$$$

[thundercatthrowsdiscs]

Does anyone know or have a link to see officially how much pro disc golfers make? Is this just prize money or do the pros get paid for endorsments(sp)?

[Scott]

You can look at any pro's profile page and see how much they've won this year.

Pros definatley get paid for endorsements. Those arrangements are usually confidential.

[Cajun]

I like to collect an appearance fee for playing in a tournament.

[3 Fingers]

Does anyone know or have a link to see officially how much pro disc golfers make? Is this just prize money or do the pros get paid for endorsments(sp)?

go to the pdga web site, punch in any pro name. it will tell you how much they made for that year, what tourny they played and where they finished..you can do that with anybody who is in the pdga. even you if your in the pdga..Climo made over $ 40,000 in 2007 and over $ 13,000 this year so far..

[Toby Puttzinski]

How about a guestimate on what the top handful of pros make in endorsements...
I'd venture to guess that Climo and Feldberg would earn @ 20-30% of their total income through endorsements... am I way off?:chinscratch:

[Matt B.]

How about a guestimate on what the top handful of pros make in endorsements...
I'd venture to guess that Climo and Feldberg would earn @ 20-30% of their total income through endorsements... am I way off?:chinscratch:

I think I read somewhere that Climo gets $.25 for every signature disc that is sold.

[snap7times]

he does make a commission and it's around 4,000 a month during peak summer months and 1,000 during off season approximately... Read this in an interview with Ken somewhere a year ago...

[LakeStevensBA]

I like to collect an appearance fee for playing in a tournament.

This is true. Last year I gave him a warm Coors LIght and half a microwave burrito for playing in the Aquafest Open. Since he played Open and qualified for the final 6 bonus holes, I have already agreed to buy him a 16 oz Keystone Ice this year.

[olydiscgolf]

Whatever the top pro's income is, it isn't enough! Most of these guys that travel end up sleeping on couches and floors.

When was the last time Tiger slept on somebodies floor? (besides, when the wife kicked him out!)

[DexterHawk]

Most pros only get merch for their sponcership... The big companies pay bonuses for wins and top fives at majors and the like (cash from innova, discs for discraft players)

[thundercatthrowsdiscs]

Whatever the top pro's income is, it isn't enough! Most of these guys that travel end up sleeping on couches and floors.

When was the last time Tiger slept on somebodies floor? (besides, when the wife kicked him out!)

Agreed... so how do we get the sport to grow?

[Uhlman]

Agreed... so how do we get the sport to grow?

We need to clean up the image of disc golf and get big name brand sponsors for tournaments. You know the names… Coke, Pepsi, Ford, AT&T, Accenture, along with our current sponsors. Right now, the biggest sponser I know of is Vibram. Getting Mainstream TV coverage would also help.

[sillybizz]

We need to clean up the image of disc golf

This is the number one priority in my mind.

[Uhlman]

This is the number one priority in my mind.

The saying "It only takes one bad apple to spoil the box" comes to mind.

[NWDiscer]

:chinscratch: any1 wanna set up an over/under on how long till this gets moved into a diff. section of the forum. :slapface::blush::rolleyes:

[Uhlman]

:chinscratch: any1 wanna set up an over/under on how long till this gets moved into a diff. section of the forum. :slapface::blush::rolleyes:

I probably could have done it with one more post if I had added, "Let's keep "it" (and I think we all know which "it" I am talking about) off the course."
Though I restrained myself the cats among the pixies now.

[emmarose]

I probably could have done it with one more post if I had added, "Let's keep "it" (and I think we all know which "it" I am talking about) off the course."
Though I restrained myself the cats among the pixies now.

... right... 'cause other athletes never participate in illicit activities or demonstrate questionable moral values and ethics (or shoot themselves in the leg with an unregistered firearm)... it must just be my imagination that our dearly beloved basketball team was known as the "jailblazers" for a couple years there...

... not sayin' we shouldn't keep it clean and family friendly... i do actually totally support that... i'm just sayin'... well, y'know... just sayin'...

peace,
em

[Uhlman]

... right... 'cause other athletes never participate in illicit activities or demonstrate questionable moral values and ethics (or shoot themselves in the leg with an unregistered firearm)... it must just be my imagination that our dearly beloved basketball team was known as the "jailblazers" for a couple years there...

... not sayin' we shouldn't keep it clean and family friendly... i do actually totally support that... i'm just sayin'... well, y'know... just sayin'...

peace,
em

yep all that... and the fact that there are buch of hippy freeks tosing a kids toy at stuff.

