This week, industry headlines center on the Bassmaster Elite Series entry fee changes. As you all know, the announcement recently came that the 2024 Elite Series will operate on a no entry-fee structure, resulting in a greatly reduced payout. Opinions have been mixed.

Before I offer mine, it’s important for readers to understand that my viewpoint comes strictly without bias, based on personal experience and research. I pay no attention to forums, nor do I take into consideration the views of some guy who feels compelled to film a vlog while riding around in his truck, all the while banking on his employer to provide a timely paycheck on Friday. It’s amazing how many pro fishing opinions are voiced by people who have no concept of what it takes to be a pro fisherman.

Regardless, let’s look at the numbers. Comparing an actual 2024 payout (Toledo Bend) to the proposal of 2025, here are a few bullet points:

Entry fees are scheduled to be reduced from $45,000 per angler to $0.

Payouts for various places will be impacted as follows:

1st: $100,000 in 2024 to $100,000 in 2025
3rd: $30,000 to $25,000
10th: $15,000 to $10,000
30th: $10,000 to $850
50th: $10,000 to $0
75th: $2,500 to $0

Immediately, the reduction in lower-tier payout jumps off the page. An $850 payout is an embarrassment. While I understand the principle of the format change (and we will discuss both sides of the issue), offering a touring angler an amateur payout removes any perceived professionalism we once had.

Consider the cost to compete in a weeklong bass tournament, and we quickly run into the thousands. Eight-hundred bucks won’t pay the hotel bill.

Let’s dig deeper. For several years, the goal of organized bass fishing has been to elevate the sport to a more professional level. Create iconic anglers making millions of dollars and show that we, too, can finally be counted as more than a hobby. Increased purses were first seen as a quick fix to our identity problem. The Forrest Wood Cup paid a million bucks, most recently matched by the Bass Pro Shops amateur event.

Validity also came in 2019 in the form of the BPT, the first no-entry-fee pro tour that seemed destined to solve pro fishing’s dilemna of how to earn a living. But that structure, as we all know, was quickly changed.

Still, modifications to payout structure were held intact, if not improved, as anglers finishing midway through the pack could still make a few bucks. Again, referring to the 2024 Elite Series example: 50 anglers received at least $5,000 more than their entry fee cost at each tournament. In essence, gross profit. Next season, less than 20 anglers will gross $5,000 or more at each event.

While the statistics look grim, it must be noted that the overall payout per event in 2025 ($327,375) exceeds 2024 minus entry fees ($755,000 minus $515,000 equals $240,000). Know that I’m not taking into consideration any changes in AOY or Classic cash, to be fair. But, at each event, B.A.S.S. will pony up more of its own money.

Let’s now consider who this change will benefit and who it will cost. Immediately, the up-and-comers enter the picture, something that has been the B.A.S.S. strategy for several years. The popularity of the Bassmaster Opens illustrate this well, where anglers are willing to consistently lose money at each event with the hopes of qualifying for the Elites. Checking the payout structure on the Opens proves that over 90 percent of the field loses money each season, yet sign-ups are backlogged.

Pressing this concept further, new anglers able to earn a way into the Elites should be more able to compete. It’s quite possible that this change will be the opportunity some need to break through. Wawa subs and a VRBO with six buddies is a feasible direction for those hungry with desire. I liken it to other sports with massive participant numbers but few real professionals, like surfing, billiards or mountain-biking.

Sponsorships will be reduced; don’t kid yourself otherwise. For years now, maybe decades, pro fishing sponsors have offered less to their endorsed anglers. The reasons are many, from expanded outlets of exposure to overseas competitors, but the end result will be even less reason to pay their pros. Covering entry fees will be a thing of the past, and with it the continued squeeze demanding more for less. The sponsors are the real beneficiaries here, as you’ll see.

The biggest hit, though, will come to the sport itself. Despite all of our attempts to elevate professional bass fishing to a level viewed as credible and dominated by a gifted class of athletes, we’re one step closer to failing. Paying college kids $850 to fish against Jordan Lee is not the way to get this done. Requiring second jobs – or tournament fishing itself to become the side hustle – takes away any shred of credibility. And that’s exactly what this change will require.

In fact, in short time the majority of true professional anglers will be unable to survive under this structure.

Change, though, can be good a thing. We’ve seen a bunch of it in organized fishing over the last decade. In terms of this new format, I think we’ll see change again before the dust even settles.

(Joe Balog is the often-outspoken owner of Millennium Promotions, Inc., an agency operating in the fishing and hunting industries. A former Bassmaster Open and EverStart Championship winner, he's best known for his big-water innovations and hardcore fishing style. He's a popular seminar speaker, product designer and author, and is considered one of the most influential smallmouth fishermen of modern times.)