Scott makes more off his YouTube shows and tv shows then he’ll ever make off the Elite Series. Sponsors pay anglers based off the exposure the angler can bring to their brand. So he keeps sponsors happy, makes more money, and doesn’t have to stress about missed cuts.

Same with the other guys. Sponsors are learning that Social media moves the needle more for their business and now require a strong YouTube/Instagram/Facebook following before sponsoring you. I’d say their focus is in the right place.

In this episode Scott is doing his informercial for Rolex watches while fishing - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dRMJwgT610&t=126s

Starts around 6:08 with the continual zoom in on the watch. He isn't hurting, fishing the tournaments is just a bye-product of building his brand.

They were all doing way better before they started worrying about YouTube content all the time. They are all unbelievable anglers and like someone said above can all bounce back. But at some point they are going to have to figure out which is more important. Fishing or Youtube. Just my opinion.

at some point you would think they would have to do good in the sport they are making all this money off of or the sponsors will dry up .

I believe Martin was leading the East prior to this event on Cherokee. If not leading he was top 5. I know he had a bad day on Cherokee on day 1 and that dropped him down some. I would hardly call that "sucking bad lately" or "not doing good in the sport". Upshaw has had some good events this year and had a really good 2019. As to the other two guys, I don't really follow them much.

I think some of you guys discount how tough these Opens are. In my opinion they are the toughest tournaments in all of bass fishing. A combination of local hammers at all events and some of the best pro's on planet earth. Add to that the fact that all these events are happening close together AND in the fall. In my opinion being top 10 in either division of the opens is a major accomplishment.

I thought $20k in electronics made it easy to put fish in the boat, no?

Just throwing out some guesstimates -
95+% of tournament anglers did not get into fishing tournaments to become a youtube star with 100,000+ subscribers
95+% of tournament anglers will not be successful on youtube
Being the 300th tournament angler with a youtube channel and not having the "right" personality or niche with the videos is a waste of time.

Regardless, the guys with 10,000 subscribers will not be able to differentiate themselves from the other angler with 10,000 subscribers. So everyone of them are back to ground zero.
The same logic applies to the sponsors.

Same with all this # [censored]. The value of a #aftco or #anything is basically worth $0.0000000000 when there are hundreds of thousands of #something.out there

These marketing fads will pass as others have done in the past.

3 out of 4 of them did much better today and are still somewhat in the hunt in points, Martin sitting pretty good. I’m rooting for all of them and enjoy their videos.

Martins and Upshaw are the 2 better of the group I’d like to see make it. Granted Martin ain’t worried bout fishing it to make money. He makes a good living just off Trokar itself

I think this proves it ain't easy in the opens. A few of the MLF guys might see how tough it is and decide it's to tough to chance it

To tough to chance what?

Yep, it takes both platform and podium success but many can survive on platform over podium. There's plenty of anglers with strong platforms who do just enough on the podium/performance side to stay "relevant" and make a living. The fishing world is littered with strong anglers who can fish/win but have no platform and/or sponsorships to speak of, so they can't sustain.

Martin has done both over a long period of time, that's why he's one of the sports top earners.

This comment was kinda interesting, I really started to wonder if Scott was really doing "way better" before youtube and how much it actually hurt him. He started posting videos 9 years ago if you look at the oldest videos on his channel.

Circuit Avg Placement after YouTube: 12.11
Circuit Ave Placement before YouTube: 40.42

Cup Avg Placement after YouTube: 11.22
Cup Ave Placement before YouTube: 37.77

He might be an outlier, but it seems to have helped him. It doesn't seem intuitive that adding stuff like cameras that you have to "worry" about all the time would help.

My thoughts are maybe it helps him focus on fishing a higher % of the time. I would also think that very few anglers that don't youtube dont watch videos of themselves fishing. Its quite possible he actually learns a lot from watching these videos back. Stuff like how to be more efficient with your time or exactly what you were doing each time a fish comes off the line and possibly finding a pattern to your mistakes. I know Tactical Bassin figured out that 75% of the time they caught a giant on a swimbait it was immediately following a change in cadence on their retrieve (stop, speed up, ect.)

Clearly there is huge value in having a fan base to tout to sponsors, but possibly there is value in improving your skill itself from videos?

Good stuff Wes! Thanks for putting that together.

My .02 cents.

Martin will make it this year. The others wont, but have gained tons of exposure. They are all going to also be on tv with him during the SMC on Camelot Bell. So while they didnt make it to the Elites this year, it may have helped their brand more. They may have a better chance next year after he qualifies. Not to mention they may have learned a little on how to be successful off the water in the business.

Hallman has made it before
Castledine qualified before