Many Pros Seem Numb To Catastrophic Change

There are several ways to tell the tale of pro bass fishing over the past decade, but certainly the rapid escalation in purses, the increased television exposure and the fractured nature of the sport were direct results of the competition between ESPN/BASS and FLW Outdoors.

On the one hand was BASS, backed since 2001 by ESPN – the Worldwide Leader in Sports. The cable giant, almost immediately, turned mainstream attention to pro bass fishing and lent it a credibility it hadn't enjoyed outside a core fanbase.

On the other hand was FLW Outdoors, headed by enterprising genius Irwin Jacobs and backed since 1997 by Walmart. ESPN in fact broadcast FLW Tour events before ESPN purchased BASS, but Jacobs' area of specialty lay outside media. He leveraged Walmart's involvement to attract what seemed an endless stream of high-dollar corporate sponsors to underwrite a massive expansion of tournament offerings and purse values under the FLW Outdoors umbrella.

BASS, meanwhile, played catchup. ESPN2 launched an ambitious "bass block" on Saturday mornings, it delivered same-day and sometimes live coverage of marquee BASS events, and it expanded its BASS pro schedule to an unheard-of 14 events plus a championship.

And through it all, the push was toward the "sport" of bass fishing – winning money for catching fish – which arguably came at the expense of the "way of life," which many take to be the all-encompassing definition of a passionate angler, from youth involvement to conservation, legislation, club meetings, jamborees, bumper stickers and overall collective spirit.

About a year ago, Walmart walked away. Irwin Jacobs became embroiled in the Genmar bankruptcy and turned silent within the sport. Many assume his involvement to be minimal at this point.

And a week ago ESPN confirmed it would dump all its outdoor programming, except The Bassmaster Tournament Trail, starting in January. Rumors are the network is deep in talks to sell BASS, perhaps to its once-rival Outdoor Channel.

Within 12 months, the two pillars that anchored an unheralded era of money and expansion in pro and amateur bass fishing – Walmart and ESPN – toppled with a resounding thud. With Walmart gone and ESPN turning its attention to soccer, NASCAR and other sports, the aftershocks have yet to settle.

Entire outdoor marketing strategies were built around ESPN2's outdoor block. Realtree, Toyota, Skeeter, Triton, Yamaha, Mercury and so many others invested millions for airtime on the Worldwide Leader in Sports, whether it was through direct media buys, or through pro-angler sponsorship and the lure of exposure on The Bassmaster Tournament Trail.

And while the industry and manufacturers continue to wade through the present while trying to see the future, BASS pros are surprisingly sedate in regards to the news. They learned that ESPN would dump its outdoor programs during competition at the Clarks Hill Bassmaster Elite Series in Georgia.

Their subdued reactions are likely due to the culture of pro bass fishing over the past decade. The short answer is: Nothing shocks anybody anymore. From mid-season format changes to "no beer-patch no points" to purse cuts to cancellations to cross-scheduling to sponsor dropouts, most pro bass anglers don't look much past a month or two anymore: "If there's a tournament, I'll fish it" is the prevailing attitude.

And in truth, there's no great love for ESPN among a strong host of pros, many of whom still feel slighted by the network for past favoritism that even fans recognized to be based on age, looks and personality instead of performance.

And many hardcore fans turned a jaded eye to ESPN when it and BASS virtually blackballed media coverage of stars like Jay Yelas, Larry Nixon, George Cochran, David Fritts, Ron Shuffield, Tommy Martin and Jimmy Houston, among others, simply because they chose to fish a different tour. Hundreds of letters to BassFan.com through the years speak to such fan frustration.

Surprise?

Nobody better represents the unshockable angler than Paul Elias – long a champion for the sport. He assumes ESPN's decision to dump outdoor programming is a logical precursor to a BASS sale.

"Nothing surprises me anymore," Elias said. "But I think this is probably going to end up being good. We need something refreshing. We need some new ideas. I don't think ESPN ever knew what to do with all this stuff anyway.

