Prodigy Disc

[scarpfish]

My point is this: A ton of top pros leave their sponsors and make a big deal about it. The main unanswered question, that many have asked, is why? What was the draw that made them leave? I think this question will be asked for awhile until someone gets a concrete answer.

I don't know why some here can't accept this perfectly logical, but not so tantalizing explanation...

1. The existing sponsorships which had no "vested interest" had set a pretty low bar to begin with.
2. With the USDGC changing course, it was apparent that things in terms of prize money were going to certainly not going to get better, and possibly get worse.
3. With it also being apparent to the big two beginning to realize that recreational players were the ones buying discs, it began to not make business sense for them to continue to sponsor a large slew of players.
4. The sponsored players began to realize that they were of more value to an upstart company that needed the exposure, and were offering them a better deal than what they were getting at their old sponsor. How much better remains to be seen.

 

[Plankeye]

I hope that these pros don't plan on throwing prodigy discs in a pdga tournament anytime soon....even though the discs may say they are pdga legal, they aren't until there are at least 500 of the discs made available commercially.

 

[Sadjo]

I work in media and have put together campaigns for several different types of businesses. I focus most of what i do in radio. The truth in advertising and marketing works across all media...its better to stand out than fit in. Prodigy has done its part in standing out from the gate. Question is how will they continue to stand out or will they end up fitting in with the rest?

 

[Meulen]

I don't know why some here can't accept this perfectly logical, but not so tantalizing explanation...

1. The existing sponsorships which had no "vested interest" had set a pretty low bar to begin with.
2. With the USDGC changing course, it was apparent that things in terms of prize money were going to certainly not going to get better, and possibly get worse.
3. With it also being apparent to the big two beginning to realize that recreational players were the ones buying discs, it began to not make business sense for them to continue to sponsor a large slew of players.
4. The sponsored players began to realize that they were of more value to an upstart company that needed the exposure, and were offering them a better deal than what they were getting at their old sponsor. How much better remains to be seen.

Just food for thought, why should any professional disc golfer believe they are of value to a company? It is hard to quantify because there is no data released that shows a correlation between disc sales and endorsing a professional disc golfer. But that brings us back to the following point, are they sponsored team members, or investors in the company?

 

[onemilemore]

I don't know why some here can't accept this perfectly logical, but not so tantalizing explanation...

1. The existing sponsorships which had no "vested interest" had set a pretty low bar to begin with.
2. With the USDGC changing course, it was apparent that things in terms of prize money were going to certainly not going to get better, and possibly get worse.
3. With it also being apparent to the big two beginning to realize that recreational players were the ones buying discs, it began to not make business sense for them to continue to sponsor a large slew of players.
4. The sponsored players began to realize that they were of more value to an upstart company that needed the exposure, and were offering them a better deal than what they were getting at their old sponsor. How much better remains to be seen.

I agree with everything here - especially #3. I'm not looking for anything juicy or some kind of big blow up that made everyone leave. I just would like to see more details about how the team is working. By touting themselves as revolutionary and whatnot, why not be revolutionary and tell people how it all is working?

So I guess I should be clear: I understand why pros left. But I am also curious as to what was so intriguing about the Prodigy offer and structure that made them jump from established companies who had shown a lot of faith in them from the start.

 

[TOURNEYPLAYER]

i dont know about you guys, but an opportunity to partner with Phil, Lavone, Greenwell, FLYBOY etc. and do something unique would be enough for me. especially if my current sponsor really wasnt doing much. if all things were equal, I would rather be aligned with those guys, than a mega company. there is something to be said for enjoyment, and quality of life.

 

[Plankeye]

A lot of them are saying that they are trying to look out for their future...

here is a hint...GO TO COLLEGE and GET A DEGREE! I know Will S is but what about the rest? They won't be playing DG the rest of their life and if Prodigy fails then what???

 

[Sadjo]

A lot of them are saying that they are trying to look out for their future...

here is a hint...GO TO COLLEGE and GET A DEGREE! I know Will S is but what about the rest? They won't be playing DG the rest of their life and if Prodigy fails then what???

Not so much go to college and get a degree as learn a marketable skill.

 

[scarpfish]

I hope that these pros don't plan on throwing prodigy discs in a pdga tournament anytime soon....even though the discs may say they are pdga legal, they aren't until there are at least 500 of the discs made available commercially.

How would anyone at a tournament be able to verify whether 500 discs were available? For all we know, those discs already exist.

I also don't believe that those 500 discs are a requirement for tourney use. Once the disc is approved, its good to go.

 

[Coyote]

I haven't seen the film, but I'm surprised to hear it was that different from the books.

