Brodie Smith PDGA #128378

[Nick Pacific]

View counts are a strange thing. There is this fishing channel I watch, Milliken Fishing. He has just under 300k subs but some of his best vids are older ones and only have 15k or 30k views. But he has some random normal vids that hit 1mil and who knows why...

There is still a lot of randomness in the algorithms that YouTube uses to promote videos on the home and recommendations pages/tabs, which are the way to hit huge view counts. For sure Youtube is actively promoting kid and family friendly videos. It absolutely shows favoritism towards mainstream news channels over independent content. And it definitely has a left leaning political bias.

If content fits the gap of anyone of those 3, it has a much higher chance of hitting the YouTube algorithmic lottery and ending up in the recommended feeds. We saw that with Jomez Pro Worlds hitting way over 1 million views. You see this with random cat and animal videos, kids promoting toys, and mainstream news channels despite the fact that their cable ratings are failing and nobody trusts anything they say.

 

[Nick Pacific]

Disc golf hits the kid and family friendly content pulse of the YouTube algorithm. The future (and present really) is to keep discgolf content kid and family friendly. There has always been a push for professionalism in the sport especially over the last decade. It was certainly the right move, because that professionalism has lead the way to making family friendly content for Youtube which coincidentally is exactly what they are actively promoting. Discgolf is in a prime spot for growth over YouTube, and will only continue to exponentially increase in viewership.

I don't think anyone would have predicted it would be YouTube that pushed our sport into the mainstream, but that certainly looks to be the case now.

 

[Ryan P.]

Disc golf hits the kid and family friendly content pulse of the YouTube algorithm. The future (and present really) is to keep discgolf content kid and family friendly. There has always been a push for professionalism in the sport especially over the last decade. It was certainly the right move, because that professionalism has lead the way to making family friendly content for Youtube which coincidentally is exactly what they are actively promoting. Discgolf is in a prime spot for growth over YouTube, and will only continue to exponentially increase in viewership.

I don't think anyone would have predicted it would be YouTube that pushed our sport into the mainstream, but that certainly looks to be the case now.

While I want DG to remain kid/family friendly, I don't think we should do it because the Youtube algorithm encourages it. You may or may not be saying that; I'm being clear that DG doesn't need to cater to a computer's logic, and shouldn't.

If the sport grows, it grows. If it doesn't, it doesn't. I don't let computers decide how I live.

 

[DoWork]

923

If I had more time I'd use a hilariously trolly .gif to get the blood flowing for the Brodie Rage Choir. I'm popping popcorn, this is going to be awesome.

 

[TheOtherBill]

Looks like he gets on the lead card on Thursday at Waco. PLaying with McBeth might help him as they are used to being on camera together.

 

[wims]

Weird that they put somebody who's playing his first tournament on the feature card.

 

[Streets]

Weird that they put somebody who's playing his first tournament on the feature card.

Not really, all things considered

 

[drk_evns]

Weird that they put somebody who's playing his first tournament on the feature card.

That doesn't make sense to you? The former ultimate superstar turned YouTube sensation turned professional golf prospect turned pro disc golfer doesn't seem like a interesting story to you?

Imagine if this were the olympics. They'd be covering Brodie's story 24/7.

My point is: this is entertainment. More entertaining people = more views. The video will get many many more views than if Brodie wasn't on the card.

To me that's a good thing.

 

[BuiltTooLong]

Weird that they put somebody who's playing his first tournament on the feature card.

Good way to get people to pay that subscription fee. Honestly they would be idiots not to feature him in his 1st full event.

 

[wims]

It makes sense, but it's still weird

 

[Nick Pacific]

While I want DG to remain kid/family friendly, I don't think we should do it because the Youtube algorithm encourages it. You may or may not be saying that. I'm being clear that DG doesn't need to cater to a computer's logic, and shouldn't.

If the sport grows, it grows. If it doesn't, it doesn't. I don't let computers decide how I live.

It's not the computer's logic. It's culture first, computational logic following that. Youtube is merely following the cultural trend. Everyone knows YouTube is the TV of the future, that's obvious at this point. Cable is dying a slow death as we speak.

If you want a channel that is profitable on that network, you'd best be served making family friendly content or YouTube will bury you into obscurity. We are already seeing that with independent content producers getting their channels yanked off with even the slightest amount of politically incorrect/controversial content. There is no reason for professional Disc Golf to even tread into those waters.

Notice I said professional, and profitable.
There is plenty of room available for independent discgolf content creators to venture into politically incorrect and/or controversial content. Just don't expect it to be monetized in any significant way, or expect to get any support from the major manufacturers or sponsors.

 

[DiscFifty]

You believe "Brodie's Smith's 1st round of Disc Golf (18 holes)" from 3 weeks ago and currently at 167k views is going to go up to 500k views?

maybe...but not anytime soon. Back in Brodies heyday he would get 500-800k-1mil views in a matter of days, weeks. His active viewing base (not his subscriber base) seems to be much smaller, probably due to him branching out and trying the bro thing, the ball golf thing, etc. (I subscribe to a few channels than have similar subscriber numbers and they get way higher views early on.)

I think he realized he would have a better chance at being a big fish in the disc golf world compared to being a much smaller fish in the ball golf world. Time and money (and getting married recently), will tell if he stays in the sport long term.

 

[F. Howl]

It makes sense, but it's still weird

This statement doesn't make sense, but I agree.

 

[wims]

This statement doesn't make sense, but I agree.

It makes sense from a hype point of view, but it's weird that DGPT have chosen to devalue the legitimacy of their brand. DGPT is supposed to be the pinnacle of professional disc golf, so it's weird that they are featuring a player who haven't played a single tournament in his life. This mismatch makes it weird

 

[Streets]

It makes sense from a hype point of view, but it's weird that DGPT have chosen to devalue the legitimacy of their brand. DGPT is supposed to be the pinnacle of professional disc golf, so it's weird that they are featuring a player who haven't played a single tournament in his life. This mismatch makes it weird

There is nothing "professional" about feature cards. Their only purpose is to get views and nothing else...which I would say is pretty on-brand for DGPT.

 

[VictorB]

It makes sense from a hype point of view, but it's weird that DGPT have chosen to devalue the legitimacy of their brand. DGPT is supposed to be the pinnacle of professional disc golf, so it's weird that they are featuring a player who haven't played a single tournament in his life. This mismatch makes it weird

If LeBron James started playing professional disc golf, you can bet your arse that he's on the R1 feature card for his first event. And probably every single event he plays after that too

It's not devaluing the brand at all, it's smart marketing.

 

[Hampstead]

Weema! Weema!

 

[mshelton]

I may be mistaken but I thought I remember there being something like "fan choice" players as members on a feature card before, I want to say they were usually local guys too.

 

[Hyzer Ale]

Is there going to be post-round production of this or is the subscription the only way to watch?

 

[jvphobic]

The subscription will be the only way to watch as of now. What the DGPT decides to do later in the season is still up for some debate. But the subscription will be the only way to watch in the near future.