Why Is Everyone Leaving Prodigy??!? ft. Hunter Thomas

Full Episode: kzbin.infodJi1elw2aVE?...
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[@martingriggs6362]

Simon is successful on KZbin because he is Simon. He's likable, great at trick shots, and humble.

[@MrpHeno]

I agree, his authenticity makes watching and liking him so easy.

[@blametheobserver]

Brodie finally learned how to say attributes correctly, and now he's saying influence weird. lol I still love him and his input

[@Erkkae]

Väinö said it was his call and been in the works since X-mas.

[@andysmith21]

The biggest disc golf retailer in Dayton Ohio,( Hazy Shade) where selling Prodigy disc a few months ago for 70% off, they are no longer going to carry there disc any more,

[@nathanbrinson]

For most companies, the Fiscal Year runs July 1 to June 30. With all of this happening right before July, I'd say its likely that the company is offloading costs going into the coming fiscal year. While they could reinvest that into the Robinsons, it would seem unlikely that they are the root cause of the desire to clean up their books.

[@danielwhoI]

Fiscal year is calendar year in disc golf

[@Cristopher1976]

​@@danielwhoIthe us government wanting their taxes ain't calendar year.

[@JPRyan816]

I've never worked at a company where this is the end of the fiscal year. That doesn't even make sense. Most companies try to keep it as close to calendar year as possible

[@danielwhoI]

@@JPRyan816 This is correct. However, most professional sports have fiscal years so that entire season is captured within the year. For example, NBA, NFL, and NHL are around all October through April-June, so they have fiscal years accordingly. Disc Golf pro tour is March thru October so their year should be calendar year. I don't know how disc sales work though so it may be different for retailers/manufacturers.

[@cade_olson]

The fact theres a podcast ab this shit rn is a good sign for the sport imo. Takin it seriously and keepin momentum up

[@jamesyantis9334]

You 3 are so good together! Great takes

[@jessearzola8214]

One of the big things players will have to focus on is which companies promote the best in order to assist with those sales. Some are making huge marketing mistakes while others are killing it. Those companies assisting the player are sitting better for it.

[@billieashton8302]

Minnesota Community Rocks!

[@qstar710]

25k a month is wild when kevin probably doesn’t sell that many discs. I like Kevin a lot but just being realistic.

[@JaredTG.]

Yea that's a shit ton of money. Wild.

[@Chillydall02]

Yeah that’s insane, only a handful of guys on tour are making money like that and Kevin definitely didn’t move enough plastic to be worth that much.

[@jamesyantis9334]

Hunter is a professional! Spot on

[@clintkuglar6054]

What Uli said. “20th place is really good….but [not necessarily profiting the manufacturers] “ the sport is in a weird place. You need players to fill the field but the top 5-10 guys move more plastic than everyone else combined.

[@SphericalThinker]

You guys made a lot of great points. With the “drop off” conversation, I don’t see it as all doom and gloom (it feels like new courses are popping up all the time), but as far as the spending contraction goes, I see it as a combination of 3 things: 1. The COVID golfers for whom it didn’t stick with went back to doing what they did post lockdown. 2. The COVID golfer for whom it did stick with aren’t throwing every plastic possible anymore since they’ll settling in to their molds (and thus don’t need millions of new discs anymore.) 3. There are seemingly more companies now than there were in the past, which can mean less pieces of the pie for some companies. There’s gonna be a contraction but a good TV partner could help reverse course.

[@alexandrosmakridakis9096]

Rob Dyrdek is someone who capitalized to the max off of a niche sport.

[@peds8345]

skateboarding was massive in the 90s & 2000s

[@joemam12]

Been saying for years (and some agree), DGN behind paywall for low quality live coverage and commercials severely limits disc golf. I don't know how DGPT, Jomez and others thought restricting niche sport coverage (less "free" YT coverage without gatekeeper rounds, etc) would be a good thing. Why change chase card coverage to no coverage in order to force DG fans into paid DGN to watch commercials and low quality coverage disc golf?? Why was this ever a good idea??

