The Inevitable 2024 Pros Switching Sponsors Thread

[Murwen]

Prodigy bet big on future growth during the pandemic boom and (re)signed players offering generous contracts. Now, being somewhat strapped for cash as sales didn't follow expectations, they're trying to retain Isaac and Ezra. My second hand source told me that it was Prodigy that approached Innova about buying out their contract with KJ.

 

[Hampstead]

Considering how Prodigy first burst onto the scene, poaching players and claiming to change the game (while stealing their logo in the process), their slow march to irrelevance has been interesting to observe.

 

[Snaques]

The part that amazed me the most is that in a Finnish podcast Väinö confirmed that the Innova deal pays more than the Prodigy one from COVID times.

His performance has dropped as have the global disc sales, so how does this make sense for Innova?

 

[biscoe]

The part that amazed me the most is that in a Finnish podcast Väinö confirmed that the Innova deal pays more than the Prodigy one from COVID times.

His performance has dropped as have the global disc sales, so how does this make sense for Innova?

More than one way to define "pay"- my guess would be that he has higher incentives but lower monthly check.

 

[Snaques]

More than one way to define "pay"- my guess would be that he has higher incentives but lower monthly check.

True.

In his own words, he wasn't going to accept a deal that was worse than his previous one. Could mean plenty of things ofc, but getting a "better" deal in any sense seems like a stretch at this point.

 

[TheOtherBill]

Remember those oblong green monstrosities Prodigy sold as their first mold? All of them were overweight and not a single one I saw was actually round. The plastic was shit too, amazed they pulled it together but the pro-driven marketing (instead of making good discs) worked for a while.

 

[mostlynorwegian]

The part that amazed me the most is that in a Finnish podcast Väinö confirmed that the Innova deal pays more than the Prodigy one from COVID times.

His performance has dropped as have the global disc sales, so how does this make sense for Innova?

The rest of the field got better. Marketing wise, however. It makes sense because the value Innova will get in return makes whatever Prodigy could no longer afford with him worth it.

 

[Casey 1988]

Considering how Prodigy first burst onto the scene, poaching players and claiming to change the game (while stealing their logo in the process), their slow march to irrelevance has been interesting to observe.

Only Real big change was Baskets and linked sideways chain being for average slammer putts and fact these baskets need to be left outside before for around a year before baskets do not reject discs on way hard slamming or softer then an average slam is dumb as I think a basket should not require such a super long break in period.

What is then really sad for a Prodigy tournament on Disc Golf Pro Tour is Pro players usually have bran new baskets or at least new chains/top assembly every year on every Disc Golf Pro Tour stop by disc golf manufacture sponsor who is making disc golf baskets for said tournament with brands who have no basket using parent company making discs for brand or brand owner using his/her favorite if company is fully independent.

 

[Sewer bill]

Only Real big change was Baskets and linked sideways chain being for average slammer putts and fact these baskets need to be left outside before for around a year before baskets do not reject discs on way hard slamming or softer then an average slam is dumb as I think a basket should not require such a super long break in period.

What is then really sad for a Prodigy tournament on Disc Golf Pro Tour is Pro players usually have bran new baskets or at least new chains/top assembly every year on every Disc Golf Pro Tour stop by disc golf manufacture sponsor who is making disc golf baskets for said tournament with brands who have no basket using parent company making discs for brand or brand owner using his/her favorite if company is fully independent.

What are you talking about with a break in period? Are the chains covered in little zinc boogers from the galvanizing that needs to wear off?

 

[Casey 1988]

What are you talking about with a break in period? Are the chains covered in little zinc boogers from the galvanizing that needs to wear off?

No, I have read in replay to a comment I made on YouTube from Forehand Goat Scott Stokely for some reason chains are stiff when new and need a period of around a year to settle in fully from his experience.

I was asking because duel inner and outer sideways linked chain model (since discontinued) I saw several pros have at Disc Golf Pro tour Championships on Course using Prodigy baskets during final Year Paul McBeth was on Innova in 2017 they had to use for putting on baskets either a premium putter to slam put so players did not have to worry on discs breaking while others used a putter like midrange or very fast midrange style putter like a Dart where disc has a lower profile nose then most putters.

 

[TheOtherBill]

Older chains do catch better, hard to deny that. Maybe the DGPT can bring 18 perfectly-seasoned sets of chains and put them on whatever basket that week's tournament course has. That way Prodigy/DGA/Whoever gets to display their baskets and they actually catch good putts, and players would know exactly how they catch no matter where the event is.

BTW, the spit back from 5 feet on Bloomroos in the last 3 holes as she's down by one was BRUTAL. Straight in, straight backward, then straight to the ground. Fuckin hawk-tua'd her chance at a win or even a playoff right back at her.

