The question becomes, did Prodigy get enough out of its couple years of sponsoring a large portion of the best players? They certainly built a brand quickly from nothing, but did they build a sustainable company?
In my opinion, the answer is no, but there may be some hope.
I started playing in 1984 and am now in my mid 40s. For various reasons, I completely stopped playing on several occasions. My last sabbatical lasted from the late 90s through 2012. Upon my return, the one thing that stood out to me is that disc golf is still a grass roots sport. A majority of disc golfers are recreational players who do not follow the sport in any way, shape or form beyond what occurs locally.
Case in point: I had never even heard of Ken Climo until a year ago, but I knew who Ed Headrick, Ken Westerfield and Jim Kenner were because I met them back in the day in a recreational setting on my home course and that made an impression on me. It sure didn't hurt that they gave a kid a free black Phantom. I only bought about a dozen more after that. :thmbup:
If I were to attempt to build a successful brand, I would want my plastic in the hands of highly talented, outgoing local players. Those are the people most players will encounter. However, since that is an enormously expensive proposition, the only realistic approach would be to recruit top players in every region, those players who hit up every event within a 50-100 miles of where they live. That seems to be a step Prodigy is now taking, so there may be some hope for a future.