... He meant the movie was too hyped to live up to expectations lol

However with 3 movies coming for The Hobbit there's no way it could be the same as the book. Haven't seen it yet but that book wasn't that long, they've gotta be adding stuff. More than likely content that's pulling from LOTR where the book didn't since LOTR wasn't written yet

 

[Chainchaser]

WOW!! From prodigy to the Hobbit!! This is what makes this site so great and why I am a paid member!!:thmbup::clap::hfive:

 

[jcf5083]

Not so much go to college and get a degree as learn a marketable skill.

I read somewhere that Wysocki decided to stay with college instead of uber touring :thmbup:

 

[Meulen]

How would anyone at a tournament be able to verify whether 500 discs were available? For all we know, those discs already exist.

I also don't believe that those 500 discs are a requirement for tourney use. Once the disc is approved, its good to go.

From post #133

According to the PDGA Technical Specifications:

(C) Guidelines for Discs Manufactured for PDGA Competition
(14) be of a production-type disc available commercially to the public in numbers of at least 500;

 

[tk15946]

This is an ultimate teaser imo...yes they have a company, yes they have a team, yes they will produce a disc, yes they were smart about the approval / release / and anticipation factor of the release.

Look at this scenario, they produce 4 discs molds, all of them are issued immediatly to your retailers in quantities of 1500, then what if it isnt approved.....that would make everything they had done look pretty dumb wouldnt it. Bottom line they are playing on threads just like this one to build up desire and demand. This way they can then quantitate the amount of supply to produce.

Look at it this way....have you ever seen a movie trailer, for a movie that is coming out in 6 months...it's a tease, they grip your minds into thinking it is sooo great so that once it comes out you are on fandango buiying tickets early, waiting in line for hours. He77 look at the release of all the Apple crap, there are always a bunch of turtleneck wearing nerds wating in line to pick the newest and best product up, having not ever even touched it. That being said I am not implying that that is what will happen here, but at the same time it is well played by prodigy, and Lavonne.

In regards to the website, i feel it should have been up, but crap happens sometimes. The facebook and twitter feeds and additional teasers are working as well to continualy promote the company, the comapnies ambassadors or team etc..

In regard to the salary, or profit sharing, why make it public it is a sponsorship deal flat out it is their job. You can always access what the tournament winnings are online, but why do we feel the need to know about the agreement that prodigy has with the players? I feel rather certain that the incentives will be similar to what Innova or Discraft offers the players, but there had to be something else to make this mass of players leave their prospective sponsors and turn over this new leaf, but once again that is up to them.

 

[JTacoma03]

I've got to agree with Meulen on this. And it's not like they had 1 day to roll everything out. If rumors are correct, they've had months and months of time to plan all this. The website should already be built and tested, ready and waiting for someone to turn the switch on at a moment's notice, and that moment should have already happened on 1/1/13. Here we are two days after the over-hyped big reveal, with no Prodigy website, no order forms for retailers, and information is leaking out like molasses on a cold day.

I have to agree here. I don't see the business savvy in their early decision making that will be required in order to make this venture successful.

I think unfortunately that these young pros over-value themselves in a capitalistic and influential sense.

 

[DeadEye]

Pretty sure that PDGA rule is obsolete. They're always submitted and viewable on the PDGA website waaaaaay before they're released to the general public. And honestly can't believe people care so much about how far in advance they're submitted to PDGA, and act like it's a bad thing that they're putting out an entire line of discs in a few months.

 

[tk15946]

From post #133

According to the PDGA Technical Specifications:

(C) Guidelines for Discs Manufactured for PDGA Competition
(14) be of a production-type disc available commercially to the public in numbers of at least 500;

however it does not specify the timetable in which these discs must be released, loophole

 

[tbird888]

From post #133

According to the PDGA Technical Specifications:

(C) Guidelines for Discs Manufactured for PDGA Competition
(14) be of a production-type disc available commercially to the public in numbers of at least 500;

Since they were approved, I imagine they met that criteria. Without a retailer network, where are they going to ship them?

If you guys are so concerned about yet another magical number (the last one being $10,000/year), you should be pointing the finger where it belongs...at the PDGA for approving them prematurely.

All this bickering over things that are inconsequential to everyone but the owners of the company is hysterical. You'll get your discs soon enough.

 

[keltik]

... He meant the movie was too hyped to live up to expectations lol

However with 3 movies coming for The Hobbit there's no way it could be the same as the book. Haven't seen it yet but that book wasn't that long, they've gotta be adding stuff. More than likely content that's pulling from LOTR where the book didn't since LOTR wasn't written yet

I saw the movie and it is 50% fan fiction and the other 50% is inaccurate in it's depiction. LOTR was pretty spot on bookwise (best I can remember, I didn't like LOTR books as much as I like the Hobbit) with just a hair of fluff here and there. I will not see the other two "Hobbit" movies. The 70's cartoon is much more accurate and it's one ~90 min movie.

/drift

I wonder if Prodigy crafted this hulabaloo with some well placed message board moles.

 

[Connor Jones]