No simple solution to attracting fans

Professional anglers I meet frequently speak highly of the fishing fans they encounter when they visit the Shoals.

Many pros label the Shoals as one of the most fisherman-friendly towns they visit on the tournament trail. Even with the enormous base of fishing fans in the Shoals, attracting a large crowd to weigh-ins remains a challenge.

At a recent FLW Series tournament held out of McFarland Park, fewer than 75 people attended weigh-in on the first two days of competition. Several of those fans were family members of the anglers or otherwise associated with the tournament. The crowd was a little better on the third day and fair on the final day which was held at Wal-Mart in Florence.

Although it was a decent turnout by tournament standards, the weigh-in crowd, even on the final day, was dismal at best. High school football teams in Alabama that have not won a game all season draw more fans on a cold and wet Friday night.

I wish I knew how to make fishing tournaments more spectator-friendly. I'd be rich.

Tournament organizers have tried for years to find a way to pack the stands at every fishing competition, no matter when or where it is held.

People who are not avid golf fans might buy a ticket to watch a PGA or LPGA tournament when one is being held near their home. Trying to get someone who is not a fishing fan to attend a bass tournament weigh-in is as tough as finding volunteers wanting to receive a root canal without anything to numb the pain.

Part of the problem is that there is no live action to go along with the weigh-in. Unlike other sports where spectators can watch live action up until the trophy presentation, fishing's action takes place miles away from where the weigh-in is held.

Fishing is just not a spectator friendly sport in comparison to other mainstream events like baseball or football.

Tournament promoters have been saying for at least the past 10 years that bass fishing is where NASCAR was a decade ago in terms of the potential for growth. NASCAR was a huge spectator sport 10 years ago and remains one today.

Weigh-in crowds at bass tournaments still can't hold a candle to NASCAR. Qualifying day at Talladega Superspeedway attracts more fans than the Bassmaster Classic and FLW championship combined.

Some anglers are now admitting their sport will never be as popular as NASCAR and are focusing their attention on cultivating the core fan base of the sport.

Instead of trying to make bass fishing more appealing to non-traditional fans, perhaps tournament organizations should focus on that core group of supporters.

Tournament organizations should identify what it would take to attract more of those loyal fans to weigh-ins and do it. Fishing is fishing. It's not stock car racing an never will be.

It's time for tournament organizers to realize bass fishing is not going to be the next NASCAR and look for ways of growing the sport as a fishing competition and nothing else.

TimesDaily staff writer Dennis Sherer can be reached at 740-5746 or dennis.sherer@timesdaily.com.