(Editor's note: BassFan Charles Bowman is a structural engineer who lives in Kernersville, N.C. He regularly competes in BFL tournaments and often fishes tour-level events as a co-angler.)

BASS's decision to "farm out" its operation of the Weekend Series to the ABA was very disappointing for me, and unfortunately, all too familiar. It seems, from an outsider's point of view, that every time ESPN and BASS come up with a good idea, they find a way to destroy it by fumbling the operation and implementation.

It's a shame that a bass-fishing icon in BASS, backed by a media giant such as ESPN, and owned by an historically successful parent company such as Disney, has such difficulty executing a plan for its target audience and consumers at the very base-level of competition.

When BASS announced that it would begin and operate a national tournament trail that would rival the BFL, plan a national championship for this trail, and give a berth in the Bassmaster Classic to its overall champion, I couldn't have been more elated.

It appeared that BASS had decided to develop another sub-minor league of bass tournaments that would not only give local anglers an opportunity to qualify for the sport's most prestigious event, but would also be a proving ground for young bass anglers to hone their skills and to have a clear-cut path to the major leagues.

It appeared that anglers could fish the Weekend Series, graduate to the Tours, and then graduate to the Elite Series. It appeared that the sport was headed in the right direction, with a firm outline of how a person could work his or her way up to become a professional.

Aside from the clear competition path from amateur to professional, BASS's development of the Weekend Series was also viewed as good, spirited competition to FLW Outdoors. The BFL, founded upon and grown from the old Red Man tournament series, had long been the sport's most prestigious set of amateur tournaments. And its championship, the All-American, had no real competition until the development of the Weekend Series Championship.

With the Classic berth, FLW and BASS both appeared to have top-notch, grassroots, minor-league farm systems to develop talent and provide those anglers with no ambition to turn pro a great platform in which to compete.

So what happened to the Weekend Series?

Flawed Setup

The Weekend Series did sound great when it was announced, but it suffered from several flaws that appear to be management-based. In other words, it seems the folks who developed the Weekend Series didn't understand their target customer. The result of not understanding the sport and not understanding the customer resulted in poor participation numbers for the Weekend Series.

The weak angler support, I think, is the result of the following errors in the Series' setup:

  • 1. Entry fees – The entry fees for the Weekend Series events were $50 more per event for a boater and $25 dollars more per event for each co-angler vs. a BFL event. While the slight premium to fish the BASS events seems minor, the payback (see below) from the extra entry fees collected left a sour taste in many anglers' mouths.

  • 2. Payback – BASS decided to pay back the top finishers in a Weekend Series event in cash and merchandise. Anglers want cash. The BFL pays cash, and many anglers chose to fish the BFL due to the return on their investments.

  • 3. Shared weights – BASS included the shared-weight format within the Weekend Series. This effectively eliminated competition among co-anglers, caused increased pressure on anglers, and effectively created an atmosphere where the best fisherman from the back of the boat more than likely didn't win the co-angler title at any given tournament.

    The BFL, on the other hand, embraces competition from the back seat and encourages a full five-fish limit from the back seat, independent of the boater's success or failure. Co-anglers want competition. The BFL provided that and BASS did not.



  • 4. Tournament coverage – BASS's coverage of Weekend Series tournaments was sparse and confusing. BASS would only cover "select" Weekend Series events on its website, while FLW provided full stories and photographs of every BFL event.

    Additionally, navigation of the BFL website to review results, pairings, and tournament stories far exceeds BASS's commitment to supply the Weekend Series with complete, easy-to-use coverage. FLW's commitment to thorough, easy-to-navigate statistics on not only tournament results, but also division point standings, is in a class by itself.

  • 5. Sunday money – BFL tournaments are held on Saturdays, while Weekend Series tournaments are held on Sundays, and Sunday tournaments eliminate a lot of folks. They may attend church regularly, or plan family activities on Sundays.

    Again, the folks who developed the Weekend Series didn't understand that folks want to be paid in cash, want straight-up competition from the front and back seat, and want clear, easy-to-find statistics and competition data. FLW knows this and apparently BASS does not.

    The 'Big Picture'

    The more I've considered the reasons why the Weekend Series hasn't been a success, the more I've expanded my thinking to how ESPN, in general, operates BASS. Recent events such as dropping Bassmaster "U" and deleting the Bassmaster Tours, then licensing operation of the Weekend Series to the ABA, have all caused me to back up, step away, and look at the "big picture" of BASS.

    For all that ESPN has done to advance the sport of bass fishing, the errors, missteps, and overwhelming misunderstanding of the folks BASS serves appear to far exceed the good that ESPN has brought to this sport.

    BASS, with ESPN's guidance, has managed to alienate nearly every person associated with the society, including many of its professionals. A quick review of the collapsed portions of BASS and its extensions quickly paints a picture of a ship traveling across the ocean with no rudder.

    BASS has a task to complete – develop professional bass fishing and promote a love for the outdoors – but no one at the helm knows how to get there. ESPN's lack of understanding this sport, lack of knowing how to package this sport, lack of solid, long-term leadership for BASS, and lack of understanding the customer in this sport, is all apparent in the long list of colossal errors ESPN has made with BASS.