MLF Angler Longevity

Just wondering how long an MLF angler is allowed to fish their free entry tournaments and have minimal success? For example, if an angler continually finishes low in their elimination rounds and rarely makes it to even a knockout round, how long is the angler permitted to remain in their tournament organization?

I think they replace the lowest two performers with the top two performers from the "selects" or whatever the lower tier is called. The do this every two years, I believe...

Doesn't this initial group of 80 have a 3 year guaranteed contract? As in they get 3 full years of competition before they can lose their spot based on performance.

Yes

Duckett said in an interview after the 3rd year the bottom 10 anglers would be bumped down to the selects, top 10 in the selects move up. The speculation has been FLW will become the selects but nothing has been officially announced yet.

Who will be the first to jump ship and go back to tournament fishing?

Any of the ones not winning $$ lol

My understanding is the after three the bottom 10. But I think they are handcuffed for the next two seasons and cannot leave. It will be interesting to see who leave voluntarily, but it will also be interesting because as of now, they have to requalify to get back into the other two organizations. Now will they bend and welcome someone back ? We will find out after the 2021 season I guess.

They can leave prior to the 3 tear mark but must pay a penalty. Not sure of amount.

Why would they leave?

Exactly, I don't think any of them will unless they can get a better paying jobs somewhere else, these guys at MLF aren't competing for each others money anymore like the other tours still are.

I think after 3 years about 50% will leave and fish other trails. Just my opinion.

I agree. I just think a lot of these guys are wired to fish for quality and can't stand targeting big numbers of little fish.

They can always vote to change the rules to keep their own around for a couple more years if they so choose.

You do realize that most of these anglers don’t make their living fishing.
MLF offers far greater exposure for their sponsors. The ones I know that fish MLF love it.

Unless they are somehow able to walk right back to BASS without qualifying and their entry fees are waived over there as well, nowhere near 50% will be leaving and likely not even 5%.

How many of you guys actually enjoy watching the best anglers in the world out there catching 50 fish for 60lbs? No disrespect meant but I had rather watch someone get 5 bites for 25+ lbs.

I prefer BPT

Well, you can do that. There are formats to suit everyone’s needs.
The jest of this post was the longevity of the anglers. I think MLF is here to stay.
These guys that chose to go with MLF BPT were very well aware of the format.
My opinion backed up with a few facts.

While I agree the anglers are well taken care of on the BPT do you think the TV ratings will remain strong for multiple years? Yes, there is no denying that the TV exposure has been great for MLF and should be the same for BPT through these first few years. With that being said, the same old song and dance could possibly get stale just like many TV shows that hit the repeat button over and over. This is the main reason i see the BPT not lasting and the anglers having to go back to their roots. Sponsor dollars only go so far. You’ve seen basically the exact same theme for every event. IMO people will get tired of it, ratings will drop, sponsors cut funding, then where does the prize money come from? Just doesn’t seem sustainable to me.

You mean the same old song and dance like fishing for five fish for decades with the same theme at each event for decades? I'm so confused...

That’s pretty close to the response I expected. I’m talking about drop shots, fairy wands, and 1.5 pounders being the winning pattern for 80% of the events. How much stock do you have in this thing?

Every time i watch. I see guys pitching, throwing spinnerbaits, bladed jigs, crankbaits and topwaters. Saying all they do is use a spinning rod and target small fish is just made up BS.

Lol, no stock, just pointing out that you're complaining about something getting stale and you have this other thing that hasn't evolved in forever. You are aware that the anglers and the executive team at MLF are free to make adjustments and have proven that they're willing to be creative and force change right? What makes you think this isn't going to evolve on some level if that's what they decide to do as a collective group? BPT isn't even a year old and everyone is arm chair quarterbacking it like nothing I've ever seen.

Let it marinate man, it's a work in progress. Lastly, I can tell you from personal experience that for every one person who says they don't like it, there's ten who do. These anglers left their "roots" for a reason to join this platform.

Mark,

As long as the alternative "5 fish limit" is still around no one is forcing any type of change in regards to picking sides. It's just another option. That's what this country is about. While i respect your input, it always comes off as "dare to challenge me" type responses. We all know what you do for a living and that is to collect data, nothing more and nothing less. And you apply that methodology to the way you interact with everyone here. I completely understand that there is plenty of room for MLFBPT to grow as it is a "new" alternative than what's out there. It's new and it will create it's OWN lane not FORCE B.A.S.S to change it's format. What B.A.S.S did change was the way it treated it's customers and fans. That change needed to happen as the anglers spoke their mind regarding their decision to leave. That is the only changing force MLF BPT has done. Wish the best to all the trails out there. Thanks

I have no problem with anyone's opinions and if they find my replies "challenging" then I guess that's ok, I'm not running for Mayor of the TFF. I'm not picking sides either, I've said 100 times I like ALL the formats and run an alternative format, so there's a little more in my bag than data, although we do data work from time to time. To be clear, I don't see five fish as an alternative in a 2019 world, I see big bass and catch and release as the alternatives as it relates to "today", however I think the sport is headed for a change long term and I'll either be right or wrong at some point in the future. That will play itself out over time. MLF's rise should give everyone some insight into where we are headed.