[@bradleycramer612]

It's good to know that Hunter doesn't want to cross that line past kidnapping lol

[@bradleycramer612]

Simon wassat was grinding KZbin from the beginning. And he was getting on with other people that had KZbin channels promote theirs to promote his. He put in a lot of work also is talent level and the fact that he is one of the smash Brothers. That guy marketed it himself very well and put in the work to get where he's at with you tube

[@EricCullen-iz1uy]

The answer is the most basic(and logical), SHOW ME THE $!!!

[@beesteezy3626]

Its like the skateboard industry. Alot of skaters that got paid the big bucks after a good video part got lazy and just partied and collected the money. When it was time to renegotiate, they got less and say it was because of the sponsors didnt wanna pay them.

[@alexmusselman7090]

They could be trying to sign Gavin Rathbun. That kid's CRACKED on the course

[@dopetone]

Can you guys have a conversation about what disc sales look like from foundation, in terms of your series or player sponsored/promoted discs ?

[@atpete07]

To Hunter’s point, around 2021 there was 1 company that played it right, they didn’t overpay for pro’s, continued to grow and expand organically… Innova Champion Discs

[@Cristopher1976]

I've said this all along.

[@patrickbecker2065]

ayeee Salvatore in the vid

[@Juliano_DJOL]

DGPT shot the sport in the foot with paywalls at live events and live coverage, it had been free for so long and I would argue that when it was free still (atleast the coverage) or cheaper the sport was growing 10x faster and the players were in turn making more money overall. Its a momentum thing, like the youtube coverage and live coverage and event spectators and all had been building up momentum over the previous 10-20 years so when they change things up and put speed bumps in the road and things slow down, you cant just expect to pick all that steam back up by either changing back or pushing harder!

[@SamWaldorf]

What software do you guys use for the Debate Night Show?!!

[@fredi9204]

In Finland if you’re asked how much you make and you say ”I don’t have to think what pasta brand I pick at the store” it means you’re effin loaded. That’s more or less Väinö’s words on the matter in a recent interview

[@digital0785]

completely random point.. i do think it's funny that painting/ tape isn't ok on a disc but is a birdy beeper? lol

[@Gratitude6ixty9ine]

Prodigy/MVP sucks . Heres a good rule of thumb . If that disc company owns another company dont support that/them companies bc all they care about. If a disc only focuses on their own brand one brand only then its a good company. Like DoomsDay they ONLY focus on doomsday they arent looking to buy another company's products nor are they trying to get hyped up

[@Cristopher1976]

I hope the Robinson bros peave prodigy. They deserve better.

[@discgolflife]

Start a vote. What's your favorite Basket on the market? My vote goes to DGA Mach X. That extra row of hog rings and chains is huge!

[@elephantricity]

As stupid as it sounds.. I feel like if prodigy named their discs like all the other manufacturers, they would make more money. Instead, they wanted to seem more 'professional' by naming discs super generic m1,m2, f1, f2, d1, d2, pa1, pa2 etc.

[@daveslocum5625]

Yeh their naming system sucks. They all blend together where almost every other companies disc are all pretty unique sounding

[@mikebeireis3990]

Do you feel the same way about discmanias naming scheme?

[@elephantricity]

@@mikebeireis3990 They also add sub names with certain released. Like Sky God, and other etc. If they didn't I would feel the same.. but also discmania has made better proven molds.

[@mikebeireis3990]

@elephantricity yeah prodigy started doing that too w the falcor n KJs musically named discs but not sure beyond that... I like several prodigy molds n plastics. Haven't really delved into discmania much at all

[@djhollowman9567]

People vote with their wallets. We know that when we buy into certain products and certain companies, that we are supporting certain personalities. When people see certain players as hot heads or cry babies, we get to choose to support that person or not. When people see certain commentators always favoring the same 4 Pros and casting shade in the direction of people they don't like for whatever reason, we get to decide to support that network by watching their content or clicking that "do not recommend this channel" button. So not only do Disc Golf Personalities need to take account of how they perform for their contractors, but I would suggest they should take account of how they represent themselves to those who in the end get to vote if they stay "worth it" or not moving forward. The products can be great, but if it benefits certain people for me to buy them, I make choices accordingly.

