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The Rise of the $10M Disc Golf Celebrity

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Re: The Rise of the $10M Disc Golf Celebrity

#51

Post by w-m »

I instantly recognized the name of Paul McBeth from a recent Youtube binge. The algorithm had suggested out of the blue that I watch some disc golf tournament, and I got sucked into it for a little while. Most of the videos had comments under them from people like me, who had never come in contact with the sport before, but were now there, thanks to the mighty algorithm.

What made it send us to the disc golf videos - my interest in Formula 1, combined with watching some esports? Or was it just a random suggestion, because the disc golf videos have a high like count and watch-through-score, because they are really well produced?

Re: The Rise of the $10M Disc Golf Celebrity

#52

Post by matsemann »

zimpenfish wrote: post #50
RosanaAnaDana wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disc golf has a far far bigger reach than you prob realize. The biggest difference between discgolf and ballgolf is its accessibility. Almost every town has a free to play course, and you can be fully equipped to play for 40 bucks. After a couple months of playing or a trip to play-it-again, you can be as well equipped as some professionals. The biggest difference between discgolf and other sports is that the popular…

> Almost every town has a free to play course Possibly in the US - over here in the UK, https://discgolfuk.uk/where-to-play/ reports 64 (some are "coming soon") of which 45 are "pay to play".

In Norway I've seen the municipality put up courses on the outskirts of various parks, fields etc. So pretty accessible.

Re: The Rise of the $10M Disc Golf Celebrity

#53

Post by layoutIfNeeded »

w-m wrote: post #51

I instantly recognized the name of Paul McBeth from a recent Youtube binge. The algorithm had suggested out of the blue that I watch some disc golf tournament, and I got sucked into it for a little while. Most of the videos had comments under them from people like me, who had never come in contact with the sport before, but were now there, thanks to the mighty algorithm. What made it send us to the disc golf videos -…

Ah, that's nothing. Follow the suggestions, and eventually you'll end up with Jelle's Marble Runs.

Re: The Rise of the $10M Disc Golf Celebrity

#54

Post by fho »

layoutIfNeeded wrote: post #53
w-m wrote: post #51

I instantly recognized the name of Paul McBeth from a recent Youtube binge. The algorithm had suggested out of the blue that I watch some disc golf tournament, and I got sucked into it for a little while. Most of the videos had comments under them from people like me, who had never come in contact with the sport before, but were now there, thanks to the mighty algorithm. What made it send us to the disc golf videos -…

Ah, that's nothing. Follow the suggestions, and eventually you'll end up with Jelle's Marble Runs.

And the Lockpicking Lawyer

Re: The Rise of the $10M Disc Golf Celebrity

#55

Post by yxwvut »

jasonkester wrote: post #44
pcthrowaway wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm certainly not arguing that many climbers are making $1 million/year from sponsorships, but I do think some are, or occasionally do anyway. One of the interesting things about climbing though, is that this is often all the compensation climbers get. There aren't climbing leagues/teams that pay climbers a salary comparable to other sports (I suspect some competition climbers get paid a salary or stipend, but I doub…

I guess what I’m trying to say is that we actually know the guys (and girls) who would be making those millions if anybody was. And they’re not. One day hopefully.

I think the intended list of 'who would be making those millions' is limited to maybe 5 people (eg: Alex Honnold or Adam Ondra), not the hundreds who call themselves 'pro climbers' (ranging from the top echelon of rock and competition climbers to dirtbags getting a discount on shoes).

