So they finally figured out why all their anglers were leaving them and have made some very needed corrections. I think that is great news for anyone planning to fish FLW moving forward. Now if they can just get away from fishing all the lakes where it takes 12# a day to win the tourney.

Guess that's what happens when people leave. Try to fix it afterwards.

slowly taking away the co angler.

So winning the cup goes from $500k to $300k...wow! Sounds to me like they were over spending their resources.

I'm guessing with less sponsor exposure on the final day comes less sponsor money. This is to be expected.

Personally I believe FLW does a heck of a job. I love the fact that the invitational helps bring co anglers and rayovac boaters together. BASS helps "THEIR" people and only them (this is a whole new argument).

Steps in the right direction, that's for sure. Good to see they're listening to the pros!

I'm all for them doing whatever it takes to benefit the guys like you James and the other pros that bust it out
on the trail each year. As a fan and spectator I probably enjoy watching the FLW events as much as if not more than BASS. As long as it's good for the pros and they are happy that's great.

It's like anything, give & take. The send out surveys to all the anglers to find out what the majority want. They try to adjust things accordingly. I like the way FLW runs events. Unfortunately unless a sponsor comes along I won't be fishing with them next season.

BASS cut the classic to 300,000 as well last year

Don't get me wrong because I am a big fan of FLW and have never fished a BASS event to date. What I get out of the changes is $200K gone from the Cup and $100K gone from each of the 6 qualifiers equalling $600K gone for a total of at least $800,000 that will not be paid back in the 6 Tour Events and the Cup due to only paying down to 50th place instead of top 60 in the past. All the while increasing the entry fee by $200 per event which equals another $180K per 6 events in additional revenue based on a 150 boat field.
Between the cuts to Pro's and Co's just in the Tour I see over a million dollars in reduced payouts.

I fear this will send more Pro's heading over to BASS but this is just my initial thoughts on the changes. I can definitely see a lot more Tour guys fishing the BASS Opens in 2016 due to this.

seems to be the final analysis by the pros, only positive spin is that allowing more freedom with sponsors FLW is basically saying "you wanted the freedom with sponsors, now you go out and get the extra $800k yourself". Also nice with the 2 Invitationals the pros get a more full schedule. Rayovac guys should be more excited chance to make the Invitationals.

someone just figured out there is $1.13 million less payout next year.

the question we'll never know is how much FLW lost in sponsors because of opening the sponsor restrictions. I would bet anything it wasn't $1.13 million.

so it appears quickly that the sponsor end of the FLW business has been decreasing (because the entry fee revenue has been going up) and FLW is trying to keep the bottom line by paying less and raising entries. I don't know if you can blame them as a free business and they will still fill the field with this structure. I just feel bad for the anglers who will have a harder time.

The reality is that it's always going to be a very tough road to hold for the Tour level organizations. The amount of people that care about tournament fishing is relatively small compared with other sports. That only gives sponsors a smaller audience that their advertising dollars go to.

I would bet they sell more dollars worth of golf equipment in a couple of hours than they sell bass equipment in a year. Also there are a lot of people playing golf. Even those who don't play attend tournaments. Then there is the TV exposure on major networks in prime time. That all translates into huge sponsor dollars in golf. A big part of those sponsors don't have any connection to golf beyond their Sponsorship. 102 guys on the PGA tour made more than $1MM this year in prize money alone. Top Caddies can make mid 6 figures or more.

Tour level Bass will always struggle. A few will figure a way to make a comfortable or better living out of it. Very few.