[@Juliano_DJOL]

I hate when people try to tell me to play thru or make that decision for me and at a bad spot, like nah Im good, I might go thru after #8 or whatev

[@jippylip1309]

I'm curious as a fellow brick and mortar disc golf retailer, do you still sell Prodigy discs? I stopped selling Prodigy when they had those manufacturing defects. Their discs would get fingerprints all over them and start turning white and chalky, new on the shelf. I can't sell that crap!

[@sc3639]

Honestly, the stuff that they have been making in China seems to be better then the USA made stuff. I still buy prodigy as well as other manufacturers but it is from online as there are no stores around me.

[@U.S.AeroForceDiscGolf]

Luke and Cale have got Prodigy by the huevos.... without those 2 There would be No Prodigy....KJusa heart has not been with Prodigy for a while now. KJ is a player not a winner kinda like Uli's ten year in DG.... both solid players Both can't win against the current field. Uli seems to handle it best.

[@user-js3li2rk3f]

You Cale is one of the founders of prodigy right?

[@pdderek]

Letting someone play through DOES NOT COUNT IF YOU GOT AHEAD BY "just skipping a few holes..." That dude who threw multiple shots and stood on the tee box for 5 mins was razzing you Hunter...because you committed the cardinal pet peeve of skipping ahead but creating a backup. Shame 🔔

[@Nnubbs]

Paywalls for coverage are terrible for DG growth. If it makes it to TV regularly, there needs to be a lot more cameras so cover at least 3 cards/groups.

[@ryansuter4424]

More players they can cover the better. Also it would be nice if the viewer got to toggle from group to group when they want to.

[@Nnubbs]

@@ryansuter4424 I doubt that happens unless there are multiple channels like nfl Sunday ticket.

[@michaelmaniloff9297]

Don't count on it making it to regular TV anytime soon

[@Nnubbs]

@@michaelmaniloff9297 I’m not. The boom is already leaving the sport. In the frame of the conversation was where I was responding

[@pandawarriah]

Brodie must be sweating with all the talk of performance vs contracts

[@JaredTG.]

Not really, he doesn't need the money. Like I'm sure he wouldn't be happy to get dropped but it's not like most other disc golfers who rely heavily on the money.

[@sc3639]

I am pretty sure he owns a business. He has his fingers in a lot of different things.

[@ryansuter4424]

If pros are able to get a signature line of discs at least half those discs need to be able to be thrown by recreational players. Too many discs are not recreational player friendly. Signature discs are currently be thrown by the player. I and many others have way lower arm speed, smaller hands, weaker hands etc. So why am I or someone else who wants to throw discs go out buy discs that are made for pro level arms?

[@hoyle7780]

Try the Hades, I think it's a Mcbeth Disc and it's amazing for slower arm speeds. I'm 46 yrs old and can still get to around 370-395ft with it.

[@ryansuter4424]

If Kevin Jones or any other pro player was or is making more than 25 thousand a month then people are paying too much for their disc golf equipment. For me I have to work 12 months for less than he was rumored to make in 2 months.

[@jephhurst2025]

What does Uli mean when he's talking about "players were told to do something and they need to do it or else"....He's clearing referring to something between these companies and the players but what exactly are these things he's talking about?

[@michaelmaniloff9297]

Self promotion, social media.

[@tillman40]

They are traveling disc salesmen. Only a handful make a profit for the manufacturers. The rest are back markers to fill out the field to make the sport look legit

[@brooksy3069]

siimply wrong, disc golfers are not "traveling disc salesmen" unless your as bad as like a zach melton. but ricky makes 6 figs a year on dynamic disc sales percentage, they don't have to do much but play, the companies are the disc salesmen, the players make some side cash at events of course, but they are there to play, and selling discs in person is just some extra cash. they make their money on contract payment, tournament payouts, disc sales percentage, and sponsors, selling discs in person is one of their leasst valuable revenue streams, unless your a shitty player

[@bradleycramer612]

And why are players trying to go outside of disc golf manufacturers to get sponsors. They do that in bowling as well. They are sponsored by one of the major bowling ball company s. Why don't they find sponsorship elsewhere and put a different name on their back and then they can throw whatever discs they want.

[@philmorrison1856]

Who is your video guy? Is it Silas Shlutz?

