W2F Blog

This is going to be huge for BASS. This group of investors/owners will be able to solely invest the time and effort to bringing BASS back to it's glory days.

I think this will be good, still get viewership & exposure on ESPN, but get the passion, knowledges & leadership of McKinnis and group

Hopefully this will work out well for BASS, its competitors, and its fans. The current state of BASS is fairly sad in my opinion. It amazes me that ESPN owns BASS and yet you never see live events on their network. When you read about the AOY winner on Facebook rather than seeing it live on television something is wrong in my opinion. 
 
As I said, hopefully this new deal with bring on positive change before BASS declines even further.

Looking forward to challenges, changes and growth opportunities in the B.A.S.S. Federation Nations alliance with the new B.A.S.S.

I will now consider joining BASS again, ESPN had so much merketing that they forgot about the fishing.I gave up my membership after six stright months of sending me stuff I didn't want, now that anglers are in control it should be a fine organization as it was before ESPN.

Bass will finally be out of the Disney corporates greedy hands! Nothing but good can come out of this!! I will now consider joining BASS once again!

Don't count on anything getting better. Sure, the programing will change a bit, just for a "fresh" look. But ESPN still owns the broadcasting. The probability of "live" broadcasts is still zero! 
 
Fishing is not going to be a spectator sport for live TV. I wish it could but for the money makers to make money you need continuous events to keep people interested. Hopefully the new owners can come up with some innovative ideas to keep bass tournaments interesting thereby keeping the sport viable for years to come. Let's all hope!

AIR TIME more live events...it is sad the lack of T.V. time Bass fishing gets...if not for W2F along with a couple more online sites It would be almost impossible to keep up. Hoping for more T.V. coverage

Congratulations on the sale and condolances to those at B.A.S.S. who might be left behind as everyone involved in,with or as a member of the best in Bassfishing TV,Tournaments and media relations will be excited to see some changes being made.I am not saying that things were ever on the decline as many behind the scenes communications rules and regulations created hurdles for Disney to compete at a profit.Disney,I applaud for never abandoning the relationships created as they were identified with facing changes daily and always shared the struggles and situations,all while endearing their efforts on keeping B.A.S.S. alive and well like Five in the well! 
 
Thank You to all the CEO's from Disney who did not compromize integrity during the media bandwidth speeds issues and new FCC rules and regulations! 
 
We all are blessed to have such a great man and name in fishing as Mr.McKinnis represents the Anglers,members and most of all the B.A.S.S. membership with "Old School Values" and "Sporting Ways" of yesteryear which just might re-enter the sport to some,hobby to others and business to many. Thanks to Wired2Fish also for their never ending coverage and fantastic website,communications skills and efforts which keep bassfishing in the forefront of extreme outdoors imaging and publications! 
 
Thanks to all and remember..."We All Continue to Become Better Anglers with B.A.S.S & E S P N" / "If you're a fan - What you see in the next couple of Minutes,Hours,and Days to Follow May Convince You...We all have been and are going to SPORTS HEAVEN!" 
 
BarryTheBass

Thank goodness BASS is going to fall into capable hand before ESPN turned professional bass fishing into just another junk sport.

This is exciting news for the fishing world. I think that ESPN has tried to make BASS Fishing better, and I must say that they have indeed brought it further than it was. Perhaps the attempt at making it a BASSCAR version of NASCAR was a little much, but all in all, you have to admit they brought a lot to the table. Now however, with like minded people in charge, it will only get better. Thanks for the booster shot to the three great people that bought it, and just a thought here, where was Ray Scott in this mix ?? I look forward to the brighter and better future of B.A.S.S.

Tournament bass fishing on TV will never make the big time. Reasons? The image people have in their minds is the sport is made up of beer drinking "red necks". Look at the spectators and see how they are dressed. How are the spectators dressed for TV golf, football games (pro and college), NHL hockey, basketball (pro and college)and a whole host of other sports, both pro and collegiate. When I fish a local bass tournament, few dress up for it. When I go golfing, all dress up for it. So if bass fishing is ever going to move up, the image that the general public has must be changed. Spectators for the weighins need to dress neater as well as those who fish the local bass tournaments. I hope that the new owners will skillfully plant the idea that to make our sport compete with the other big time sports we must dress well. Appearance sells a product.

An excellent of mix of experience, understanding of the sport and those that sponsor, participate, and are fans of it. And they obviously have good business sense. Future is looking much brighter.

As a member of the BASS Federation I have watch it change under ESPN I hope this will be good for those of us who have been long time members. I will await the change.

I to am glad to see this deal become a reality.The one problem I recall with J.M, when he was the eye in the sky for Bass tournaments,was his "motto" You men need to be like Ike.I want the pros to be themselves,not Ike.Show your emotions yes/not be something your not.We shall see.

I hope this will be better for bass fishermen I am looking forward to see how it works out

I hope this is a good for all B.A.S.S. members. ESPN pushed the Federation members out of the picture after they had been such a large part of the support system of B.A.S.S.

ESPN only ever thought of the BASS members, how can you people say they didn't care?

It may be a good mix-Mckinnis a fisherman,Logan media entertainment executive,Copeland financier-beancounter.A little concerned about continued drive,all are retired,hope its for the right reasons and not a hobby.

Jerry, from one old timer to another and a former KY Federation Tournament Director, show us more on the water fishing and less time talking at the weigh in site. We like to watch contestants fishing even when the fishing is slow and no fish are being caught. Over the years I have heard a thousand times "Show us more fishing & less Talking".  
 
Good luck Jerry you should have had this organization years ago.

As a B.A.S.S. life member since the seventies, I have seen the organization go through numerous changes. The most confusing was at the membership level. B.A.S.S. members use to wear club gear prowdly. Now there is no B.A.S.S. gear. For any company, more people wearing your logo means more exposure. I live in the most populated part of the country. Here, fishing is big business, but here, B.A.S.S. has little or no exposure.

“This group is looking forward to working with the fishing industry’s strongest brand and plans to make BASS even more relevant in the multimedia world,” said Logan.