As a former employee at B.A.S.S., pre-ESPN and during the ESPN years, I was fortunate enough to be a part of something very special, an organization and company that stood for something significant. A champion for the sport, with hard-core values, that was very well-represented in the industry and had some of the most incredibly talented people working in the ranks, from the top down. The company that Ray Scott and Helen Sevier built was foremost about making money, don't let anyone tell you otherwise, but it was also a decisive leader, not a follower.
When ESPN purchased B.A.S.S., they promised to deliver an audience and the deep-pocketed advertisers that the sport had never seen before and take B.A.S.S. to another level ..."to put it on the same plane as NASCAR" (Michael Rooney or Dean Kessel, circa 2001). Under ESPN tutelage, B.A.S.S. showed some significant progress toward reaching this new plateau. Some of this growth was due to the power of the huge ESPN brand and some of it was delivered through a renewed sense of enthusiasm within the industry and the sport. ESPN too was a leader, in a sense. They tried to take a more aggressive role in shaping the future of the sport and were leaps and bounds ahead of FLW when it came to publicity and market share.
One thing ESPN never factored into the equation, though, was the loyalty and power of the membership and their ability to really drive the future of the sport. ESPN had always only served viewers, never fans, and certainly never members. Their model worked for creating huge audiences, but they could never build a bond with the most loyal audience in the sport – the bass fan.
Let’s face it, unlike other professional leagues, bass fishing is really the only one in which its fans can actually participate in at a fairly competitive level. This is what makes B.A.S.S. and professional bass fishing different from the other sports. It’s the key element that drives the industry and the reason why there are 100 lure manufacturers and 20 rods companies and 15 line brands and several hundred “mom and pop” businesses that make up the entire tackle spectrum. It’s also the reason why the sport has so much controversy when it comes to keeping the sanctity intact.
The new B.A.S.S. owners made a poor decision in not reacting to the recent scandal more quickly. This is eerily similar to some of the same decisions that ESPN made when they owned the company. Not being in touch with the pulse of the industry, and the inability to react and make decisions quickly, like Ray Scott and Helen Sevier did. The old B.A.S.S. may not have always made the correct decision, but at least they were on top of it and the buck stopped with them.
I’m sure the intentions are good for the new owners at B.A.S.S., but this is starting to feel a little more like this company was purchased as a hobby for a couple of extremely lucky and successful men who are in their “glory years," instead of a company with an opportunity to rid itself from some of the negative side effects that were inherited from ESPN and propel itself into a new chapter with a targeted plan for growth and beyond. It reminds me of the once-powerful college team that hires an extremely successful coach to rebuild the program, but doesn’t change any of the old plays or hire any new assistant coaches. Or he listens more to the people who were part of the team when they were 0-11, and less to the people who were there when they won the championships. Or worse, he listens only to himself and thinks he has all the answers.
