Skipper, the Heavy Hitters event has been in the works for quite some time. Let me break this down into a couple of things because in these threads I think it gets lost.

I can answer a person who says no one's watching and that everyone hates it by providing a response that the numbers simply don't support the pitch that everyone hates it, they in fact support that more people like it. Secondly, that doesn't mean that MLF stakeholders aren't listening to the five fish guys that it might not be their favorite. Example, Heavy Hitters will be a test of a creative format to see what the response is. The beauty of the MLF deal is they can collectively as a group decide what adjustments, if any, they'd like to make and deploy them.

Again, not being flippant here but guys will come on here and scream "hey listen to me and change the format" then that very same person will come up with something completely opposite to say if for some reason they actually change the format. It's crazy. Lol.

Are you saying the Heavy Hitter event is replacing the Redcrest in 2020? ...I thought it was an add on event. I might be misunderstanding your reply to Champ though.

You’re assuming all of these things with zero context of their business. I have seen the data and not the data used in a presentation but the raw data and metrics.

They look at a lot of data points across all of their channels and each is different and provides different insight into the platforms, their reach and the consumer. It’s a learning process and I’ll say again. It’s the end of year one. Do you honestly believe there won’t be improvements/adjustments based on their learnings behind this data?

MP, I’m sorry I missed this. No it’s not replacing didn’t mean to confuse that.

Jonesy

This is an interesting POV. One fan says "hear me, react to me!" another fan says "stick to your guns (format)!"

I think that's one of the advantages of a startup. You can listen, respond and pivot quicker. The second part of this is there are a number of stakeholders in this venture. It's not just Kroenke or Johnny Morris, it's a large group and they actually have a plan believe it or not. They have to address a three headed monster consisting of their fans, their anglers and their sponsors. It's a lot to manage to say the least. They are working through this thoughtfully and trying to manage this as they're moving very quickly.

Is anyone paying attention at all to what they've pulled off in a little over a year? They started a new league, onboarded a ton of new hires, built a full digital platform, moved to large scale live production, managed the setup of a full series of events and now have acquired FLW. Wouldn't it be reasonable to assume that an endeavor of that scale would come with some bumps in the road? Wouldn't it also be reasonable to assume that startups aren't profitable in the short term? I'm not sure how many business owners there are on this forum but it sure seems like there's a lot of armchair quarterbacks who think they could do better.

No one here has all of the context, only the major stakeholders there do. Let this thing marinate. They'll get it all figured out. Too many smart and talented people over there.

Lastly, I'm not sure what it does for anyone who comes on here and post about their impending doom. If they don't make it in five years and you get to come back to a forum and say "I told you so!", what value does that provide you in your life? Most of you posting don't even use your real names, so how can we even give you credit for your prognostication if it were to come true?

I’ll add this.....

The ONLY time I hear about this BPT stuff is when their is a change and then MJ comes in here to try and rescue what doesn’t need rescuing. ....then MFL stuff is gone again....until the next change.

I get a BASSMASTER magazine each month that keeps their trail fresh for me, even when they aren’t having tourneys.

As for the “MLF gets the most viewers”? If they count each time you log on to watch an event, they SHOULD
ALSO SUBTRACT THE NUMBER OF TIMES YOU GET DISCONNECTED AS WELL! I think that would give a more accurate, and sobering, metric. The one time I tried to watch, I had to log on 20x an hour to watch. Lol. I logged on once per day to watch the Elites.

Thanks Mark. Appreciate the reply.

I’ve read with interest this thread and the topic about how the viewership data and analytics are playing into how MLF and it’s sponsors respond. The one thing that is glaringly missing from all of it is how the consumers of products the sponsors are selling are reacting to the steady stream of bad publicity coming out about MLF. If MLF thinks they can sell media space to sponsors without thinking how their reputation as a business impacts such decisions, they are terribly miscalculating what a key driver is.