[NWDiscer]

NBA WOULD NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT TESTING ...:wink2: :whistler: 80%+ of the entire league would be gone.....:blush:

[thundercatthrowsdiscs]

Plus bball has been around for a long time and is already established. When you are trying to grow a sport you want it to look as appealing as possible to as many people as possible. Do you think "it" is a big deal in other states or just here because it is more acceptable?

So how do we draw bigger companies to disc golf? And as far as TV coverage goes... are you looking for ESPN coverage?

[emmarose]

yep all that... and the fact that there are buch of hippy freeks tosing a kids toy at stuff.

... freakin' dirty hippies... i swear...

;)

peace,
em

[Ol' Bob]

Well, how would you unwind after a 40 point night?

[Uhlman]

Plus bball has been around for a long time and is already established. When you are trying to grow a sport you want it to look as appealing as possible to as many people as possible. Do you think "it" is a big deal in other states or just here because it is more acceptable?

So how do we draw bigger companies to disc golf? And as far as TV coverage goes... are you looking for ESPN coverage?

The thing with bball and the other sports is they are not doing it on the feild of play. As for TV coverage yes we need a Network (take your pick) to cover our major and NT events. Even if they aren’t live its better than nothing. Heck ESPN covers the "Little" rodeo we have over here every second full week of September (although they wouldn’t do it until we added a strictly women’s event).

[thundercatthrowsdiscs]

Great point. Keep the playing feild family friendly and work on tv coverage... anyone know the head of ESPN? I was also thinking about maybe a reality tv show... anyone have a video camera?

[DexterHawk]

the problem with TV is that it is very difficult to cover much more than one group on a course and even then you need two or three camera men to get every shot and that is on a relatively open course.

If you wanna cover poker you only need one or two guys to run it.

At this point I think that the most important growth that disc golf can realize is when more regular dudes can make their living building and promoting the sport. Pay to play courses, tournament directors that could make a living, more quality disc and equipment companies... that is the next big step in disc golf's growth.

[DMajor]

the problem with TV is that it is very difficult to cover much more than one group on a course and even then you need two or three camera men to get every shot and that is on a relatively open course.

If you wanna cover poker you only need one or two guys to run it.

At this point I think that the most important growth that disc golf can realize is when more regular dudes can make their living building and promoting the sport. Pay to play courses, tournament directors that could make a living, more quality disc and equipment companies... that is the next big step in disc golf's growth.

Legitimate TV coverage is a long ways away for sure. But imagine how entertaining watching one of the major tournaments would be with the production budget of a ball golf tournament. Blimp Cams, tower Cams, multiple angles on every hole of the course, professional commentary all on a prime Sunday morning time slot. Combine all that with the more than colorful personalities of disc golf and you would increase the interest exponentially.

If the PDGA membership base gets to 250,000-500,000 there might be a legitimate business risk for something with a decent production budget to happen. That is probably 10-20 years away in my opinion.

The quickest way to make this happen is to build more courses and more importantly get kids and more women into it. Every time a new course goes in there is a decent percentage of people in the area that will enjoy the game enough to play casually and maybe 10-20% of those people will like it enough to play competitively. Getting kids involved will immediately solve alot of the image problems usually associated with disc golfers. Can you imagine the power of persuasion a large pack of young disc golfers would have on a parks department as opposed to the usual demographic.

The potential location of courses alone could change dramatically. Too often disc golf courses are located in areas that aren't the safest place to be. My girlfriend and her 7 year old daughter have just recently started to enjoy disc golf enough to go to different courses to play on their own. It is extremely sad that they/I have to worry about the kind of people they may come across in the middle of the woods with no one else around at some of our local courses. I have personally never had a problem at any disc golf course playing by myself or otherwise, but the fact that I have read multiple posts on this forum from grown men who don't feel safe going to play certain courses by themselves combined with the fact that I have come across quite a few nongolfers I would be worried about lurking in the woods is a huge deterent.

If we get more people running events and clinics designed specifically for kids like the recent Sumner event that will be a huge step for disc golf. Next time lets take advantage of the opportunity and get some more cameras out and put together some quality promotional footage to bring to a parks meeting near you.

[DexterHawk]

Kids and women... Couldn't agree more!

Course location is tough though... If we want to play for free I'm afraid that this will remain an issue.

[Iceberg]

I would be happy to pay a fee to play a sweet course thats well maintained

[thundercatthrowsdiscs]

I agree. I love going to hornings hideout. And I have no problems paying for the privelage to play there.