McBeth to Discraft and Why We Should Care
UltiWorld Disc Golf wrote an article in which they received details from both Discraft and McBeth:
https://discgolf.ultiworld.com/2018/11/19/paul-mcbeth-signs-four-year-deal-discraft/?fbclid=IwAR2kk3DQqMVk1jEuoH_Qhjo_MMaeQbGSePH1xNgAVfd_J3gLXHolpB6EpNg
Late last week, it was revealed that the rumors were true… McBeth signed with Discraft for 4 years and $1,000,000+. This is without a singular doubt the most colossal and integral move made by a touring professional in the history of disc golf. That being said, it is obviously monumental for Discraft and we have yet to see just how calamitous it is for Innova; though I would say “extremely” if it weren’t for the rumors of Wysocki joining the team.
Paul McBeth is a breathing, walking, living monopoly: no post-millennial golfer has put together a more impressive six years than the 4x PDGA World Champion (yet), netting him a fan base almost four score that of the next touring professional. People all over are going to be jumping at the chance to purchase his new signature discs and Star Destroyers alike. Despite the inevitable decline of Innova’s sales revenue, I suspect that they will first witness sharp increase in the sales of everything Paul McBeth. Fans reluctant to switch and collectors alike will be all over the Roc3’s, Teebird3’s and Destroyers before Innova wipes McBeth’s signature from the stamps, while Discraft fans and McBeth loyalists will be wagging their tails awaiting the McBuzzz.
You may remember for a brief period in 2015 Paul bagged the G-Star Krait, made it one of his signature discs, subsequently, all of a sudden every Innova thrower bagged one, and then Paul never touched one again and we didn’t even notice. Paul flexed on us and we didn’t bat an eye, the same thing Rockefeller did with oil, the same thing Carnegie did with steel, etc… It’s safe to say, I can’t imagine what McBeth is going to do with Discraft. He could put his signature on the Comet and everybody would bag one, it’s casual idolatry at its finest.
With this incredulous excess of capital flowing through the veins of Discraft, they will most likely try and challenge Innova for the ‘biggest company in disc golf’.
The move could very well go as perfectly as Paul and Discraft imagined, and pros with aligning goals could express interest in following suit. However, given the current deals for other top pros, this is highly improbable, at least until their contracts expire.
Expect to see a lot more Discraft sponsored tournaments. Obviously they already headline events such as The Memorial, Great Lakes Open, and Ledgestone, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they began looking into more NT’s, Majors, and potentially furthering their Memorial sponsorship into the entirety of the DGPT itself, potentially to help with the funding of the new in-house coverage being provided by DGPT this upcoming season.
Expect to see Innovative (I’m praying you see what I did there) molds and concepts coming from Discraft. Signing the one of most professional and prominent disc golfers in the world could very easily result in a new tour (e.g. DGWT, DGPT), new events, and even new formatting for a championship caliber event (e.g. match play, swiss, brackets, etc), though, remembering the feedback on the format of DGWT, I doubt we will ever see a single division championship caliber tournament again.
This change in sponsorship by McBeth is one of the most momentous changes disc golf, as a whole, has ever seen. It sparked controversy and could potentially be pivotal to the growth of disc golf. Paul McBeth will leave this signing having: gained fans from all over (the mid-west in particular) and lost an insurmountable amount of nothing.