"When ESPN first bought BASS, they had an advisory board and that board and ESPN were supposedly working toward lower entry fees. When ESPN couldn't sell the sport like they thought they could sell it, they took the no-entry-fee tournaments away (the E50s/Majors) and raised the entry fees. I personally thought it was all wrong and I think the sport's going in the wrong direction with the big entry fees. It's breaking the sport down. A few guys are making a great living and winning a lot of money, but the majority of professional anglers are going broke."

In Elias' estimation, if "ESPN is selling this thing, I don't know if it'll help, but I don't think it can hurt any."

Put Brent Chapman in the unshockable column as well.

"At this point I don't really care," Chapman said. "I've kind of learned to take everything with a grain of salt. It seems like the nature of pro fishing – every 4 or 5 years it changes. It's this up-and-down progression. I guess maybe we're at the bottom right now, so maybe the next couple of years the direction is up. But canceling the programming? It's disheartening."

Tommy Biffle, notorious for being a man of few words, summed up his thoughts in a single sentence: "It doesn't matter to me – there'll be a tournament somewhere."

Event, or Way of Life?

Greg Hackney's fished on both sides of the fence. He started his career with FLW Outdoors, then fished both tours, then fished just BASS, then BASS and the FLW minor leagues, and through FLW minor-league competition qualified for and won last year's FLW championship (the Forrest Wood Cup).

In his opinion, the core fans will watch the Bassmaster show no matter where it airs. And he's not convinced ESPN ever embraced the entirety of the sport itself – what it means to be a fisherman, and how tournament angling is merely an extension of that passion.

In other words: Bowling, poker, pool-shooting and such ESPN-broadcast sports aren't a way of life like hunting and fishing.

"Don't get me wrong, but the sport is bigger than any TV network," Hackney said. "There's going to be bass fishermen whether it's on ESPN of BFN. It might be topsy-turvy at the beginning if BASS does sell, but regardless of what cable network we're on, there are thousands of bass-fishermen out there who'll watch us on TV. And there'll be thousands who don't even fish tournaments who watch us just because they enjoy the sport of fishing. And bass fishing is so much more than tournaments.

"It's not a concern to me," Hackney added. "Fishing will survive with or without ESPN. They've been great, and everybody knows how great ESPN has been for pro bass fishing, but the thing is, I don't know if they know how to handle it. Fishing was a way of life for me before I ever knew what tournament fishing was. They say they want to focus on events, but events are just a byproduct of a way of life."

An Optimist

Alton Jones, who experienced a seminal moment in the sport when he was invited to meet President Bush in the Oval Office as the 2008 Bassmaster Classic champion, is tireless in his quest to see pro bass fishing legitimized as a major sport.

So he's happy to see that ESPN held onto BASS, at least for the present, and with other outdoor programming on the way out, Jones thinks perhaps ESPN will bring a more intense focus to BASS event coverage.

"ESPN sort of defines what is and is not a sport," Jones said. "I think if you're on ESPN, you're viewed as a little more mainstream. The fact that ESPN kept BASS – it's still an asset and property that ESPN owns – means it's in their interest to promote it. I can't help but think that'll be good for BASS and it's my hope they'll promote BASS even more vigorously than they have."

Jones also shared Hackney's sentiment – that fans will watch Bassmaster tournaments no matter what network they're on – but ESPN brings "bleed-over" viewers, he said, who might not watch if the events were broadcast somewhere else. With saltwater and hunting soon to be gone from ESPN networks, however, that leaves BASS events as the only outdoor programming left there, "So there won't be any dilutions between freshwater and saltwater and this and that," Jones said. "If there's an outdoor show, it's going to be the BASS Elite Series."

Notable

> One pro who has much to say about the decision is Byron Velvick, who has long been involved with the ESPN2 outdoor block and currently hosts Going Coastal. He'll be the subject of a feature story to be published soon, along with Capt. Jose Wejebe – host of The Spanish Fly.

> There's been no new news or rumors about the potential sale of BASS, although it should be noted that many industry insiders posit that ESPN might sell BASS but retain the broadcast rights.