Drew Gibson Exposes Pro Tour Flaws | Drew Gibson Interview

[@jamesshubert7765]

Ricky was visibly upset. His voice was actually quivering and almost in tears. Showing these emotions and vulnerability made me like him even more. This tournament meant SO MUCH to him. He was devastated.

[@mikewilmes8026]

This was the most real talk I have ever seen about disc golf tournaments

[@TheZamarriped]

Man.....this was a GREAT Video. GREAT JOB Paul & Brodi. SOLID Content. REAL TALK. Love it.

[@modgmodg6987]

“Decently over par” thanks for being kind Drew. 😎

[@Matt-dj3tc]

Until added cash increases the events rely on 100-120 entry fees to pay the payouts. Once sponsors and added cash gets high enough you will then see a cap at 60-80 tour cards. This would allow for higher payouts and further into the field. IMO they need to make the tour exclusive for the highest players. If sponsor money accounts for only 50% of the purse, cut the field to 40% which would increase payouts. Operate the Q series for the other 60% who are trying to make it on tour

[@nicklange8484]

THIS

[@epheezee313]

Bingo. The field is way too large on both sides. This is the "Pro Tour". If you're missing cash (outside the top 60-64ish) more than a couple times a season, you shouldn't be playing with the Pros. Go dominate your local circuit. There needs to be a more distinct line between being on the Pro Tour and just being a "pro" disc golfer. Imagine improving pace of play and at the same time be able to get more players on coverage as a result.

[@eoghana315]

Brodie with a lot of great takes. I have to say that one thing I like about Drew is his ability to take criticism and also how he stands up for unpopular people like Nikko and Anthon because he knows them better than NPRkeyboardwarrior15 does. That being said, one thing I'd like to see Drew (and lots of other pros) do better is offer solutions to problems rather than just complain and say "we need to do better." Drew often says contradictory things without realizing it. Like in this interview, he wants payouts to be less punitive for players outside the top 10 BUT also wants the tour to shell out a lot more money for standardized tees at every event instead of using multiple tee surfaces. Like Brodie said, the money supply is finite. You can't dig holes to fill others and then complain about the new holes.

[@ViJt-oq5nq]

In a lot of cases the person that identifies the problem and the person that solves it are two different people. Like I don't necessarily expect my data entry person to find the problem and also come up with the software engineering solution lol. We have a lot of people able to identify the issues, but it doesn't seem like the people in charge are capable of resolving them.

[@charlesenfield2192]

@@ViJt-oq5nq I agree with this 100%. I always thought the people who say, don't come to me with problems, come to me with solutions, are foolish. There's nothing wrong with identifying a problem you don't know how to fix. However, there's a difference between identifying a problem and complaining. People often complain about things they don't understand and assume the problem is easy to fix, but isn't being fixed because the responsible people are corrupt, stupid, lazy, etc. FWIW, I don't mean that's what Drew was doing. What I took him to say is that the current payouts have consequences and what he thought those are. Nothing wrong with that. Yes he seemed frustrated that those consequences are negatively affecting him, but that's human nature.

[@gaff736]

Came here to say almost this exactly. Thank you.

[@nicolaiberg6579]

Drew is awesome!

[@kingdavey90]

Truth! This was a great conversation.

[@ryandoherty7994]

I love when Brodie and Drew play the bad guy.

[@wisherb1]

Love this commentary from Drew

[@Flint_Hyzermatic]

Drew with the identity concealment lighting.

[@travistracy6531]

At least I can see him. Camera quality>lighting

[@Rumb1epit]

I live in Massachusetts ,the meca of disc golf in the northeast,and it never fails, whenever I'm out doing field work people are asking me what I'm doing. This sport needs more exsposure to grow,and It will if given the chance.The best content of a growing sport can't be hidden behind a paywall .You want everyone to see it,including new advertisers, sponsors,and investors.. I get the need to make all the money they can to inject into the sport ,but spending time ,lots of money, and lots of resources to force people to pay to watch corvage of a growing sport is not the way,and that's playing out right now. Letting the world know what disc golf is should be thier #1 priority ,and when enough people know what disc golf is they will stop worring about making money ,and the only worry they'll have is where to put all the money they're making..

[@ViJt-oq5nq]

It also doesn't help that the coverage the PDGA uploads is in such trash quality... Not even an exaggeration... The 1080p they upload to KZbin is literally the same quality as your normal 480 video. It's 2024, where the industry is trying to standardize 4k video and they're still struggling with 20 year old HD standards?!? It's seriously so pixelated you'll lose track of the disc from time to time 😂

[@Cad1900]

You’re correct. The PDGA is out of touch.

