pretty interesting article here http://bassprime.com/2016/02/18/is-there-more-money-for-pro-anglers/

anyone see Kevin Short's article on Elite payouts?

Certainly understand the perspective but not a big fan of him stirring the pot after the fact.

Well, they dont put these on for free. Of course they take a cut, it isnt cheap to put on a tournament.

More like they take the whole pie!

I guess he can start his own trail.

Pretty sure B.A.S.S. wasn't profitable when ESPN sold it.

Please explain how they do that?

They aren't a community service organization.

I was exaggerating, but with anglers putting up 62% of payouts where does the other money go? Each tournament has a title sponsor and I'm sure there are other level of sponsors to bass. Merchandise, membership money paid to bass, do they get money from tv? ... Where does that all go?

Some people have no idea what it takes to run an organization with events of this magnitude. Just like people think am TV networks pay companies to be on their channel. In 90% of the markets, it's just the opposite. The "show" pays to be on the network. Yes, they can sell commercials, but many commercials are already taken up by obligations per sponsorship packages.

You would be floored by the total dollar amount it takes to run an organization like BASS.

If you don't think it costs to run a tournament trail of this magnitude, then buy yourself a little weigh in trailer, hire you a couple of guys to help you (full time - don't go half [censored]), advertise it real good year round then payback 100% of the angler'a entry fees.

BASS is somehow making ends meet in an industry that isn't thriving nor overrun with frivolous sponsorships right now. Good job to them.

In that case, the brands making a killing in this industry ought to be ashamed that they aren't reinvesting more to make the showcase for their products more successful and lucrative.

Wait, let me get this straight... The brands who invest their andvertising/marketing/sponsorship money in the professional trails, regional trails, local trails, TV shows, digital sites, forums, charity events, print magazines and host of other outlets should be ashamed of themselves? Brands, that are for profit entities should be ashamed of themselves for attempting to make a profit and keep their business in the black? Just making sure I understand what you're saying because I can't for the life of me understand how they're to blame here.

This ^^^

Plus a few other notes.

#1 the payouts for BASS are close to 150% if I'm not mistaken, so they are making a contribution to the overall prize purse. Sure it's less than it was in the past but I'm sure that's by design as they are trying to earn a profit. It's also important to note that the current ownership purchased BASS, so they have that debt service and initial investment to recover and I can't imagine the purchase of that property was cheap.

#2 many of the anglers, at least the ones who have the right sponsorships/partnerships aren't paying their entry fee anyway. They're using sponsor dollars to cover that. Granted that's not all of them but that's the way the game is played at present.

#3 all of the anglers get the benefit of the platforms that BASS, FLW and MLF have created. They're able to access a sponsor dollar in theory because of that. The properties provide exposure well beyond what most of them can command on their own through their social channels etc. It's a two way street. They prop up the platform and the platform provides access and opportunity for them as well.

And last but not least if anyone has $15-20 million they want to put down so that the anglers can fish for free and they can run a Tour of this size then let's see if they can go get $20+ million in sponsorship and event revenue to make the business model work. I'm betting that they can't. Anyone remember the PAA?

According to the bassresource site I just googled to post this(because I'm not claiming to be a know it all here), bass fishing is a 4.8 billion dollar industry. But to hear everyone talk, everyone is broke or barely getting by. There is a disconnect somewhere.
But to answer your question, bassmaster elites are the premium billboards for major fishing manufactures. I'd think B.A.S.S and their fishermen's financial health would be important to them as well.when elites are sleeping in their trucks, and people like David Kilgore aren't fishing because there's no money in it.... There has to be a better way. I'm not claiming to know it, just saying....

It's a big industry overall and there's a lot of revenue but tournament angling is only a portion of that. There's certainly anglers who struggle to make it work but that's the way it is at this point. Things always evolve so you never know who may come along and change the game.