Big o is annoying as they come.

But it's true. MLF started a tour on the premise that these are the elite the best of the best and they should have say in what they do. So let's vote on all of it. Then when the best interest of the business were challenged by best interest of the anglers..... The anglers were trumped. Which is why this fairytale unicorn utopian bs will never work in reality.

With sponsors and cities tightening the purse strings there should be some business decisions made. But hey MLF sold this bill of goods. They made this bed. Lay in it.

DAYUMMM

MLF has 4-6 1/2 hours coverage on outdoor and sportsman channel every week and reportedly the largest TV audience of any outdoor shows....

Not just that, the vast majority of them went to the BPT over the “entry fees” and the “inhumane weigh-in format”. At least that’s the long running narrative. Now, they are being coerced into paying “entry fees” for 3 events that have that horrible, god forbid, Inhumane format! Not to leave without mention how that’s screwing over the guys who paid their fees for the FLW Pro series by diluting their chances of winning by increasing the field from 150 to 200 where the additional 50 is reserved for “the best anglers in the world” according to the narrative. Not only did this idea get voted down, it got voted down 2x, yet the MLF brass still moved forward. That’s spitting in the face of every single FLW pro and BPT Pro who feels pressured by MLF to pay entry fees.

Some will defend MLF no matter what, that’s what they are getting paid to do... kinda like it’s suspected a lot of those online viewers are. Why else would there be so many totally irrelevant posts to try and distract from the substance of the topic?

Jeffries on BTL almost had a stroke over how his show counter part, and a majority of his viewers on Monday’s show pointed out exactly the same thing.

See: starting at the 23:00 mark.

Troll or not, Big O is exactly right.

They are contradicting everything they supposedly formed for. BASS had no problems rescheduling the elites and the opens, MLF/FLW shouldn't have either. With no public weigh ins they could fish any days of the week and with the smaller fields it opens up more venues so scheduling is no excuse.

This is all about them needing to pump money into the failing FLW business that they bought.

I wonder if the brass at MLF would let the BPT anglers pay the fees to fish the BASS opens - I mean, if one is going to pay fees to fish that god awful inhumane format, they might as well fish in a circuit that if they win it will count and allow them to gain entry back into the elite series once MLF fails all together. My bet is MLF Just flat out won’t allow those guys to alternatively fish the opens instead of the FLW Pro Circuit. I mean it’s kind of contradictory if they won’t allow the BPT anglers to fish the opens, right? Am I right or what?

Let’s here from some that like to preach the B. Duckett logic and explain why it would be different!

What I find interesting is that of the 3 trails I figured BPT to be tge one that could hold their events more easily in the current times. I really figured they would have tried to have as complete a season as they could really cement the BPT brand even more since its their top tier trail. From a fan's standpoint I was kind of shocked at the direction they chose to go the remainder of this season. Once I saw BASS trying to get in a full season i guess I assumed BPT would rssume.
We now see more changes and format tweaks and back to livewell events. I question if the lack of stability in a set format plus now really walking back some of the livewell rhetoric will hurt them a bit.

I like change in some regards and will watch the events but I would think they would focus on the BPT brand itself since its still so new. How is this gonna effect tve Redcrest? Looks like another year without any competition event wise to rival the Classic.

I don't see any overlaps that says they couldn't fish the opens. There were already some guys that fished the first Eastern open this year so I am sure you will see plenty of the BPT guys fishing the opens.

Eastern opens
8/6-8/8
10/29-10/31
9/23-9/25

Centrals Opens
6/18-6/20
10/10-10/12
10/22-10/24
11/19-11/21

FLW pro Series
6/23-6/26
7/29-8/1
8/11-8/14

BPT
6/7-6/12
7/10-7/15

Some BPT guys were already signed up to fish the Opens.

Yes, but will they allow the BPT guys to fish the opens “as opposed to” fishing the FLW Pro Series “super tournaments” where winning or placing doesn’t mean as much (apart from money) as it would if they fished the opens and a win would qualify them to join the elite series?

Mark, the single biggest issue for MLF is the production timeline necessary to get all events in for their TV commitments and I believe they spoke to that. As far as the other changes, it's really simple, the Covid issues have forced them to adjust across MLF & FLW. Boyd addressed this in the interview and flat out acknowledged this was going to be tough sledding as they work through it. Big O isn't "breaking" any news. There's not a single intelligent human that doesn't understand that all three leagues will be strained here, losing events and potential revenue with sponsors making tough decisions.

What's happened is unprecedented and therefore you're going to see an unprecedented response as people react. Not sure why this is so confusing for some people?

And as has been mentioned, the FLW supers will likely be the highest viewed events we've seen for FLW. Time will tell.

Time will tell for sure. I fully understand this current crisis is unprecedented but I still wonder if these format tweaks and changes are not gonna hurt the BPT since its taking away the chance to build a stable base first and reinforce the brand recognition of BPT . People tend to gravitate towards the things most familiar and most consistent when things get crazy as they are now. Its comforting to see the familiar. Changes in the middle of all of this could backfire.

I leave Big O to his own opinions. I'm staying out of that lane. I am speaking from a fan's standpoint. Going to livewell events if even for a couple events seems to contradict one of the biggest talking points they have had for the last 18 months. I do not think people's memories are as short as some may think. Whether rightfully so or not, those comments rubbed a lot of their fans and potential fans wrong and were pretty polarizing.
I am gonna tune in and watch what I can watch at least till they get to the dropshot deal events but in fairness I rarely watch any of those no matter the trail. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out. I hope as few people in the industry as possible are negatively affected by what we are going through.

MP, the numbers this year for the early BPT events were off the charts and the adjustments they made to the format had virtually eliminated any and all of the noise and negativity of the previous season. As soon as they're back, it will resume where it left off there's no doubt. Viewers will get a cool change up in the short term with the Supers and once BPT is back it will be business as usual for both leagues, assuming they can navigate the revenue losses all leagues and trails are facing. I'm interested to see the Heavy Hitters numbers too. I actually think the full field will help them as it gives viewers access to all their favorite anglers not just 30.

My two cents anyway.

What, they can’t produce made for TV products in the late summer and fall? Is there something that prevents them from filming a fishing event during those certain months? I would opine that fishing somewhere in the south during November Is a lot less risky than fishing Oklahoma in February, where they are reportedly going to hold their next Redcrest. How about you address the word going around within the angler ranks that these ideas were voted down, not once, but 2x and yet MLF decided to ignore those who they promised would have a say in things?

haters are going to Hate!!