[@chrislee9562]

I appreciate Drew. He was a whatever early on but the more I golf the more Drew’s right

[@Gh0sTZeR0-tm]

Well said Drew, many great points here. 👏 LET HIM COOK! 👨🏻‍🍳

[@discfan6829]

That extra money Drew is asking for is all going to the FPO. They are paying out two fields and only getting revenue from the MPO.

[@subspaceanomaly]

It's an interesting problem. I know someone who's made a decent amount of money in FPO travelling the world and having a nice time, I'm much older, and beat her pretty easily. She nearly won a major, but isn't actually good at disc golf. The talent isn't there in FPO. But, it's also true that it's good we have it, collectively for the game. I don't know how much the disc manufactures put in to running all of disc golf. Probably over 50%, but without it being a bit bigger in not sure how it could ever really be the well paid sport people dream of.

[@tattooedjohnson]

DGPT ruined disc golf

[@Cad1900]

Absolute fact. They sucked it dry already. They haven’t grown a thing. They’ve ruined professional disc golf.

[@subspaceanomaly]

​@@Cad1900it does feel rather like that. It wasn't malicious, but rapacious capitalism and a neoliberal approach to a grass roots hippie game was never going to work out well for everyone.

[@coconutjive4359]

I agree with Paul, world champ should be based on points. Make the last tournament worth the most points to mix it up.

[@monkeyearcheese420]

Mighty mouse was still working at red lobster when he was fighting champ level fights

[@kingdavey90]

That is some commitment, right there!

[@StuG-pr9tf]

Brodie + Uli, I think we all need to discuss Tour Cards a lot more in detail. Robbie C stated on his channel that there are more than one type of tour card?? Why do they even issue a tour card to begin with? I was told by the PDGA that because I passed the certified rules official exam ( open book ) on the pdga web site that I am allowed to play any Elite or Major Pro Tour event, even if I am an amateur membership with the PDGA.

[@wraith8977]

loved drew on the podcast. lots of respect

[@marnoster]

I understand why people are afraid of having babies. I was too. We're 7 months into having a baby and her poop doesnt smell even remotely as bad as your poop does. Some goes for the occasional vomit or spit up. Its getting a little sour now thats she's on solids, but everything that could be a little challenging, doesnt happen all at once. Its manageable and the best thing thats ever happened to me.

[@justbrowsing5279]

Brodie's position that he want's payout to be more top heavy makes sense on a certain level because if 1 or 2 people can be seen making a lot of money, it might attract more new players. However, it already doesn't make financial sense for most of the touring pros to tour. If you make payout more top heavy, there will only be a very small number of players touring and the depth of field will suffer enormously. The depth of field has made the sport really fun to watch. I wouldn't be as interested in that case. In the end, pro disc golf just isn't workable and it will only survive as long as Todd Rainwater wants to lose money on it. The pro tour could end any day.

[@derricksmith1743]

Uli’s field goal trick shot is one of the best I’ve ever seen. 38:18

[@rossfraaza3087]

Team points like LIV would be awesome. Any thoughts 3-4 people each team?

[@Saculmit]

To get more sponsors to get more added cash, you need to bring more value to the sponsors. If you want Nike to add $20K, you need to figure out how to add $30K worth of value. Disc golfers as a whole are very cheap which makes it hard for a company to see that value. Figure out how to get more people (AMs) to open their wallets and you'll then (eventually) get more sponsors.

[@dacks14]

Uli says get rid of worlds then have a season ending tournament and call it worlds. OR move the worlds to the end of the year and your entry is based on world rankings and only have the top 50 play a 5 round tourny.

[@justbrowsing5279]

Brodie. People don't hate it when people show passion. They hate it when people throw temper tantrums.

[@NicePullDG]

When Drew talked about the "respect of the players", I thought about a few years back... Hated my favorite team playing against Derek Jeter, but I could never say he wasn't one of the best to ever play short stop in the MLB.

[@Saculmit]

Disc golf needs a "minor league" that plays all winter in the southern states and has some coverage. It could show off up and coming talent and maybe some of the lower pros use it to prove themselves in the minor league in order to get into the pro tour.

[@ryanmussell739]

That is actually a great idea. I live in northern Ontario and we can barely get out onto the course until the end of April.

