longer Buzzz v Roc. It's Buzzz v Roc, Roc3, Truth, Axis, Ghost, Alias, M4. All popular molds, and all competing against the Buzzz. The Buzzz is the best says me, but that doesn't matter because the trick is to get the newb who's never played before to pick up a Buzzz when it's sitting right next to the shiny new M4 or Truth on the shelves. And yes, I see that all the time in my local shop which carries almost as much MVP now as they do Discraft, and maybe even more. That's the reality I'm talking about.
ps Jay Dub that wasn't a response solely to you. I just used your comment as a jumping off point.
