Do fans pay to watch major tournaments in person?

[Monkeypaws]

You may find this a foolish question, so laugh if you will.

Do fans pay to watch major tournaments in person?

Never been to one, so I don't know.

Just thinking about revenue streams and disc golf. They don't have the traditional TV cash cow, and companies mainly make dough selling product, discs, bags, etc.

I'd say Innova, Discraft, Prodigy etc. have benefited greatly from the efforts of Jomez, Central Coast, Gatekeeper, GK Pro, etc. They've provided the coverage that didn't exist not that long ago, and made people care about Zones, Harps, Pigs.

 

[txmxer]

You may find this a foolish question, so laugh if you will.

Do fans pay to watch major tournaments in person?

Never been to one, so I don't know.

Just thinking about revenue streams and disc golf. They don't have the traditional TV cash cow, and companies mainly make dough selling product, discs, bags, etc.

I'd say Innova, Discraft, Prodigy etc. have benefited greatly from the efforts of Jomez, Central Coast, Gatekeeper, GK Pro, etc. They've provided the coverage that didn't exist not that long ago, and made people care about Zones, Harps, Pigs.

Still new myself, never been to a major, but yes it is my understanding that you have to buy tickets to spectate such an event.

It's a sport that is growing in an evolving landscape. I agree that the DG video companies have been invaluable to the growth, but with DGN, I am concerned about what happens next. I don't know any of the inner workings of these groups, so it could all be copacetic—I don't know. I would not be okay if all these groups that have done so much to promote the sport were left on the outside looking in.

 

[jjmiller]

I watched Ledgestone one day in 2018 and didn't pay a dime to attend. Went to Worlds on Saturday the next year at Northwoods and I think I paid $10 to park. I'm thinking they might have started charging admission since.

 

[biscoe]

You may find this a foolish question, so laugh if you will.

Do fans pay to watch major tournaments in person?

They do. USDGC has been charging to spectate for quite some time. Others have followed suit. I expect most Elite events in 2022 will charge spectators.

 

[jakebake91]

They do. USDGC has been charging to spectate for quite some time. Others have followed suit. I expect most Elite events in 2022 will charge spectators.

How can they do this at some events like the Memorial, where it's a public use area and there are always lots of people mulling about that don't even know what disc golf is? Seems only practical on courses where they can close it to the public.

 

[pookie]

That's maybe why Memorial dropped off as a major tournament and not part of the dgpt schedule. Not to say it doesn't have some of the best signed up to play, but many of the top pros have been skipping it the last couple of years. Last year the only person filming was the disc golf guy.

 

[dehaas]

Some events were charging prior to Covid, but we can all thank Covid capacity restrictions for making it more mainstream. Now that the practice is more established I think it's here to stay, and was on that trajectory anyway…just accelerated by Covid for a couple of reasons.

People want it both ways though…why would I ever pay to watch a tournament in person? But rabble rabble rabble grow the sport rabble rabble rabble. Tickets to spectate help boost the total purse and allow the TD to be compensated for their efforts.

Anybody here who's been to USDGC or any of the other big events can attest. Seeing some of these players up close and in person is impressive. 550-600 air shots in person really let's you see that the top pros are playing a different game than the rest of us.

 

[Moonshine]

You may find this a foolish question, so laugh if you will.

Do fans pay to watch major tournaments in person?

Never been to one, so I don't know.

Just thinking about revenue streams and disc golf. They don't have the traditional TV cash cow, and companies mainly make dough selling product, discs, bags, etc.

I'd say Innova, Discraft, Prodigy etc. have benefited greatly from the efforts of Jomez, Central Coast, Gatekeeper, GK Pro, etc. They've provided the coverage that didn't exist not that long ago, and made people care about Zones, Harps, Pigs.

I think I paid $20 a ticket for the OTB Open and it was well worth it. I want to say VIP tickets were $100 a day.

 

[wolfhaley]

I watched Ledgestone one day in 2018 and didn't pay a dime to attend. Went to Worlds on Saturday the next year at Northwoods and I think I paid $10 to park. I'm thinking they might have started charging admission since.

We also only paid $10 to park at 2019 world's. That's the only tournament I've ever been to though. And that was pre-Covid, so it may as well have been last century.

 

[Norvelljeff]

That's maybe why Memorial dropped off as a major tournament and not part of the dgpt schedule. Not to say it doesn't have some of the best signed up to play, but many of the top pros have been skipping it the last couple of years. Last year the only person filming was the disc golf guy.

The memorial was dropped because there are more and more gym bros and retirees walking the fairways every single day. It's a legit issue to throw plastic at Vista at peak time during the weekend.

 

[robdeforge]

You may find this a foolish question, so laugh if you will.

Do fans pay to watch major tournaments in person?

Never been to one, so I don't know.

