BASS Drops Three, Adds Two New "12-Mans"

If there's been one theme of the Bassmaster Tour since ESPN's purchase of BASS in 2001, it's certainly "change."

The Tour was expanded to 8 events with a western swing, then changed back to six events with four standalone Elite 50s. Then it became the 11-event Bassmaster Elite Series with three Majors, then the 11-event Elite Series with no Majors. Then it was molded into the 11-event Elite Series without co-anglers, and today, it became (for at least 1 year) the eight-event Elite Series with a two-event postseason.

The 2009 Bassmaster Elite Series will be comprised of eight regular-season events, with two standalone postseason events that'll feature the Top 12 in the Angler of the Year (AOY) race who'll compete against each other for the AOY title.

Fans of NASCAR will notice an immediate similarity to the Chase for the Cup format.

Why The Change?

Although BASS under ESPN ownership certainly hasn't shied from change, today's news is somewhat of a departure, as it comes just 6 weeks before the Bassmaster Classic and the official start of the 2009 season, and it actually moves a previously conflict-free event right on top of the Forrest Wood Cup. That'll change however, since a BASS official told BassFan that the conflict wasn't intentional, and BASS is currently looking for alternative dates.

The format change itself, according to BASS, is a reaction to the current economic climate.

In summary, BASS cut three of its already scheduled Elite Series events, and also trimmed entry fees and payouts for the remaining events.

Many anglers experienced severe cuts in their sponsorship support over the off-season, and faced what some would term crippling entry fees for the Elite Series (previously set at $57,000-plus). Along with travel expenses, most pros figured to shell out about $100,000 in expenses in 2009.

BASS's format change saves anglers considerable money in entry fees (about $25,000), and assuredly saves BASS and its sponsors considerable money too with less overhead for personnel, equipment and site management

BASS already faced a reduced revenue stream due to the unconfirmed but expected departure of key sponsor Advance Auto Parts. There's also the rumored departure of BASS sponsor Purolator. Plus, BASS no longer will receive co-angler entry fees for the Elite Series, since the Series in now a pro-only format.

A BASS official told BassFan that yes, the elimination of the three regular-season events was precipitated by the current economic climate, but a major factor too was feedback from its constituents.

"This move was spurred on by the amount of feedback we had due to the challenging economic climate from all constituents – the feedback was wanting to move in this direction," a BASS official told BassFan. "We gathered feedback as much as possible from very different areas, and this was the decision we made after we analyzed our feedback."

Select anglers were asked by BASS for feedback about format and economic relief, and that fueled the rumors of the past several weeks that event cuts were coming. Not all anglers were consulted, though.

"We received feedback from a cross-section of a number of different anglers across the Elite Series, and bounced things off of them," the BASS official told BassFan. "Many (pros) expressed an interest in doing something along these lines."

BASS VP and GM Tom Ricks noted in a press release today: "We've had a number of productive discussions with Elite anglers and various stakeholders and determined that much like everyone else in this challenging economy, our sport and anglers have been impacted. We feel this decision's in the best interest of the industry, our anglers and sponsors."

Why Those Three?

BASS chose to cancel Pickwick in Alabama (May 14–17), Bays de Noc in Michigan (July 23–26), and Champlain in New York (August 6–9).

Geographically speaking, the original schedule included three Alabama events and two New York events.

In the case of Alabama, the three events were scheduled within a stone's throw of each other – Pickwick, Wheeler and Guntersville are all Tennessee River impoundments in the same region of the state.

It's therefore not surprising that one of the Alabama events was dropped.

However, the loss of Champlain is a little curious, since Oneida in Syracuse, N.Y., which immediately preceded Champlain, will now be the season-ender. Champlain's a few hours down the highway from Oneida and is a perennial pro and fan-favorite venue.

In years past, BASS pros who wanted to fish more than eight events might have registered for additional FLW Tour events. Pickwick was scheduled over the FLW Tour's Wal-Mart Open at Beaver Lake, but the FLW Tour this year has gone to a locked-field format and doesn't permit single-event entries.

About the decision of which events to cancel, the BASS official said: "There were lots of criteria (used) to determine which events we took out. Some of those are travel and lodging, fan experience, sponsor activation, media exposure and tournament operations. A lot of things went into that decision on top of angler travel and lodging expenses."

The Postseason

Given that only 12 anglers will compete in the postseason events, it's reasonable to assume that BASS would institute its "hole-course" format which it used for the Majors and other past BASS specialty events.

While the hole-course format is easier to televise, since pros are in predictable, limited locations, the format has never been a favorite of fans.

The same BASS official said a decision on the competition format has not yet been made. The schedule will be announced at a future date, he added, at which time the format will likewise be announced.

Also yet to be determined are locations and dates for the two postseason events. A likely timeframe would be early fall. September's when the bite generally improves, and the Elite Series has typically sought to fish strong bites. It's also a relative downtime in pro fishing, since the Elite Series season now ends Aug. 6–9 and the Forrest Wood Cup will have likewise concluded.

However, late August remains a likely timeframe as well.

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