In the meantime, neither you nor anyone else has to agree with me or buy into my point of view but you're likely going to hear from me on it.

I like the way you think.

Who do you think gets better TV ratings, bassmaster at some obscure hour on ESPN2 or MLF on CBS network TV right before PGA golf on saturday afternoon like today... I can tell you

Yet you posted this earlier today on another MLF thread....
Didn't even realize until now they been doing the world championship CBS shows every saturday, missed the first 2, kinda surprised they have not been plugging it on MLF live.

ditto lol

I find it hilarious that for decades no one ever said anything about stringer tournaments. And now all of a sudden it’s “oh stringer tournaments are bad”, “stringer tournaments are boring” “mlf is the future” “all hail mlf”. There is a word for that. It’s called bandwagon. Some of you would endorse a turd if you thought it would make you look cool.

I don't see every thread here obviously but I've actually never seen anyone make a post that said stringer tournaments are bad. Do you have a reference for this?

I've been fishing 5 fish tournaments all my life and will continue doing so. I like MLF because it's a new format that i find fun. I have never said 5 fish tourmaments are bad. If anything it's the anti BPT guys that blow things out of proportion. Saying they fish with nothing but spinning rods and try to catch nothing but small fish

I’m not anti anything. I’ve followed as much of the first few tournaments as I possibly could. I then got to the point where I’d check at the end of each round. This week, can’t tell you who is fishing tomorrow. Will probably check tomorrow night and see how all my favorites did.

I’m a fan of fishing, but got bored watching the BPT. If the stars weren’t there, I likely wouldn’t follow it at all. Will be interesting to see if they make changes, and what changes they make to keep the interest.

If they keep everything the same they need to do a better job of lake selection or I don’t see them maintaining current ratings for very long. I hope they make it. I think initial ratings were good because it was something new. Once the new has faded, will be interesting to see what the ratings are like.

This is why a fish finder costs 3K plus, a motor is 20K plus, a dam crank bait is 15 to 20 dollars and a new boat motor and trailer is 70K plus. The sponsors are raking it in and don't plan on stopping.

Sponsorship money must be really good for these guys. By my count only 18 guys made over $60,000. With all their travel expenses that is nothing. Five guys didn't make a dime. At least they didn't have to pay a bunch of entry fees to make $0 I guess.

"Three year contract" I don't think all the top sticks left for a new unproven tour out of the goodness of their hearts.

I wonder what everyone’s opinion would have been if the BPT had made it 5
fish? Still weigh them and release with no weigh in. An idea I had would that I think would be interesting would be a hybrid of the two. Maybe have top 10 total weight make the cut along with top 10 with best 5. It could work until the final day when you would have to have a way to crown a champ.

I would prefer that format. I just can’t get excited about seeing guys targeting schools of smaller fish and that’s what it takes to win this format. But Duckett has said numerous times, there will be no 5 fish format, period. It’s staying the way it was designed.

You forgot one other benefit of BPT and the positive change it brought about. There are a bunch of guys now fishing the Elites and FLW who wouldn't have been, otherwise.

This.^^^^^^

While i get bored watching anyone fish.
I do enjoy seeing the new techniques and baits in action.

I heard KVD made 24,000 on the tour this year and when will they start charging for the live stream.

Haven't heard that they are going to charge for the live stream on BPT. As far as Kevin's winnings, throw that in with about $2.5 million in sponsorship, and I'm pretty sure he's just fine.

Personally I like the MLF when it on but I'm not going to spend hours watching a live stream show of any type. I don't know how they think they are getting more exposure for their sponsors since they fish during the work week and don't have a format to bring crowds in but that is my opinion. My guess is they go the way of the PAA within 5 years unless Johnny Morris and Boyd Duckett bankroll the entire trail.

Does the contract guarantee that they can't make $0?

The way I read it when they started, yes.

I love how buttt hurt some of these guys get by your opinions Mark.

MLF is here to stay..... period.

The MLF/BPT exposure value comes by way of TV and considerably more of it. While there are certainly sponsors who like onsite activation and crowd engagement, that’s not the driver for them at this point. I’m sure it will evolve.

Secondly, there’s a ton of viewers during the week and it’s even better when the finals are not on the weekend. And finally, while Johnny Morris and Boyd are certainly players here, make no mistake the money in this venture has as much to do with Kroenke as anyone. They’re not running out of funds anytime soon.

I took a quick look at BASS Elites for 2019. I feel safe is saying, without doing all the work, that less than half won as much as their entry fees.