Would you pay for live coverage now?

[Jenga54]

something something cow, something something free milk

 

[JNichols]

I payed for DiscGolfPlanet coverage, I support Jomez/CCDG/Terry Miller/Etc through Patreon, and I even support the Commentators I really enjoy, through Patreon. I REALLY like to watch Disc Golf and like to support seeing it any way I can.

 

[zgmc]

No.. And no one should be considering setting up a pay per view operation at this point. The current viewership is very low even for the major events. If you start trying to capitalize on such a small market you will only succeed in driving people away. You will alienate current viewers and have no hope at creating new ones..

 

[Geer_Boggles]

I mean I would for the interim pay for it but I would worry that once Disc Golf becomes a major sport (I mean it has to at some point) that they wouldn't provide live coverage for free. If we are thinking about all of the big time sports being broadcast live and free then sure it seems outrageous but people need to remember that those sports are sponsored with hundreds of millions of dollars to do so at the highest quality. Networks are fighting each other for the right to broadcast those games. Disc Golf isn't there yet and would need initial backing to be able to produce worthwhile live coverage.

I for one would say I would pay a little to watch great live coverage.

 

[Geer_Boggles]

No.. And no one should be considering setting up a pay per view operation at this point. The current viewership is very low even for the major events. If you start trying to capitalize on such a small market you will only succeed in driving people away. You will alienate current viewers and have no hope at creating new ones..

That's the beauty of the setup though, anyone who doesn't want to pay for it, doesn't have to. Jomez and the likes would still exist for next day coverage. It would simply be for people who are very into the sport and would like to follow live coverage and maybe hear more from the players as they are tackling the courses. I don't see how it would alienate anyone, you aren't being forced to pay for it. There simply isn't a live coverage option right now.

 

[hiflyer]

Well it was attempted humor, leaning on the Salient debacle.

Ironic? I'm not sure.

Well I wouldn't expect anyone to actually, honestly suggest Hooters girls, so irony for me at least.

 

[jvphobic]

UFC has about 20 major fights a year I think. And people pay $50? for those each. You get about 2 to 3 hours of content. Or I think you can pay for a $10/month service like the WWE does? Not sure, I don't watch either personally.

In a dream scenario for Live, we would have something like a monthly payment plan, or a small amount per event. Imagine $5 / month or $15 for a weekend. And then the post produced stuff would come out a week or two later. Giving them time to perfect their events, commentary, and coverage. And maybe let them sleep a bit. Maybe it comes out sooner for their Patreon supporters or something?

Many leagues are going to a PPV model like MLB, NBA, NHL, WWE, F1, etc, where you can watch whatever you want whenever you want with bonus content. I think that would be cool.

NOW, let me be clear, I don't think we have enough people to make that happen without still having SOME sponsorship. And I don't see any of those things actually happening. I don't know if DG is the right sport for that or not. DG fans have it pretty good right now, a small minority of people supporting the crews for a majority of the viewers. Jomez has 700 Patrons and their videos regularly get 60-80K views.

And let me be ULTRA clear, this isn't happening and this is hypothetical land. Obviously with more money would come higher quality for live and post. I think at some point someone is going to try and break the mold. I don't know who that is, or how that would work, but I am always welcome to trying new things.

Just think of the number of Hooters girls we could all hire!

 

[DiscFifty]

I'd like to see Jomez test the waters with a small fee of 2-5.00 (per event) to watch their next day coverage. This would be ad free for the paid viewers. Then a week (or so) later they could release the free viral versions with ads, etc, etc. I would bet at least 1-2k would ante up.

 

[jvphobic]

I'd like to see Jomez test the waters with a small fee of 2-5.00 (per event) to watch their next day coverage. This would be ad free for the paid viewers. Then a week (or so) later they could release the free viral versions with ads, etc, etc. I would bet at least 1-2k would ante up.

I think there are stipulations with the PDGA that if you cover and event it has to be next day and you can't charge. But that might only be if the PDGA pays to have you there. Not 100% sure on that.

 

[Alexplz]

Keep in mind that although we don't open our wallets to watch a youtube video or to stream the current live offerings, it doesn't mean you're not paying some cost. If something is free, you're the product!

Actually, I do pay for youtube premium and play music on a monthly basis. You short-attention-spanned freeloaders, GET OFF MY LAWN

 

[DiscFifty]

I think there are stipulations with the PDGA that if you cover and event it has to be next day and you can't charge. But that might only be if the PDGA pays to have you there. Not 100% sure on that.

I'm sure that is the case currently, they would need to have complete control and go solo I'm guessing.

 

[J-Bright]

It seems strange to me to hear the disc golf media typically say they just do this to grow the sport or because they love the sport and want to support it somehow, or for ANY and ALL reason besides money...yet here we are everybody looking for money for content they produce while covering disc golf.

 

[jjmiller]

I love watching the Jomez videos. CCDG is also good- I prefer having players do the commentary(especially Nate and Jerm), but I still watch their videos and enjoy them.

I would not pay to watch disc golf.

 

[JC17393]

It seems strange to me to hear the disc golf media typically say they just do this to grow the sport or because they love the sport and want to support it somehow, or for ANY and ALL reason besides money...yet here we are everybody looking for money for content they produce while covering disc golf.

Doing it for the love of the sport only goes so far if you don't have funding. These guys are making some money through Patreon and tournaments/PDGA paying them to cover events, but what's wrong with trying to increase that income? More money means better production...more cameras, more camera operators, more editors, more coverage.

People whine that live coverage is "boring" because all it usually is is two cameras following one card. Imagine if they had the budget to put four or five or six or ten cameras in the field and cover two or three or four cards at once. Ditto that for the post-produced stuff. What if Jomez could field a 12 man camera crew plus a 3-4 man editing crew that turns out next day videos of the top 3-4 cards at [pick your NT/DGPT/random A-tier]? Is that not better than what we have now? Can't get there without more money for the production. Nothing wrong with kicking around ideas to find that money.

 

[J-Bright]

Doing it for the love of the sport only goes so far if you don't have funding. These guys are making some money through Patreon and tournaments/PDGA paying them to cover events, but what's wrong with trying to increase that income? More money means better production...more cameras, more camera operators, more editors, more coverage.

Couldn't agree more. I assumed that's the reasons for accepting donations? Forcing people to pay I personally believe will bring the number of people who watch down a lot, and at that point if people drop Patreon and force to pay per event, their money flow I would predict to be about the same but just strictly guessing.
I'd be curious to know how many people actually watch live now for free, and how many would actually be willing to pay? So far this thread is an overwhelming amount of "No" they wouldn't pay.
Strictly based on looking at the DGPT map of those events and majors/NT's, I cannot see many disc golfers willing to pay ~$285 per year to watch live disc golf. (this is strictly taking JVD's random number of $15 per weekend for an event. This is why more people should be using Patreon or whatever other means to make donations to watch it now because if it comes to that cost, look how much cheaper you're seeing this material now.
Lastly I think comparing other sports that get the draw of the ones mentioned by JVD is not even close to comparable.