The tune has become a familiar one – a major sponsor of FLW Outdoors has pulled its support of the league, and a host of pros are left to fund their upcoming tour seasons out of their own pockets.
This time around, the departing company is oil giant BP. The news follows the departure of Land O'Lakes, Pure Fishing and Kellogg's, plus Walmart, which presumably exited or seriously downgraded its presence on the competitive side.
Rumors of a BP pullout have circulated for several months, but former team members haven't gone public with comment until this week.
Background
Back in 2006, BP charged into its sponsorship of FLW Outdoors
with all cylinders firing. The news was announced at a press conference held during the ICAST industry tradeshow in Las Vegas, and the deal was far-reaching.
BP was named as a platinum sponsor. It underwrote all FLW Outdoors trails (including saltwater), title-sponsored the Eastern FLW Series, offered gas-card prizes for tournaments and more.
As well, BP fielded a team that included Ray Scheide, Jim Moynagh, Shinichi Fukae, Chip Harrison, Jr., Guido Hibdon, Tracy Adams, J.T. Kenney, Jim Moynagh and Alfred Williams.
David Walker won't cut back on his schedule despite the loss of money streams.
Williams lost his BP deal in January of this year, when he was unable to sell his previous year's motor in order to secure another. That forced him to withdraw from this year's tour.
The other pros, however, learned this fall that their deal would be going away.
BP is still involved with FLW Outdoors through its Castrol brand, although even that involvement has been downgraded and Castrol will sponsor just two pros (down from five). Other than that, though, the familiar BP yellow-and-green sunburst has faded into a sunset.
Walker Won't Cut Back
David Walker has bounced from team to team through the years – he fished for Timex, Stanley and BF Goodrich before he was signed to team BP. The 1999 FLW Angler of the Year told BassFan that he won't curtail his schedule next year despite the loss of significant support.
"They were definitely a great sponsor," Walker said of BP. "They're a good company to work with. Everybody got along and it was a good team. I hate to see it, but I understand it. It's a part of the way the economy's shrinking right now. It's not surprising. In fact, right now, nothing surprises me."
Walker was also dealt a blow when G. Loomis released most or all of its pro staff, so he's also without a rod deal moving forward.
"I just look forward to working with the companies that are sticking with me," he noted. "I know it's tough, and a lot of guys are losing most of their stuff, but I want to thank the companies that are sticking with me – Ranger, Evinrude, Sunline and Xpoint hooks."
His plans are to fish the FLW Tour, Eastern Series plus whatever else he can use to fill in his schedule. His only way to make money is to fish, he said, so he has to tighten his belt and "get through it."
Scheide Signing Smaller Deals
Ray Scheide hasn't sat idle. He learned that the BP deal would come to an end a while back, and he's been busy on smaller deals, rather than pin any hopes on a new title sponsor. He did lament the loss of BP, because it was so lucrative and such an enriching experience, and he "truly appreciates" all that the company did for his career, but he's moving in a new direction.
He signed three hometown sponsorships over the past few weeks – Russellville Advertising and Promotions, Phil Wright Autoplex and Blackkat Creations. All three are located in Russellville, Ark.
"Because of the way FLW sets up its rules, it makes it hard to sign a title sponsor for $100,000 a year, knowing they won't get the TV time," Scheide said. "But I haven't found it real hard to sign associate sponsors and piece together a wrap. Basically, those folks are paying $12,000 to $18,000 a year for a billboard out on the interstate, but in me they get someone traveling up and down the road who walks and talks. I'm working on a few more deals that are going to make next year almost as good as this year (in terms of sponsor dollars)."
Ray Scheide says he's signed enough new sponsors that he's in good shape for the coming year.
Kenney Down To $0
J.T. Kenney's flow of sponsor dollars has hit rock bottom.
"BP was a great deal, and they were an awesome company to work for," he said. "We actually had a lot of fun with those guys. They came to a lot of the tournaments, they went out in the evenings with us – it was awesome. I'm sad the deal had to go away. They're looking at other avenues, and I'm looking for other avenues myself now.
"I don't have one single sponsor dollar coming in – absolutely nothing," he added. "I'm not kidding – not one single dollar. And it's not like I have this nest egg where I can cut back and quit using so much out of it. If I don't win money in a tournament, my mortgage doesn't get paid. It's going to be really hard."
Like Walker, Kenney no longer fishes for G. Loomis.
His plan is to fish the FLW Tour, Eastern Series, PAA Series and Bassmaster Southern Opens.
The Eastern Series kicks off at Okeechobee this year, a venue where Kenney's won the bulk of his career earnings, so that's a bright spot amid the clouds.
When asked if he thinks the financial pressure might affect his performance, he said: "I've never paid a $4,000 entry fee before. Heck, I've never paid a $2,000 entry fee. I really don't know what it's like to play with my own money. I'm definitely going to find out."
Harrison's 'Curse'
There's a running joke on the Tour that if Harrison joins your team, start looking for a new deal. The Michigan pro has fished for five different FLW sponsor teams over the past 5 years, each of which ended with a company pulling out or changing brand representation.
"All the other guys on team BP blame me for the whole thing," he quipped. "Everytime I show up it seems the team goes away. I guess I just have a curse or something."
Like the others, Harrison's "sad" to see BP go, and has moved into scramble mode to help corral some sponsor dollars.
"I'm scrambling like everybody else," he said. "I paid my deposits for the Tour and the Eastern Series and the Northern Opens. I've got a full slate. I fish tournaments for a living, and thankfully I've won enough the last couple of years to help me continue. But I've also made some contacts around here locally to help me out.
Jim Moynagh will fish the FLW Tour next year, but that's about it in terms of national events.
"I'm not getting a lot of money, but I'll get at least half what I did this year I think. I've put some packages together for doing some guiding trips for companies, trying to quarter out my wrap, and I've raised some pretty decent money. I can't really name any of the companies yet until everything's etched, but I have verbal okays from four different people, and I'm meeting with another company this week."
Moynagh Just Paid
Moynagh spent the last few weeks in Minnesota wondering what he was going to do next year. He finally bit the bullet and registered for the FLW Tour earlier this week. He might also fish the PAA Series, but for now he's undecided.
About his time with BP, Moynagh said: "The sponsorship was outstanding. When they first picked me up, the thought that went through my mind was, 'This is the kind of sponsorship that I'd been hoping for for a long time.' So I'm very thankful for that opportunity the last 3 years. It really helped me be profitable quite a bit more compared to other years."
About his lighter schedule next year, he noted: "I'll probably look for some more local tournaments in this area, but it's lighter for sure at a national level. I'm going to be paying a lot of it out of my own pocket this year, and I just want to minimize what I have to lay out there. I want to get through this year to when the industry and companies become more receptive to taking on more sponsorship deals."
