ESPN 3,4 or 1000 coverage

[AndyJB]

The better option for disc golf is an anthology show. It used to be on Wide World of Sports a couple times a year, usually reviews of big tournaments. There's a clip on YouTube (or used to be, couldn't find it) where Dick Clark was doing commentary. Think it was the mid to late 80s for that one, just judging by the shortness of everyone's shorts.

There are some shows out there who feature clips of fringe-type sports and they are fairly popular. That would be a better fit for disc golf. Like how Beach Sports Network does it. Just to get the exposure.

 

[thatdirtykid]

I have seen left handed arm wrestling on ESPN2 (or something). Aside from sponsorship $ (left handed arm wrestling champion pulls a few figures for an event...) you have to remember. Everyone knows what badminton, spelling bees, arm wrestling and ping pong (table tennis) is.

Anyway... Badminton is in the olympics and especially outside the USA table tennis is serious stuff.

 

[jeffmonty]

If you just want to lay around and watch disc golf on a screen, you have the option of doing that right now. How many people outside this site care if it's live or not?

 

[JedV]

As cool as ESPN would be, online and on-demand will eventually be the preferred way to watch tv. DGers are getting better and better at filming with what they have to work with. SpinTv is pretty good with the major events as well as Disc Golf Live and etc. ESPN coverage might actually take the sport in the wrong direction without DGers at the helm.

Nicely put :hfive:

 

[DanJon]

Hey look, this thread again.

Good luck with the ESPN wet dream guys.

 

[JTacoma03]

I'm wondering what things have influenced you in order to have this opinion. Is it because of the Aussie Major, Japan Open or other events that you've been at? I can see extinct golf courses being used to create great disc golf complexes, given that they have a lot more available land to use for holes, but this would be a hybrid of both elements. Playing from the woods to what used to be a fairway before heading back into the woods, or using the spaces between fairways to create challenging and technical shorter holes. Plus if it is no longer used as a ball golf course, you can take the opportunity to create disc golf specific features and obstacles. Again, just curious as to how that idea came about.

Yes all of your post is a part of it, the design element. The other elements I would say are film and broadcast logistics are easier, ease of spectating, and the length+accuracy of the top tour players nowadays calls for longer and tougher courses than we have.

It's easier on us now to have a symbiotic relationship with established facilities (clubhouses, wifi, etc...) as well than to try and build our own. Eventually we will have our own Jarva's here in the states but it's still a few years off IMHO.

Even ESPN is available on a non-broadcast basis (ESPN3, right?). Log in and choose from a wide selection of games, to suit yourself.

At the moment, you still have to be paying for ESPN broadcast (or know someone who is, and use their code). How much longer until you can simply subscribe to ESPN's non-broadcast internet-based channels?

I would guess when revenue dips from big time broadcasts. I don't mean to say it won't go to that model, I just think it will take longer than other types of shows.

 

[JTacoma03]

Hey look, this thread again.

Good luck with the ESPN wet dream guys.

It's interesting that you feel a need to post here without adding anything to our conversation. Are you that starved for attention?

 

[DiscinMiller]

Paul Mcbeth and Ricky Wysocki entered the same tournament around 23 times last year. One of them won 18 of them. the other winners were shusterick, feldberg, koling, nikko and bates.

Of those 18 wins, 18 times they were on the final card, and 5 out of 5 of the wins of the "other" group had at least one of them also on the final card, and three had both.

This is not compelling television. Period. Chase card seldom wins, and its the same two guys week in and week out. there are other contenders, but right now the sport is dominated by a pair and that's boring.

a

 

[DiscinMiller]

and the aussie open this year they got first and third, sandwiching simon. Paul finished -39. the guy in tenth place finished, get this, 52 strokes behind him. in fact, only four others were within 30 strokes of paul. simon, ricky, nate doss, and dave feldberg

that's not made for tv.

 

[SonicGuy]

and the aussie open this year they got first and third, sandwiching simon. Paul finished -39. the guy in tenth place finished, get this, 52 strokes behind him. in fact, only four others were within 30 strokes of paul. simon, ricky, nate doss, and dave feldberg

that's not made for tv.

Tiger vs the field made for golf's best ratings ever. I think a dominant champion with a dynamic foil is exactly the recipe for compelling tv.

Unfortunately mcbeast is unmarketable. No personality, looks unathletic, nothing compelling about him. If nikko where as good as mcbeast he would be perfect. Nikko has a fun to watch stroke, is vocal about his wins, and can kick his bag like a champ. If he were winning lots of tourneys I bet pro disc golf would be in a better place.

 

[runningDoc]

yeah there was that Disc Golf in Finland thread where my dream would be that in the next 5 years Finland starts producing tons of top 5 in the world talent and dominating the sport kind of how the Soviet Union dominated chess.

that way McBeth, Wysoki and company (the USA guys) would have a sort of constant natural foil to compete against.

The only problem is most Scandinavian dudes are pretty chill and cool so there's no natural reason to hate them unlike the past with cold war [ideology and intellectual superiority] symbology with a brash independent USA's bobby fischer vs the soviet communist machine in chess.

Maybe Ussi can start teaching the Scandinavian/Euro guys how to be heels like the way Floyd Mayweather Jr is in boxing do drum up some fake animosity and drama to boost ratings.

 

[bradharris]

Boring sports can be made captivating with the right broadcast quality. The Olympics are a great example of that. There are a ton of boring events, but NBC actually does a reasonably good job of making them interesting to watch.

