they are reporting this on another forum...some are disputing the rumor and/or predicting there will be some sort of announcement after the FLW Cup this weekend....

Long awaited rumor

People have been talking and saying this for a while now , I don't know but its a really good rumor right now.

Johnny buying ever thing

Rumor ? I suspect CNN has something to do with it.

I heard it was the other way around... I heard Erwin Jacob's daughter bought them out with her inheritance... Dan

MLF bought FLW? Who GAF?

I mean really. "Professional" bass fishing is going the way of NASCAR. Fading fast in popularity and with no way to stop the tailspin they are throwing out gimmicks and hoping to take one last breath before slipping back into obscurity.

Best of luck competing with the 500k you tube googans making videos.

In a few years the biggest stars in bass fishing will have never backed a boat down a ramp, worn a jersey or been to a weigh in.

Its over Johnny.

Could be a lot of truth in that statement. Division of fans did not do any of them any good.

Oh my..... I'm scared there might be some truth to this.

I kind of agree. I went to the drive through for the Conroe MLF, it was a non-event. You already knew what they had caught that day, most of it was the standard "I could not do it without my _____________________". I've pretty much lost interest in all of them and I was a huge fan before the changes. I'll probably follow the FWC this week on Hamilton, but other than that I'll watch Bill Dance!

Think about this email.....

"For a head start on all the festivities, be sure to join us for FLW Pro Day at Bass Pro Shops (Little Rock, Memphis, Bossier City) and Greeson Polaris (Hot Springs) on Saturday, Aug. 3 from noon to 2 p.m. This is your chance to meet the FLW Cup pros as they prepare to compete on Lake Hamilton."

FLW pro day at BPS?

You really believe professional bass fishing is fading in popularity? I've not seen any data to back that up. In fact everything I have seen says just the opposite. There are more people involved in competitive bass fishing today than at any point in the past. To me the issue of division of fans and the popularity of the sport are really two different discussions. Is it possible that there are not enough fans to support three different tours? Absolutely! We don't have three different professional football leagues, baseball leagues, or basketball leagues. At least not three that last any time at all. I have no doubt that there will be some consolidation of these tours, but I don't personally believe it is because the sport is "Fading fast in popularity with no way to stop the tailspin".

Let me think of a better way to word it. But for the short term conversation, yes I do believe that the fishing industry sponsorship money is being stretched so thin that many guys will not be able to fish �professionally� in the near future. I don�t mean the guys that have businesses and fish on the side, I�m talking about the guys that only fish for their income.

Listening to a podcast today and the FLW rookie angler of the year said that he had ZERO sponsorships, this wouldn�t have been the case in years past.

Fishing used to be a fun low stress pleasure. I don�t see the joy in making it a business with high speed fishing, jerking bass out of the water as fast as they can. I too will watch Bill Dance.

All indications are the media stream is growing and both Bassmaster and MLF are in a shootout. Depending on the source one seems to think they are winning the battle, while MLF is a long way from knowing if it’s a success. The true outcome won’t be known till they air the shows on Discovery, Outdoor Channel and WFN.

The only thing we have seen of MLF and the Bass Pro Tour has been streaming media. As an MLF sponsor, and the original (#1) sponsor of MLF, they have definitely made a rotation on their original platform. None of us know if that is a success until those television shows of the BPT, and the next season of Cup events air.

On streaming media and online numbers both circuits are pretty much dead locked in the race. And Bassmaster numbers are still growing from where they were on 2018. We also are impressed with what Bassmaster has done to build that brand. They are refocusing on the membership, realigning themselves with Life Members and it appears that they will have a solid platform at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Center for the 2020 Bassmasters Classic. Guntersville will treat them well and the crowd from Katie at the Guntersville CVB to Birmingham itself will be ready to shine. Bassmaster is growing again beyond their 510,000 members and they have a renewed focus. They have BASS Times at 135,000 circulation (est.) and Bassmaster in that 510,000 membership and printing about 560,000 Bassmaster magazines.

The Major League Fishing BPT Red Crest is coming in a few weeks at LaCrosse, WI and we expect them to have a minimal crowd for this first Championship. It is an outdoors affair and we don’t know what that crowd will be. That’s all fine as MLF is about television and instant media streaming counts. There’s no membership, no print publications and they are totally dependent on views and a viewership or fan base.

Moving to FLW which is primarily a tournament organization with around 50,000 members (estimate). They have the FLW Cup here in Arkansas this week. The crowds will be significant and somewhere between Bassmaster and MLF, we feel more towards MLF as FLW allows only non conflicting sponsor booths and thus participation among boats, engines and other companies are limited, which limits some involvement. Hot Springs will be pleased, and host well, and FLW will find a new base in the mayhem of angler fallout. They still focus strongly on the BFL and Costa/Everstart anglers and their co-anglers. They are a core angler driven organization and they are strong in their base. There is no challenge here to the other two (2) though there’s still a place as they figure out the Post Irwin era.

Give it time guys as the cards are still being dealt and we don’t know who holds the aces.

Our bet’s on Bassmaster to get their core membership behind them and grow stronger as time goes by. As for MLF, they are an amazing media group (Winnercom) and they are very talented with a staff that’s driven from the media company, the anglers are the draw card for the work the media company puts in.

It will be 20 months before we know what the card game is building like.

BCB