 

[elmexdela]

why doesnt a basket company come in and try to capture the entire dgpt

cut a helluva deal on production/cost to dgpt and then infinite advertisement with being the "dgpt standard"

i know quite a few disc lickers that would quickly follow and buy the official basket of the dgpt for their courses

 

[elmexdela]

Remember those oblong green monstrosities Prodigy sold as their first mold? All of them were overweight and not a single one I saw was actually round. The plastic was shit too, amazed they pulled it together but the pro-driven marketing (instead of making good discs) worked for a while.

i can vividly remember the protos of d1 that flew like d4 and d4 that flew like d1

and then the whole debacle with them "mis inking" their mids and scribbling it out with sharpie and adding the correct name

hard to believe they made it this far tbh

 

[Sewer bill]

Older chains do catch better, hard to deny that. Maybe the DGPT can bring 18 perfectly-seasoned sets of chains and put them on whatever basket that week's tournament course has. That way Prodigy/DGA/Whoever gets to display their baskets and they actually catch good putts, and players would know exactly how they catch no matter where the event is.

BTW, the spit back from 5 feet on Bloomroos in the last 3 holes as she's down by one was BRUTAL. Straight in, straight backward, then straight to the ground. Fuckin hawk-tua'd her chance at a win or even a playoff right back at her.

If it's about link friction at the mating surfaces that could be immediately accelerated by putting the basket in a cement mixer on an angle. Regular hot dip galvanized coating is actually "sticky" in metal terms.

Hot dip chain is actually kind of an engineering dipshit move as design spec goes because it costs more and any application where there's high friction and not just a static load will wear through that coating quickly and diminish the corrosion resistance drastically.

Passivated chain with citric acid is the better flavor of coating for chains that move around as the corrosion resistance is buried several thousandths of an inch thick in the parent material surface.

Anyway I think the chain pitch and geometry bear more on a basket catchability than whatever the chains are coated with.

Stainless chains would solve a lot of potential break in issues as it's cheaper than hot dipped and only slightly more than yellow chromate coating and is more slippery naked uncoated.

 

[biscoe]

why doesnt a basket company come in and try to capture the entire dgpt

cut a helluva deal on production/cost to dgpt and then infinite advertisement with being the "dgpt standard"

i know quite a few disc lickers that would quickly follow and buy the official basket of the dgpt for their courses

I would imagine most of them have tried. Tough deal to cut from the DGPT perspective though- picking one is going to eliminate most if not all the others as potential sponsors. Supposedly at one point they were working on their own basket but haven't heard that talk recently.

 

[biscoe]

If it's about link friction at the mating surfaces that could be immediately accelerated by putting the basket in a cement mixer on an angle. Regular hot dip galvanized coating is actually "sticky" in metal terms.

Hot dip chain is actually kind of an engineering dipshit move as design spec goes because it costs more and any application where there's high friction and not just a static load will wear through that coating quickly and diminish the corrosion resistance drastically.

Passivated chain with citric acid is the better flavor of coating for chains that move around as the corrosion resistance is buried several thousandths of an inch thick in the parent material surface.

Anyway I think the chain pitch and geometry bear more on a basket catchability than whatever the chains are coated with.

Stainless chains would solve a lot of potential break in issues as it's cheaper than hot dipped and only slightly more than yellow chromate coating and is more slippery naked uncoated.

Obviously you know way more about this stuff than I do but stainless chains don't catch nearly as well as galvanized.

 

[Sewer bill]

Obviously you know way more about this stuff than I do but stainless chains don't catch nearly as well as galvanized.

I belive it. So is there a market for basket break in? I'll show up to your course with my tractor you give me the keys to the collars and in one day I break in all the baskets using a top secret post hole digger attachment with a basket sleeve mount. Would the average disc golfer even know or care?

 

[biscoe]

I honestly believe that at some point someone will make some kind of breakthrough and build what is truly a better mousetrap (basket). IMO they could be priced in the $1200-$1500 range if demonstrably better catching and made of superior materials. When places are spending $100k plus on courses the extra $15k for the "very best baskets ever made as used on the Pro Tour" doesn't seem like all that much. I have no idea what said breakthrough might be though.

 

[itlnstln]

Seems like Birdcage is trying to be the basket specialist in the market right now. Every basket has their detractors, but those Prodigy ones are f'ing terrible.

It's probably close to impossible to create a basket that catches everything, but one that catches faster spin putts might be better the way younger players are hammering putts from C2 these days

 

[Cgkdisc]

Chain pattern optimization will not be the way this problem is solved. The situation will be improved, if not fully resolved, in another way and it won't be changing to a cone deflector versus chains although they would be more consistent.