Amidst optimism brought on by the sale of BASS and the return of Walmart comes sobering news among pros that all is not well with some boat and motor sponsorships.
BassFan spoke with several FLW Tour and BASS pros who indicated that their hull or power deals have been either severely downgraded, or disappeared altogether.
On the BASS side, the sale of Triton Boats to Ranger parent Project Boat Holdings now means that Triton and Ranger are sister companies – not competitors. And as expected, the Triton promotional contracts appear to have taken a hit. Pros wouldn't go on the record yet – they remain hopeful that better deals can be negotiated – but they indicated that many Triton deals are now simple memo bills, rather than loaner arrangements or promotional stipends.
Over on the FLW Tour, several pros learned that their Yamaha deals were either cut or seriously downgraded. The cuts, at this point, seem be on an angler-by-angler basis, but clearly, Yamaha's divesting itself to some extent from the FLW Tour. Whether the engine manufacturer will renew as an FLW Tour sponsor isn't yet clear.
BassFan did ask Yamaha if it could clarify that status of its FLW Tour pro staff, and whether it would continue its sponsorship of the FLW Tour in 2011. Yamaha spokesperson Martin Peters told BassFan: "We don't want to discuss our arrangements with individual anglers, so I can't tell you what we've discussed with anglers individually. Certainly, our business plans dictate how we manage our relationships with our anglers and what we offer the pro staff, and it's that time of year when we talk to those folks. I can tell you that we're sponsors of FLW Outdoors through the end of the year. That hasn't changed."