Re: The Rise of the $10M Disc Golf Celebrity

#56

Post by prawn »

pcthrowaway wrote: post #26
peeters wrote: post #12

> According to 2019 data from the athlete marketing platform Opendorse, only about 70 athletes in the world make at least a million dollars a year in endorsement deals. McBeth’s endorsement income from Discraft alone puts him on par with Bears linebacker Khalil Mack, Jazz guard Mike Conley Jr., and Astros pitcher Justin Verlander. This doesn't pass the smell test at all. Opendorse doesn't give any transparency into h…

I'm also skeptical. There are no rock climbers on this list. Climbing is still a relatively niche sport (though depending on where you are, it might be one of the most popular), but I'd wager participants collectively spend as much on climbing equipment as many more popular sports. The gear is quite expensive, and for safety reasons, much of it needs to be replaced with relative regularity. You'd be hard-pressed to f…

Might've changed since then, but Honnold is at a school appearance in Free Solo and a kid cheekily asks him if he's rich. He describes his financial situation as something like "a moderately successful orthodontist" which I wouldn't have thought would mean $1m in annual endorsements.

Re: The Rise of the $10M Disc Golf Celebrity

#57

Post by trollied »

cjonas wrote: post #47
pcthrowaway wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sponsored climbers are quite common. Climbers who would have no chance of winning a competition and are climbing nowhere near the frontier of the sport can become sponsored; it's often about building connections and a name for themselves (perhaps for being really good at one specific move, or doing some first ascents in a remote area). I think very few climbers have made $1 million in a year from sponsorships. But if…

For sure, but trad/big wall climbers are the 1-5%. A lot of people who climb probably don't even own a rope. Of those that do, the vast majority just sport climb. I climb ~50 days a year and I've got 5 year old draws that I'd still whip on. I don't think soccer and climbing are even in the same ballpark when it comes to market size. I hope they never are because outdoor areas literally couldn't survive that level of…

This year will be a big pivot moment for the sport. Next month, 100s of millions of people are going to watch Olympic climbing. The speed climbing will definitely be front page news all around the world, just because people have never seen anything like it. Everyone's going to want to get down their local climbing gym and give climbing a go. But, you're correct - very few will end up outdoors. I hope that those that do are safe!

Re: The Rise of the $10M Disc Golf Celebrity

#58

Post by paulcole »

nickmonad wrote: post #11
paulcole wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You can make money doing anything if you're good enough The thesis of the article seems to be that this isn’t enough. It’s the marketing and social media aspect that makes the money possible. McBeth might not be the disc golf GOAT, but he’s close and he’s in the right place at the right time and is learning to market himself. His lifetime on the course earnings (again, from the article) are less than 5% of one year…

It does make me wonder when that will flip though. "Ball" golf (as disc golfers like to say) seems to be at a point where you can make a serious living without much to do on the social media side. Companies dump so much money into the purse because there are enough eyes on the game, and I think disc golf can get to that point. But then again, maybe disc golf is coming of age in a different era, where social media wil…

Ball golf has massive tv contracts and a wealthy (but shrinking and aging) fan base who doesn’t live on social media. That’s a big part of why the sponsors contribution to the purses is so big. Guaranteed TV time for the brand in front of the right people who will be watching.

Re: The Rise of the $10M Disc Golf Celebrity

#59

Post by bagacrap »

zimpenfish wrote: post #50
RosanaAnaDana wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disc golf has a far far bigger reach than you prob realize. The biggest difference between discgolf and ballgolf is its accessibility. Almost every town has a free to play course, and you can be fully equipped to play for 40 bucks. After a couple months of playing or a trip to play-it-again, you can be as well equipped as some professionals. The biggest difference between discgolf and other sports is that the popular…

> Almost every town has a free to play course Possibly in the US - over here in the UK, https://discgolfuk.uk/where-to-play/ reports 64 (some are "coming soon") of which 45 are "pay to play".

compared to ball golf where how many are free?

Re: The Rise of the $10M Disc Golf Celebrity

#60

Post by kasey_junk »

One of the things I really appreciate about disc golf is the low barrier to entry. My local club does events where we give discs away to kids to get them started. We’ll give hundreds of putters away this year and it will cost about $1700.

For $15 we can outfit a kid with a three disc set once they’ve decided they like the sport enough to learn about the differences in discs.

The kids we give these away to are unlikely to get that money from family but a small org can raise the donations with out having to do big donor drives or the like.

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