[@Cristopher1976]

No. Look at any of the silas stuff on foundation dg

[@gagsdgm822]

In reference to Prodigy Discs; if they are wanting us to buy their discs and other products don’t we deserve to know what is going on and why so many people are leaving their sponsorship contracts?

[@Joellivin]

In the 4 years I've been around the sport, going to tag matches and amateur tournaments I've not met anyone who is really into prodigy discs. There may be that one guy who has one or two discs but I've yet to see true prodigy fans that bag mostly prodigy. I don't think the market growth slowing down has as much to do with it as much as the simple fact that people aren't buying these discs. Name one shot slot that a prodigy disc is one of the "best" at that shot.... I'll wait.

[@sc3639]

Honestly all their discs are solid. Their putters are some of the best. PA-3 is used everywhere. A series discs are very popular as well. A2, A3, and A5 are very very good. Their fairways are solid. All their drivers are fine too. The Most popular prodigy discs to find people using though are probably the PA-3 and the A2 imo.

[@Joellivin]

@sc3639 fair enough, maybe it's a regional thing, but I don't think I've seen anyone with more than 1 or 2 of their discs. I'm sure they are ok, obviously they are, a few world Champs have come out of their camp. It's hard to explain but their discs just seem... boring

[@sc3639]

@@Joellivin I hear ya. I really struggled with their naming system as it is opposite of discmania. Now it makes sense. I think most people struggle to connect with prodigy discs as they would other discs. Everyone automatically knows a tee bird, thunderbird, firebird, buzz, and a zone. It is a lot harder for people to connect with a name like H3 v2 lol. I like a lot of prodigy discs but I like almost all discs. I can see why people have trouble with the company as well.

[@Juliano_DJOL]

somebody made the comment that the biz side of disc golf and sponsored players is very similar to skateboarding and the skate industry!!!

[@joshmondragon9916]

I stopped watching once they moved championship sundays to the pay wall. Money isn’t the issue, I gladly pay $30 a month to DZN to watch darts. The difference is the quality of product, I would pay to watch DG if the coverage was consistent.

[@carlwells4989]

Morally, how can you still support the PDGA?

[@kingtrav]

25k/mo?! Wow

[@brooksy3069]

prodigy is just the lamest disc brand by far,, their plastic is inconsistent and sucks, they can't pay well, they suck

[@crazycajun868]

Companies sponsor way to many people. Thats the first thing. Discraft has a guy that cries alot. No where a top player. Think he will have a wake up call soon. But i really do like this podcast

[@buffetline2605]

Clearing money for a big free agent signing. Good luck prodigy

[@andrestorres1799]

First. Free disc?

[@andrestorres1799]

I sent it to you, but the Prodigy basket spit it back out…like KJ🫢

[@TommyAtwood656]

DGN is terrible.

[@DarttheLegend]

Prodigy’s discs suck. It’s kinda that simple, but to add to that we all know they did the worst PR move of all time of any disc golf business last year.

[@baronvonnembles]

No they don't suck. Maybe its you.

[@DarttheLegend]

@@baronvonnembles I have never held a Prodigy disc that doesn’t have an extreme amount of flashing and the flights of their various discs are wildly inconsistent, they have the worst plastic. everyone knows this, pros talk about this, youtubers talk about this.

[@DavidCornelius]

@DarttheLegend the flashing part is an out-of-date take based on the only Prodigy discs I own, which feel nearly perfect. This highlights their real problem: their tarnished brand.

[@DarttheLegend]

@@DavidCornelius I last received a prodigy disc in a players pack at a tournament in 2023 (stamped for THAT tournament) that had severe flashing, other friends reported the same experience, so I wouldn’t say that’s “out-of-date”

[@kearneysp]

Was it their fault? If your sponsored player says publicly that they are breaching contract and leaving, what do you do as a company? It’s ridiculous to think that a young person didn’t just act stupidly but let’s blame the company that had to defend their interests. They aren’t the best, but that situation hardly seemed like their fault. It was no win for them but they had to do that.

[@emmanuelmartinez641]

S/o to Hunter. He stated he stands on his morals, and 5 mins later proved it. 😅🫡

[@ryansuter4424]

If Kevin Jones or any other pro player was or is making 25 thousand a month then people are paying too much for their disc golf equipment. For me I have to work 12 months for less than he was rumored to make in 2 months.