I definitely see this as a much different scenario than the DGWT launch and to me it looks like DGPT is trying to move towards a more DGWT-ish model, where most if not all content comes out under the DGPT banner (I think we agree on that?).
Please correct me if I'm wrong on this: weren't DGWT and SpinTV both under the Innova/Discmania umbrella of companies and therefore corporate partners (or associates) of a sort before DGWT launched?
Thanks for chiming in Allen - always good to hear from you!
So, the short answer is "yes" to asking about partners/sharing an umbrella. My attempt at subtly suggesting that was the use of quotes for "agreed".
But it's not so much that there weren't boundaries. Spin18 is/was the production company responsible for the DGWT, owned formerly by Jussi and a business partner, but now solely by Jussi.
Jussi reached into his other bag of brands to bring along DiscGolfPark, Discmania, and SpinTV...adding those relevant components.
Jussi then inked deals with Innova and Grip Eq, though I don't think he'd mind me sharing that he did reach out to other brands as well.
PS - don't read into the use of Russ Hanneman as a proxy for Jussi. The two are nothing alike, I just love that show and thought the joke was appropriate.
Perhaps we see media companies with exclusive manufacturer sponsorships.
That would dictate which tournaments they can cover.
Or maybe that wouldn't work.
I'd say that SpinTV was the best case study for this. Prodigy did in-house McFlySoHigh, but the channel never really caught traction.
For the last few years, in concert with the increased efforts from CCDG and Jomez covering the tour more, we focused our coverage efforts on events that [Innova, Innova Europe, Discmania, DGWT] either ran or put significant investment behind (LVC aka GCC, Masters Cup, USDGC, European Open, European Masters, Konopiste, European Championships, etc.).
It became cheaper to outsource and purchase ads on those other channels for the other events, rather than to absorb the cost of in-housing everything.
3 years ago I did think of that as the way of the future, but we've shifted into a new era. It's the era of the content creator, and I think that the general public has spoken - it would rather co-fund and co-support the creators alongside the manufacturers/brands, rather than support a flow through model...
[ Audience $ ] ---> [Creators] <--- [Sponsor Support]
rather than
[ Audience $ ] ---> [Business, Potential Sponsors] ---> [Creators]