Toyota championship is on Wheeler lake this week....assume each boat cost $60,000.(a real conservative figure)...that's 14 million dollars worth of boats....there are 402 boaters and no-boaters and assume each of them owns a conservative estimate of $5,000. worth of fishing tackle...that's 2 million dollars worth of tackle......counting tournament officials,the tournament has brought approx 225 people to the tournament for 5 days...assuming a conservative figure of $500.00 for food motel and gas,that amounts to $212,500.00 and that doesn't count probably another $50,000. spent by fishermen practicing before the cut-off...nice economic boost to the local economy....
NOW CONSIDER THIS IS ONE TOURNAMENT,ON ONE LAKE,IN ONE STATE....multiply all the above numbers by the tournaments held in our country each year and although we can't compete with stick and ball sports, we do have a sizeable impact on towns near lakes and the equipment and tackle manufactors that supply our sport.....

I can’t argue with that. What does that pay to the Champion and second place?

Edit: I looked it up, pretty good payout. Poche whacked them today, 27lbs!

Are they having to buy a new boat, rods and reels, and tackle for each lake, or what?

the problem with your math is the local folks dont care if they come or not the days of tournament directors going to lakes an getting money from the chamber of coomerce is vanishing because some have figured out the juice aint worth the sqeeze.

What in the hell are you talking about .. chunk the boat, chunk the rods, they are spending on hotels and vbro, some on food, ice, gas, a little tackle. Your numbers are grossly inflated

Spot on WAWI


All the things you outlined would be bought and owned anyway regardless of a tournament

next time you stay at a motel,look at your bill.....it will have a local tourism tax usually $7-12.00 each night and those taxes go into a fund to attract events to that town to boost business...I'm told that bigger cities like Pittsburgh,Cincinnati,Knoxville and Birmingham will pay BASS up to $500,000 to bring the classic there...even smaller cities like Zapata,Texas gave BASS $250,000. to bring a tournament there.....I'm told that Alabama Bass Trail gets a sizeable donation from every town on their schedule.....keep in mind that smaller towns have these motel tourism tax funds and bass tournaments have a far greater impact on their economy than almost any other event they can attract to their town.......

$250,000. seems like a lot for a small town like Zapata to pay but after BASS had that tournament and huge bags were caught every day....for next 6-8 years,every motel was booked from January through April and every restaurant was packed every night....either James or Tommy at Falcon Tackle told me they sold fishing licenses to guys from 37 different states in a two week period in Feburary...this same scenario repeats itself all over the country at towns fortunate enough to be located near good bass fishing lakes...

The boat cost would really be more along the lines of the cost of the boat divided by the number of tournaments fished out of before it is sold or traded plus maintenance. If it is sold or traded then you'd just base the cost on the equity or cost to trade into a new boat. You'd have to throw a tow vehicle into these numbers too and calculating that cost per tournament would be very tricky.
Fuel and lodging would probably be a lot more too. I was probably spending the numbers you quoted back in the 80's and 90's, but that also had a lot to do with how far you travel. I spoke to one of the anglers @ the BASS Classic in Shreveport several years ago about this and fuel was probably more expensive than it is now and just for the classic he'd spend $1500.

Maybe i didn't do a good job of explaining... ONE tournament has 14 million dollars worth of boats....another 14 million in tow vehicles and probably 2 million in tackle....the economic impact to decatur,Al. is probably $250,000....I have no idea how to multiply that by the number of states,towns and lakes that have bass tournaments but i can assure you it is a big number and has a huge impact on the towns around lakes and every bass boat and tackle dealer in the USA....

I thought you were implying how much the fishing guys contributed to the general economy overall, with their: boats, rods, reels & lures. Then saying how much the local economy benefited from the 200 +/- guys fishing a tournament. Although, a lot of those guys probably live within driving distance of the lake and that cancels out the bump.

There's a reason Champs keeps going to the Red...

If it don't make ¢ents anymore its time to fold up shop...

If it's such an economic boon why do they keep going back to the same venues???... Cincy hasn't had a Classic or big time tournament since 1983... L'ville since 1987... Pittsburgh since 2005 and the FLW championship in 2009... If it was such an economic boon why aren't these cities throwing money at BASS, MLF/BPT or NPFL???... Yeah the fishery sucks, but if it's all about the almighty dollar the fishing organizations would be stepping all over themselves to get their grubby paws on it... It apparently works for some cities but doesn't in others... Dan

I disagree… The Juice is worth the squeeze, most just don’t have a way to measure that impact.

Towns and Tourism are accustomed to events filling their towns, traffic is more congested and restaurants are busy throughout the day. With bass tournaments it’s quite different, because we are on the water well before dark, off the water after dark. And much of our activity is during nocturnal times while others are inactive.

Just last night I watched a 75 boat event slip into a very unaware town after dark. They started eating, filling up trucks and boats, visited WalMart and all happened during the time that many are secluded themselves to their homes for the day.

VRBO aspects have changed hotels and motels gauging what we spend on housing, as the “heads in beds” counts don’t add up with VRBO.often those realtors and owners weekend lake homes get our dollars today. They too should be participating in those tourism taxes and supporting those Chambers.