[@DiscAbledGolfer]

Not everything you love to do pays well but at least you get to do what you love ❤ while getting something

[@jamesbenton4123]

I started following Ezra when he toured in his Prius and got locked in the Planet Fitness lol

[@rickyciani4274]

I don’t see people like Kona and Colten lasting much longer TBH I don’t think she will be offered a new contract. She can’t put up good solid play to sustain the type of contract she has. Colten can’t put enough solid rounds together to be competitive week in and week out. There are going to more like them that will likely be unable to tour because it won’t be financially feasible.

[@ViJt-oq5nq]

It'd be great if their highlights weren't all shot with a 480p camera..

[@discblaster9210]

Terry, Heinold, and Spring, the dg Axis of Evil

[@aarontwitchell7166]

I went to Jonesboro this year and payed for vip it was almost 200$ I got a discount and a shirt but the vip wasn’t any different from the regular spectator ticket I would love to see more pro disc golf but being ing in Utah it doesn’t seem to be in the cards also I wouldn’t pay that price ever again

[@dougs8196]

The Pro Tour is trying to make a recreational sport a viable professional sport. That is a tough task and I have always question if it was a viable one. I think we will find out in the next 5 years.

[@marnoster]

Look at us guys talking about how we feel 'n shit :) This feels like I'm watching therapy

[@kyleliebler5508]

There will never be money until disc golf is on TV. Whether its on ESPN or one of the cable networks as a part of their app doesn't matter, but sponsors want return on their investment. The only way to do that is to get the sport in front of more people. The only way to do that is TV TV TV.

[@jamesbenton4123]

The top 40 should be the DGPT period. The others should all play another tour. Have the bottom 10 drop down and just keep circulating them in and out. Quicker play , teak courses easier , easier rule enforcement.

[@sarinhighwind]

The FK are brodie and uli recording with, potatoes?

[@bradyobrien544]

Amen Drew to everything you said. Great podcast guys. The reason why I didn't push is the $$, i saw early on it wasnt there to leave my job to push. We need you older more established pros to use your connections to get better sponsorship. Where did the pga start from and use for sponsorships now and who has connections. Only way to grow big

[@andyhampsten4252]

Uli is onto something. Award money based on points, then have a major. The current format ... as a DGN viewer I'm like, well, maybe I'll watch the last day if the scores are close, but then it's the same guys on lead card. It doesn't get my attention.

[@Ivypoison23]

Yeah I really didn’t bother watching much of it this weekend

[@Van_bya_river]

I’m broke as fuck and money does not incentivize me one bit

[@harleybk3]

Recreational side: the vast majority of folks play multiple disc golf rounds a week and have a day job and earn a middle class living. Professional side: the vast majority of folks play multiple disc rounds a week and with few exceptions they struggle to eke out a living.

[@R093R]

Special needs dad here. Dealing with some ones else’s 💩🚽 eventually just becomes normal. I have been changing 5-12+ diapers every single day for over 10 years. Only 40 more years or so to go. By then it might be my turn to get changed though. 😅

[@EZPCNZ22]

You're a great Dad. ❤

[@frowgbat]

Mike Matusow's son really says it like it is...just like his old man 🥲

[@tpd1399]

I’ve been playing basketball for 30 years and I’ve bought two basketball hoops and a few basketballs. This sport has cost me double all that in only three years and half of that investment are discs sitting not getting used. And I’m only semi serious about disc golf

[@MrJSpicoli]

Yeah. Hoops and soccer are the cheapest sports there are. It's why governments love them the most. Cheap bread and circuses for the masses.

[@justbrowsing5279]

You can appreciate a players ability and still say you hate them or criticize them for being slow and breaking the rules and being a baby. Every post I make saying I hate Gannon and that he needs to be stroked instead of just warned, also comes with the statement that he is the best in the world. I even think his season this year is the best of all time. But don't ask me to like the guy. He continuously violates time rules and then cries that he is being singled out. He earned the scrutiny and he isn't even getting stroked. So don't tell me I have to like the kid. To me, being the best in the world, and taking forever on a ton of shots to gain every possible advantage is a negative character trait. You want me respect as a person? Be the best and follow the rules. He would still be the best.

[@nautilusshell940]

$15-100k for a trickshot video???

[@eddyflores7567]

Had lots of views

[@andyhampsten4252]

Sports interviews are so pap. Ricky gave us his heart and he had no time to cool off. Nothing to see, move along.

[@Cad1900]

I love disc golf more than any other sport. Disc golf is not mainstream and it’s decades from being mainstream. There is no mainstream money. There’s not gonna be mainstream money. The tour cannot support the DGPT machine. Figure it out.