The Luke Dunkin incident was a huge blemish, but prior to and since that transpired there has been multiple other PR damaging incidents. The arbitrary cancellation of the FW cup which effectively removed an opportunity for a huge payout to all that qualified was just the start. Which was a minimum $10k for everyone. That was before the sale to MLF even closed, but Boyd Duckett of MLF was the one that announced its cancellation without any rational reason or offer of making things good to the people that decision screwed. The recent departure of two BPT anglers and the subsequent damning interviews they gave strongly indicating there is a culture of secrecy and fear, and that there are many more anglers who would also depart if it wasn’t for the huge get out of jail fines, have cost MLF much more in sponsorship confidence than the $100k they received in fines levied against Brandon and Gerald. Then we have the recent revelation that MLF won’t honor the commitment that FLW entered into as a partnership with the Bass Federation League, where a young kid is now screwed out of the FLW partnership portion of the live the dream winnings he earned, which, comparatively was a paltry 1/2 of a years entry fees into FLW pro tour. The bass federation is honoring its commitment and giving the kid a truck, boat, and paying 1/2 of the fees, but MLF left the kid to fend for himself on the other $20k. That’s bad, bad, bad... and that is going to blow up in their faces... it already has.

With so many PR disasters happening, this isn’t being viewed a “bumps in the road” thing for a new startup as some might suggest, but a pattern of bad corporate conduct and shows the MLF organization and its leadership has low moral character and integrity and their mission statement about fostering grass roots is nothing but a hypocritical sales pitch.

I can imagine all the sponsors for MLF are hearing from concerned customers, and that alone will have a much bigger impact than any viewership statistics that MLF can use in its pitch decks to sponsors that highlight the data, which by the way can be manipulated to suit just about any agenda. I predict the sponsors in the industry are very leery of MLF at this point, and rightfully so!

I’ve read with interest this thread and the topic about how the viewership data and analytics are playing into how MLF and it’s sponsors respond. The one thing that is glaringly missing from all of it is how the consumers of products the sponsors are selling are reacting to the steady stream of bad publicity coming out about MLF. If MLF thinks they can sell media space to sponsors without thinking how their reputation as a business impacts such decisions, they are terribly miscalculating what a key driver is.

The Luke Dunkin incident was a huge blemish, but prior to and since that transpired there has been multiple other PR damaging incidents. The arbitrary cancellation of the FW cup which effectively removed an opportunity for a huge payout to all that qualified was just the start. Which was a minimum $10k for everyone. That was before the sale to MLF even closed, but Boyd Duckett of MLF was the one that announced its cancellation without any rational reason or offer of making things good to the people that decision screwed. The recent departure of two BPT anglers and the subsequent damning interviews they gave strongly indicating there is a culture of secrecy and fear, and that there are many more anglers who would also depart if it wasn’t for the huge get out of jail fines, have cost MLF much more in sponsorship confidence than the $100k they received in fines levied against Brandon and Gerald. Then we have the recent revelation that MLF won’t honor the commitment that FLW entered into as a partnership with the Bass Federation League, where a young kid is now screwed out of the FLW partnership portion of the live the dream winnings he earned, which, comparatively was a paltry 1/2 of a years entry fees into FLW pro tour. The bass federation is honoring its commitment and giving the kid a truck, boat, and paying 1/2 of the fees, but MLF left the kid to fend for himself on the other $20k. That’s bad, bad, bad... and that is going to blow up in their faces... it already has.

With so many PR disasters happening, this isn’t being viewed a “bumps in the road” thing for a new startup as some might suggest, but a pattern of bad corporate conduct and shows the MLF organization and its leadership has low moral character and integrity and their mission statement about fostering grass roots is nothing but a hypocritical sales pitch.

I can imagine all the sponsors for MLF are hearing from concerned customers, and that alone will have a much bigger impact than any viewership statistics that MLF can use in its pitch decks to sponsors that highlight the data, which by the way can be manipulated to suit just about any agenda. I predict the sponsors in the industry are very leery of MLF at this point, and rightfully so!