I truly doubt they will merge, that would be a mistake.

Ranger has a contract for a couple more years with FLW, once that time is up it is hard to say.

And the three are Logan, Copeland, and McKinnis. Forrest Wood has nothing to do with the sell.

I just hope this sell happens, it is not set in stone yet.

http://bassfan.com/news_article.asp?id=3692

I am pretty excited to see what the future holds for BASS. I don't know of any better hands that the organization could be in. You have a print media expert, financial expert, and jack of all trades in McKinnis.

Its actually not confusing at all... Brilliant actually, at least on ESPN's part. They unloaded the money loosing aspect of the business (hosting the tournements and producing the magazines) while at the same time retain revenue from the only part that ever made any money at all, the TV show!!! The investors think they hit a home run and ESPN is laughing all the way to the bank.

Hopefully these investors are loaded or have premo lending sources. With title sponsorship down, magazine revenue in the red and the loss of TV add revenue, those boys are going to need every penny they've got just to maintain the status quo.

These investors may be "better" stewards of BASS then ESPN but I'm more concerned with the long term existance of the organization. ESPN was at least able to provided financial stability which is saying alot in these economic times. I hope these guys have not bitten off more then they can chew. Good intentions only go so far....

Actually, the investors ended up pretty good in this deal by ESPN saying they would continue the coverage. Look at it from an investors standpoint, can you get more sponsorships by being able to say your being broadcast on ESPN or being broadcast on Versus/Outdoor channel, etc. ESPN draws in alot bigger viewing audiences then the others do. Just my take on it though. Plus now the investors don't have to worry about having to sell the programming to another station which is not that easy to do!

There is alot of truth in what DuckBoogieman is saying. Unless McKinnis and crew are getting a share of the TV revenue it may just be only a matter of time until BASS ceases to exist as a public exhibition sport.

You will still have "professional" bass fishing but not on the current level. Smaller networks like WFN will edit and televise the results of tournaments and/or the Classic but a week or two after the event is over.

A merger of FLW champions and BASS champions into a winner take all championship in the future would draw some real interest and probably make for a good attraction.

Fishing tournaments are always difficult to make interesting regarding the entertainment factor. KVD, Skeet, Ike and some of the guys built up as underdogs have kept things exciting for the last few years. Let's hope the "new" BASS can make things even better!

Okay guys just to point it out.

ESPN does not own the television anymore. As part of the buy out the new owners group will have a time buy to ensure the shows are seen on ESPN. The new owners wil control the content of the show within ESPN guidelines. We may see 10 weeks of bassmaster, 20 weeks, 30 weeks who knows how many airings we will get.

BASS will own the TV and do the show as they see fit as a time buy. Much as it is now, In fact the same folks that do the television now for BASSMASTERS now actually are really part owners (Mcginnis-CSE) group as Jerry son pretty much runs all the Bassmaster shows now.

Wade,
With that being said, how much change can the new owners group put into the televisable format and remain acceptable to ESPN for them to agree to buy the programs. In other words, will there be any changes or do you think the current format is what we will see for the most part? It seems from the blogs and comments in forums most bass tournament anglers are not truly satisfied with the current programming and tournament format.

LSUfan- I agree BASS needs ESPN much more then ESPN needs BASS. That being said, I can only assume ESPN's agreement to keep Bassmaster as part of their programming were terms of the sale impossed by the investers especially when you consider ESPN will be eliminate all outdoor programming next year. Hopefully they will be able to come up with a better time slot in the future.

Wade- Thanks for the correction. I did not intend to imply the investors lost the show itself or control of it's content but rather simply the lion share of the commercial revenue.

Does any of that financial crude really matter? As long as they fix it where Skeet can win AOY is all that really matters.

I would love to see it. That was pretty cool. I remember when Larry Nixon hung that big monster on a worm.

Those of you that think McKinnis and company got snookered have failed to see the bigger picture. ESPN is available on cable and satellite only. Rest assured that ESPN is paying them to broadcast the tournaments, just as ESPN pays major league baseball to broadcast baseball games. ESPN was not the successful magazine publisher that one of the McKinnis Partners was, and who was also successful with AOL. These guys are not in it to lose money. Someone suggested that Forrest Wood was also involved. If you read the Bassfan article http://www.bassfan.com/news_article.asp?id=3692 that is also false. I think what you are really going to see, is a rejuvenated B.A.S.S who may also look at burying the hatchet with FLW. There is room for both tours, what remains to be seen is how to integrate the two.

I'd imagine Jerry is gonna have a lot of leeway on what he wants to do. He's been with ESPN a long time and knows how to produce winning shows. Back in 04 and 05 when Jerry was in charge, the Bassmasters was a much better program. He did all the fish tracking segments and the lake breakdowns.

I fully expect the program to get much, much better.

ESPN is still seen in more households than the other outdoor channels. that can't be bad.

Logan was excutive with Time Warner, a bean counter with his own money involved, McKinnis has surrounded himself with the right group.

I also gotta agree with joe, I loved the fish tracking segments and look forward to the days of old and new that Jerry will bring back, like Zona running the stage. I'm sure AOY, majors and the Classic might see a change or two.

I do not think BASS needs ESPN, I would say they actually had more viewers when it was aired on TNN (The Nashville Network) back in the 80's and 90's, that was truly the highlight of the weekly airing of BASS, Bob Cole may be outdated now but he was fun to watch as a kid, and back then they aired the Federation Nation Championship and all the PRO level events. I would love to see the Opens get on TV