Fishing sponsorship question

[RUGER]

Talking to a buddy about the walleye deal and he posed an interesting question.

I'm assuming Ranger gave them their boat as a sponsorship deal. I am assuming it is like the bass guys.
Anyway, I said I'm sure they will lose their boat.
My buddy said, not if it's in their name and they have the title.

Good point.

So say Ranger, or whoever, sponsors someone and "gives" them a boat.
Is the boat in the fisherman's name or does it stay in Rangers name?

 

[WTM]

its jake runyans personal boat, albeit they may have been paid some money or bonus for advertisements. looks like they sold the boats they won.

there is a big misconception of sponsorships in pro fishing. take the BASS elite qualification changes. there was a lot of complaining about having to pay more entry fees in order to qualify for the elite series.

 

[TNGunsmoke]

From what little I know about sponsorships, I'd say they got a discount on their equipment, not an outright gift of it, so it would be in their names. Small stuff (like a selection of lures) might be given to just about anyone, or some companies might pay a fee for a patch/sticker on a shirt or jump suit, but a lot of these guys are depending on winnings to actually make any money. Same with hunting folks. You may get a discount on gear, and you are obliged to repay part of that discount with so many plugs for their products.

 

[rsimms]

Yea, as noted above, these days there are a million caveats to any so-called "sponsorship." Only folks in the very top echelon get anything for free... and I assure you that even they don't get as much free stuff as they might have gotten ten or 15 years ago.

And logos on a jersey mean absolutely nothing. I can put anybody's logo I want on a jersey and they're probably not going to stop me... unless I get caught stuffing lead weights in my fish during a tournament. Then they'd probably stop me.

 

[bigquacks]

And logos on a jersey mean absolutely nothing. I can put anybody's logo I want on a jersey and they're probably not going to stop me

This right here, there are many companies out there that will make you a jersey any way you like. Just send them the file with the logos you want on it and they will make you look like the ultimate pro. It is just free advertising for these companies.

 

[XCR-2]

Ranger only gives out about 3 or 4 boats for free. Hank Parker being one of them. If you see guys in a ranger they pretty much bought it

 

[sll]

As already mentioned, there are very few anglers getting a free boat. Even when I say "Free" that means they get to use the boat for the tourney season to return it to the factory at the end of the season to pick their next year model up. They don't get to sell the boat and keep the profits.

There are different sponsorship levels and boat deals. Back when I was tournament fishing a lot years ago I got mine on a PD plan.....I would purchase a fully rigged boat for 20% discount under dealer cost, run it for 9 months and sell it for whatever I wanted at that time with full warranty to the new owner. I could actually make some money on it at the end of the year, save the new owner a few thousand from purchasing new from dealer, and have a full warranty to boot. Good deal for both me and the new owner.

Today's discounts are nowhere near that and I know that Ranger supported staff are only getting 7% discounts......so you are only talking less than $6K on a $80K outfit.

 

[WTM]

This right here, there are many companies out there that will make you a jersey any way you like. Just send them the file with the logos you want on it and they will make you look like the ultimate pro. It is just free advertising for these companies.

if they did then they are pretty dumb. will land them in court big time. one thing companies do not tolerate is putring their brand in a bad light.

 

[younggun308]

How about guide sponsorships?

I know a guide in North Georgia who hasn't paid for his boat in many years—and he gets a new one regularly. Been a few years, but I think he had a Ranger.
I know some guides dabble in tournaments, too (ex. Cole Sands on Chickamauga reps Yo-Zuri and FishCo—and he's not in the top tier, but rather still trying to qualify for Bassmaster Elites), where much of what has been said above applies.

 

[killingtime 41]

I wouldn't mind getting back in a tournament or 2. I never fished a circuit and probably wouldn't want to now.it ups the game some if money is on the line. Also takes the relaxation out of it. That's why 1 here and there wouldn't be bad. Bet Bill Dance or Roland Martin those level guys get stuff handed to them.By the way Bill Dance I always loved as a youngster. Just the music from his show coming on use to get me pumped up. Of course that was 35 years ago.

 

[Kirk]

Several years ago I helped a friend to get sponsors for his pro fishing career. It is not easy to get fishing related sponsors (gear, rods, reels, lures, boats) to give anything away. Most only offer product discounts and will sell tournament shirts to you. These companies get a lot of requests each year. You have to be in the top tier to get anything of real value for free.

We found out real quick if you wanted some "money" sponsors you had to focus on peripheral industries like local hotels, insurance companies, gas stations, restaurants, Mom and Pop businesses, local car lots, etc. We had a lot of success using that approach.