If you really want disc golf to get a spectator audience, it needs to be presented in a way that is interesting to the common public, not just the die-hard players.

 

[TimSyl]

DiscinMiller
Bogey Member Join Date: Sep 2014
Years Playing: 4.5
Courses Played: 4
Throwing Style: RHBH
Posts: 95

Paul Mcbeth and Ricky Wysocki entered the same tournament around 23 times last year. One of them won 18 of them. the other winners were shusterick, feldberg, koling, nikko and bates.

Of those 18 wins, 18 times they were on the final card, and 5 out of 5 of the wins of the "other" group had at least one of them also on the final card, and three had both.

This is not compelling television. Period. Chase card seldom wins, and its the same two guys week in and week out. there are other contenders, but right now the sport is dominated by a pair and that's boring.


Disagree...Ali-Frazier, Nicklaus-Palmer...then later Nicklaus-Watson, McEnroe-Borg, Evert-Navartilova rivalries all helped their respective sports.

 

[AndyJB]

FWIW Nikko wins a crapton of tournaments. Majors, NTs, A-Tiers, you name it. He has already won two tournaments this year...out of the two he entered. He seems to be a player who is a winner when he is throwing whatever discs he wants (though he was no slouch when throwing all Innova and all Prodigy) so that arguement doesn't really hold water. He is a passionate guy and that is what makes him marketable...along with his incredible skill and high level of play.

Paul and Ricky are also very marketable. As an athletic guy who is studying exercise science I can say they do look very athletic, especially against the average American. It could even be argued that they are more marketable not being jacked up, ripped gorillas because it is a look that anyone can easily attain. Neither of them are particularly well-spoken but that's because right now they don't have to be. They aren't bumbling idiots by any means, and if coverage were increased and they had to give more sound bytes, they could easily handle it. Look at the NFL. There's a reason most players don't get mic time. Surely the top disc golf stars are better talkers than those cavemen. Feldberg, McCray, McCabe, Wysocki, Paige Pierce, Val...all good speakers.

But I hold to my point that disc golf, at least for now, is a better fit for a sports anthology show.

 

[SonicGuy]

Dude, even ultimate guys look shredded compared to mcbeth. I'm sure as a supremely athletic guy going through the rigorous academic field of exercise science your opinion should probably be trusted, but mcbeth gets a generous D- on the eye test.

As far as nikko winning tourneys, of course he does, but at nowhere the level of mcbeth. The argument is that having two people dominate competition is bad, and I disagree with that, providing that the dominant champion has something compelling going for him.

 

[DiscinMiller]

the idea of a rivalry is compelling i agree. But the idea that at the start of a tournament, at BEST, maybe 5 or 6 guys have a realistic shot at winning is not. Golf has a cut in tournaments and it usually includes top 70 and ties, and typically falls around 10 shots between first place and those tied for 70.

Disc golf doesnt have that parity, the same level of competition up and down the leaderboard. Seriously, McBeth beat the tenth place player in australia by52 strokes

a rivalry is great, but knowing they will win is not.

 

[Peter_LG]

Paul Mcbeth and Ricky Wysocki entered the same tournament around 23 times last year. One of them won 18 of them. the other winners were shusterick, feldberg, koling, nikko and bates.

Of those 18 wins, 18 times they were on the final card, and 5 out of 5 of the wins of the "other" group had at least one of them also on the final card, and three had both.

This is not compelling television. Period. Chase card seldom wins, and its the same two guys week in and week out. there are other contenders, but right now the sport is dominated by a pair and that's boring.

a

Editing! If they can make drama from footage of people cooking, they can make it from anything. The networks are frickin' geniuses at making celebrity golfers (um, tiger in recent years) look like they're in the hunt on a Sunday when, truly, they're totally out of contention.

I bet that MTV special on disc golf (which I assume is coming out at some point, though I haven't heard much lately) will focus on some key players, build them as characters, and make a story out of the footage they shoot. The disc golf will look vibrant and exciting. And the sport will hopefully appeal to those watching.

 

[JC17393]

Using the Aussie Open as indicative of anything is foolhardy. You're talking about an event halfway around the world from the majority of the disc golfing populace where the gap between the top 5 guys and the rest of the field was essentially your typical local B-tier Open division and the Rec division. The Aussie Open field was about equivalent to if Tiger, Phil and Rory showed up at a local club championship. It's not really indicative of how competitive or non-competitive the overall pro tour is or could be.

If you want to talk about competitive fields and compelling competition, you have to look at the events that draw a far deeper field of the best players in the game...USDGC, Worlds, Maple Hill, Memorial, etc.

 

[Peter_LG]

Using the Aussie Open as indicative of anything is foolhardy...If you want to talk about competitive fields and compelling competition, you have to look at the events that draw a far deeper field of the best players in the game...USDGC, Worlds, Maple Hill, Memorial, etc.

Agreed. It will be a challenge for the PDGA to balance the fact that it's good to keep the sport growing internationally through pro events, but few pro players can afford to fly to events like this year's Aussie Open.

 

[AndyJB]

Ricky and Paul are disc golf machines. I always point to the interview right after Paul won this years World's. His face was drawn and he seemed really out of it, as if he wasn't even there. There are lots of studies about elite level athletes andand this is a common occurance where they shut out everything and just focus on the task. But yeah, it doesn't make for great soundbyte.

I also agree that the big events are where general coverage would best be suited. Much more excitement. Last year's USDGC was cracking in that last round!