One trip to an out of state lake with a 150 boat field expends about 75% to 80% of the field, as they buy fishing licenses alone. A Conservation Dept. can gain upwards of $10,000 and as much as $30,000 or more on a well scheduled rotation. That’s just for your local conservation agency.

Now go figure the actual “juice” out.

Rick

I hope so- it gets old having a tournament(s) every single weekend. Trading spaces isn’t just a show on hgtv, it’s a normal thing at every fishing spot

heard there were a lot of complaints about how lousy the fishing was (and is)on the Ohio river plus it's hard to have an entertaining TV show when the winner only had 12 lbs for 3 days fishing..similar results when they had tournys out of cincinnati and louisville........

Bass tournaments have a financial impact on companies that produce and sell products that are used in that endeavor.

Gus at "Gus's Tire Shop" did not make much, if any money from a bass tournament held in his area or city.


The majority of these tournaments are held, or hosted, in areas that would have likely produced a lot of the income if the pros were not there. Most areas with lakes that are suitable are usually fishing tourism destinations and will make a big percentage of that money regardless.

It is not like the trails and leagues are scheduling their tournaments during the off season when there is little tourism money spent in these areas.

Then you have the tournaments like the 2025 Bassmaster Classic, the economic impact in the Ray Roberts area will be minimal. Most of the money will be spent in Ft Worth.

There is a lot of economic impact to an area from an event like the Classic bri is that many might not realize. There are a ton of moving pieces to make an event like that happen. 100,000+ people visiting/staying in an area for 3-7 days is noticeable to a city like Fort Worth. If it wasn't they would not be pinyin up again to bring BASS back.

It's amazing how much $ is brought in to even a small town and yet TP&W will come in and kill the Grass on a lake there by killing the economy in that small town and all for the very few who live on that lake . it boggles the mind at the stupidity of a few .

I stimulated Tyler’s economy yesterday to the tune of $28.94. Lake Tyler Marina prolly needed an armored car after I showed up.

Yup when I roll into squaw creek I hope they don't spend the money I spent for a bag of ice and some beef jerky all in one place.

Any time I hear “economic impact” I know someone is fixing to give me some super inflated numbers.

Agreed. I know they had the Classic on the Red River in Shreveport about a decade ago and I don't think they've been back to Louisiana since then. They've had it in New Orleans too, same deal. The Shreveport event drew pretty good numbers; especially for the tradeshow/fan experience part, the convention center in down town was packed. I would have figured the city of Shreveport would have been more than happy to host the Classic again. Apparently they didn't get what they wanted out of it.

BASS not returning there for the Classic is also due to the Red being tough the past few years and the weird water property rights in LA.

The Red can be a very dangerous venue as well. I've never been on it and that is the primary reason why I haven't. If I remember right the rock jetties got a few boats at the Classic. It also has sand bars that move and where there may have been good deep open water to run a few days down the road that same area could be a shallow flat.

Actually I think it has more to do with the laws as to why they are not fishing the Red river. I believe this was stated by BASS at one point no more events in LA.

Even the Sabine events,, they are not allowed to fish the LA Canals and bayous,

It is rather confusing for out of state people.

Also when you talk about big cities I don't think BASS brings the economic bang for the buck. So they may not be willing to pay to host these events.

But if these cities are willing (which they are not) to throw large sums of money at BASS and BPT how could they not show up???... Tough fishing or not... If the pros are bitching about payouts and a city is willing to make a offer they can't resist wouldn't it be hypocritical of the pros to pizz and moan???... When I was working I had to visit a lot of power plants that were out in the boonies with nothing around them... And in order to keep my job and cash a check I had to visit them one a quarter... Dan

It’s also about a premier drawing for fans. Knoxville absolutely knocked it our of the park, while Fort Worth has the old stockyard tourism area. The area can’t have too much attraction draw, as it detracts from the event. It’s a critical balance with existing fan base within 250 miles, ability for the distant fan base to follow and attend the events. Cities such as Orlando had too many distractions, and the event must fit their metropolitan base. Houston wasn’t bad, though locals didn’t attend because of traffic concerns. Houston and Atlanta both have terrible traffic reputations. The further north, the more weather plays into it.

It's probably best to judge the previous Classic in Fort Worth as it happened while COVID was still a huge deal and the event was pushed back a couple of months then put back together quickly. Everything was affected especially the Expo. Those livestock buildings are not built with human comfort in mind when its hot outside. It will be 100% more comfortable in those areas this time around.
If I were to guess this Classic is probably gonna be a big one. There may be a couple of national brands that will not have a booth but that's more economy driven and their current financial state than anything to do with BASS.

There shouldn't be a lot going on that week in Fort Worth atrraction to detract from the Classic. Weather can be a bit of an X factor but lousy weather usually drives crowds to the Expo. After tge first of the year the publicity from Fort Worth regarding the Classic should really amp up.

I also saw where BASS has a big league title sponsor for the Classic

https://www.bassmaster.com/bassmast...ting-sponsor-of-2025-bassmaster-classic/

So will this Classic pay off the old scale or the new one?

Pretty sure I read it will be the old scale for this one.

Correct. The state's weird water laws are very confusing and I believe some have used the good ol boy system, allowing some in an area and turning others out.