[@davidburrus3047]

Long story short the sport needs outside sponsorships to contribute to purse size. Until that happens the people playing are the people paying

[@harleybk3]

Disc golf is an odd sport that is arguably irrelevant. I remember it was a big deal when ESPN gave a whole 20 seconds to the 2021 world championship when Conrad made the throw in, but didn’t even touch on the playoff. When being a well rounded disc golfer means you need to be a KZbin celebrity and a disc salesman, it’s not at all appealing as a viable career. How many top tier players can even eke out a middle class living? I’ve heard “grow the sport” thrown around ever since I’ve started playing, but I just don’t see it.

[@sarinhighwind]

Disc golf content is hard to create and get people to watch because there are way to many people making content. And a lot of that content is bad. So flooded market with bad content doesn't help. Then smaller channels wont even band together to build a larger following. It's honestly not worth spending 3 or 4 hours making content for people to not watch it half the time. Then on top of that, people are chomping at the bit for the "freebie promotion" system. Where they are sent free things to make video's about. No, stop it. MFG's need to start paying people to review products. Oh they sent you 3 or 4 discs? That's like 20 dollars out of the MFG pocket for you to make them 10,000+ dollars.

[@jnorthjr1]

Disc golf needs more tv/streaming revenue. Unfortunately, dsc golf does not always look great on video. This is especially true of wooded courses. Only people who are already fans will watch pros throwing frisbees into what looks like a random group of trees on camera. I watch a lot of coverage, and even after a drone fly over, I will often watch tee shots and have no idea if the throw is hitting a good line. Big Jerm and Paul, who are pros and are very familiar with the courses, have this problem when doing commentary. I think the only solutions are to maybe get some tree stands with cameras down the fairways to get better angles of shots or to start designing disc golf courses from ground up with camera angles in mind. Otherwise I doubt is going to grow much more.

[@Flanfam]

As a dad of three. Prepare for them to be able to feel what you are feeling and that goes for all emotions. The late nights that will make you crazy only get worse if they can feel it through you. I think that will be tough for Brodie.

[@MotoMilk]

Christ. The mics are painful.

[@MrDong101]

F Skittles

[@Gerbs964]

zero gratitude from this guy.

[@jacobjohnson6287]

The problem with disc golf that no one likes to acknowledge is the demographic and the community. Go to any local league anywhere and it’s filled with drunks, deadbeats, and radical conservatives (I don’t care about your political opinion, it’s just a fact get over it.) That’s the LARGE majority of disc golfers and the fan base. If you want to know why this sport will never grow, just be real and look at the people. That’s your answer.

[@anitabonghit266]

Radical conservatives?? What makes them radical? That point in your statement voided it. I know plenty of drunks playing football or baseball or any other popular sport. Disc golf is hard to grow for other reasons over what you listed. Zero exposure, whether it be on TV or in a child's gym class. Besides that things aren't popular unless the few people with real money want them to be popular to control people. Popularity on a big scale is forced upon the public, the public doesn't make things popular on that scale

[@ViJt-oq5nq]

I don't recall a bunch of drunks rioting in the streets after the Disc Golf world championship, but I've def seen it for baseball, football, basketball n soccer lol

[@nautilusshell940]

@@anitabonghit266 anyone that wants a closed border or not giving kids hormone blockers is a radical, duh!

[@hippietone]

One major flaw is that LOWA LLC owns Disc Golf Pro Tour

[@noahmalina1313]

I hope Drew learns to quit fixating on the haters because they do get worse the bigger the sport gets

[@MrJSpicoli]

Sanctioning lies and deviance will never be a good long term strategy. PDGA cited legal costs as the reason for stopping the fight for truth in women's sports. The long term cost will be much greater.

[@DaveMunsie]

The DGPT desperately needs more "non player fans" to truly grow the sport. Everything else will grow proportionally as that happens. Until that happens, our little niche market will continue to repeat the negative issues talked about in this podcast.

[@jddg13]

Ugggg.. clout chasing mf'rs.. drew is good at what he does.. annoying maybe,, but good at it.. brodie just chasing clicks daily, never cared about being the best,, just wanted to weasel his way into this space to make money off all y'all

[@andyhampsten4252]

More like, you have a ton of personal problems and this often manifests in being glass half empty and putting other people down.

[@harleybk3]

To be fair, when so few are able to eke out even a middle class living on tour earnings, chasing clicks has become a key skill in being a successful disc golfer. At least as important for most than simply playing well.