I've been spectating at the Green Mountain Championship (Smuggs notch) for a few years on and off and this year was the first I had to pay to do so. They had a bunch of different options available depending on if you wanted to be able to spectate both courses or just one, and options like passes for just one day or a multi-day pack.

They also didn't do the best job checking tickets so I would've been fine to not buy any at all!

 

[DavidSauls]

USDGC's been charging for 20 years -- though in the early years, the area was awash in complimentary tickets. Now the cost is up to real money -- $20/day, or something like that.

It's fun to watch live, and fun to be part of a large gallery. And, like the course or hate it, Winthrop Gold sets up very nicely for large galleries.

 

[Orchestra]

I paid for VIP for DGLO and USDGC and brought my daughter along. It was well worth the money. We had parking, snacks, and sports drinks included as part of the package. Also, the VIP tickets were a lot cheaper than nosebleed seats for an NBA game.

 

[davetherocketguy]

How can they do this at some events like the Memorial, where it's a public use area and there are always lots of people mulling about that don't even know what disc golf is? Seems only practical on courses where they can close it to the public.

I think a way around this issue is to charge for parking and provide some sort of "spectators pack" of goodies to incentivize folks to pay. Depending on the venue though this could lead to other potential issues like people parking further away to avoid the fee and annoying the surrounding community.

 

[jakebake91]

I think a way around this issue is to charge for parking and provide some sort of "spectators pack" of goodies to incentivize folks to pay. Depending on the venue though this could lead to other potential issues like people parking further away to avoid the fee and annoying the surrounding community.

Same thing that happens at the pay to play courses in my area. They are part of the county park system and you need a parking pass. People just park out on the street or slightly down the road and walk in.

 

[Flyguy46]

JMHO, but I think if I were to go to a large tournament to watch the pro's play, I would be more than willing to spend money to watch them play. There is something special about being the gallery at tournament. I have attended a few PGA tournaments over the years, and one thing that stands out to me, is the opportunity to experience the excitement and passion of both the players and the fans.

Will there be people who will complain or try to cheat the system(s)? Without a doubt, but as a growing sport Disc Golf will go through some of the same growing pains.

Yep, let's see where we end up!

 

[elmexdela]

Same thing that happens at the pay to play courses in my area. They are part of the county park system and you need a parking pass. People just park out on the street or slightly down the road and walk in.

yup common move ive seen in a few different states and even one ive benefitting from from time to time

 

[BillFleming]

The memorial was dropped because there are more and more gym bros and retirees walking the fairways every single day. It's a legit issue to throw plastic at Vista at peak time during the weekend.

Covid caused a lot of the tournaments to charge spectators. The issue was that courses were being limited to how many people (players/spectators) could be there, so the way to limit people was to charge a fee. I seem to recall there was at least one tournament charging volunteers a fee....that way people wouldn't volunteer just to spectate for free.

The Memorial in Arizona is different. Along with the issue above, pros were complaining that about the courses, especially the Fountain Hills one....that it was 'hyzer after hyzer' and doesn't change from year-to-year. Since both parks are open (can't be closed to the public), there were people interfering and others getting hurt. I know of one case this past Memorial, where a park goer's son ran onto the fairway, picked up a pro's disc and took it. When the player yelled (to be heard) for the kid to put the disc back, the dad grabbed his kid and took off (with the disc).

At Vista, there was an incident leading up to the Memorial, where a player was practicing a hole and a walker got hit in the face with a disc. The injury required stitches and the city made the sponsor eliminate that hole. So things had to be re-arranged and approved by the PDGA in a very short time.

So, with both Memorial courses (Fountain Hills and Vista) being public parks, it's impossible to control/reduce the number of park goers as neither city will do that. Players (mainly the pros) complain about delays due to having to wait for random walkers/bikers/runners to move out of the player's path....sometimes the delay can be a bit long.

((I've been a volunteer at the Memorial and have seen the issues and heard the complaints)).

 

[adlacro]

IMO, I'd pay to see the top players in action.

Two weekends ago we had Barsby and Gilbert in town for the South Florida Open. Other than park fees, I didn't have to pay anything.

 

[Three Putt]

There were always those guys. You would be in a Tuesday night softball league and everybody was going to a bar to watch the All-Star game and that guy would go "oh, I just like to play ball. I don't like to watch baseball." So you would have to overcome the urge to punch him as you were packing up to gear for the bar and make fun of him while you watched baseball.

Yeah, I'm that guy. Disc golf is fun to play. I've been playing for a long time. I'm not paying to watch anybody do anything with a Frisbee. It's just not happening. If I was new to the sport? Perhaps. If I hadn't already accidentally seen world champions and distance record holders for free back in the day at events I was playing in? Maybe. If I wasn't old enough to be these top players dad? Possibly. I'm not going to do it, though.