If these companies are waiting to see our reponse on the live coverage then we are in a world of hurt to have thse companies stay invovled. I would guess that 70-80% percent of disc golfers work during the day. More people would probably willing to pay on the weekend when they are home. It just seems like this is set up for failure and a good chance to lose sponsors. This is working mans game and should be held on the weekend. Very bad marketing for a product if you ask me. Way to waste money PDGA. You could have taken that money and Johns salary and put it into to the purse of the NT so more pros can make a living off DG. The more people that can make a living off the sport the more it will grow. Stop wasting our dues with crappy videos and put it where it belongs. The NT.
While I agree with you that live coverage is not a good use of resources at this point in time, I strongly disagree with your statement about growing the sport through putting money into NT purses. Paying the top 50-100 disc golfers in the country an extra 100% income will not directly increase the player base for our sport, which is the first step in the long road towards larger prominence and real corporate sponsorship opportunities. As an aside, I would love it if pro purses were much larger, but that money absolutely needs to come from outside the PDGA and its members, or we're just 'recycling'.
I am of the opinion that nearly all discretionary PDGA spending should be sunk into youth programs, partnerships with schools, community engagement, and new course development. The predominant youth soccer program in the US, AYSO, has grown American interest and participation in the sport from virtually nothing in the late 60s to over 600,000 children participating today in competitive soccer in their organization alone.
The "bitter pill" I think we have to swallow is that our dream of a sport supporting several hundred top pros, with large-scale corporate sponsorship, is a long way away - barring Working Stiff's point about a powerball winner, that is
Even in the case of soccer in the US, only in the past 5-10 years has the professional league become established and somewhat lucrative(although obviously not when compared to the 'Big 4' US sports!) And they've been working youth leagues for 45 years now.
We're not going to fully achieve the worldwide proliferation, acceptance, and enrichment of disc golf during our lifetimes, but if we start laying the foundation now, our grandchildren will be able to watch National Tour-type events broadcast live. Immediate gratification - that is, dumping all resources into pro payouts - is not going to get us there, I don't believe.
