On the Western Front - Lack of Participation
By Terry Battisti
Northwestern Writer
Part Four
September 6, 2009
Over the last week or so, Inside Line has published three articles all concerning the decrease in participation with respect to major tournaments in the western United States. These articles featured the opinions of three western anglers – Gary Dobyns, Ron Colby and Gene Batey – as to why they feel angler participation is down.
In an overview, all three anglers felt that poor scheduling is a major issue with the current league (FLW) and they also felt that the league isn’t catering to the largest population base in the west, which is California.
At the outset of this series of articles, I didn’t want to voice my thoughts on the subject because I’ve never been a participant of these leagues. Therefore, my opinions might be taken wrong or the anglers who have laid it on the line would see me as an armchair quarterback. But, after spending the time talking with these three anglers ( all friends of mine I might add) I felt compelled to do a little research and maybe even voice an opinion or two. So here you have it.
The two common concerns all three anglers stated are a problem with the major leagues in the west. One is poor scheduling and the second is the league doesn’t cater to the largest population base. Dobyns also commented on Fantasy Fishing, the raising of entry fees and the way FLW chooses team sponsorships.
All of these concerns, except for the way FLW selects their teams, have one thing in common – finances.
It has always been said that is costs more to live in the west, primarily California, than it does anywhere else except for maybe New York City. But does saying it make it true? Having lived in California for 30 years prior to moving to Idaho, I know what it cost to live there in the early 90s. I also know the difference in the cost of living here in Idaho compared to that of California. But exactly how much more does it cost in the west and could that possible cost difference inhibit western anglers from fishing big events? I decided to do a little research on the subject to maybe shed light on whether cost really is a hindrance.
Tournament Costs
In order to start the comparison, a basis had to be chosen. Because California makes up over 50-percent of the Western National Guard Series and nearly 70-percent of the Western Stren Series, I chose to use California as the comparison state. Furthermore, I chose an average middle-class community in southern California, Simi Valley, due to the large number of anglers who fish these events located in that area.
FLW BP Eastern Series and Western National Guard Series Participation |
|||||
East AOY |
West AOY |
||||
State |
# Anglers |
Percentage |
State |
# Anglers |
Percentage |
AL |
12 |
6.1% |
AK |
1 |
0.8% |
AR |
22 |
11.2% |
AL |
1 |
0.8% |
AZ |
1 |
0.5% |
AZ |
20 |
15.5% |
CT |
1 |
0.5% |
CA |
65 |
50.4% |
FL |
24 |
12.2% |
ID |
6 |
4.7% |
GA |
36 |
18.4% |
NV |
5 |
3.9% |
Il |
5 |
2.6% |
OR |
9 |
7.0% |
IN |
4 |
2.0% |
UT |
5 |
3.9% |
KS |
1 |
0.5% |
WA |
17 |
13.2% |
KY |
5 |
2.6% |
Total |
129 |
100% |
MD |
2 |
1.0% |
|
|
|
MI |
2 |
1.0% |
|
|
|
MN |
2 |
1.0% |
|
|
|
MO |
5 |
2.6% |
|
|
|
MS |
2 |
1.0% |
|
|
|
NC |
9 |
4.6% |
|
|
|
NY |
1 |
0.5% |
|
|
|
OH |
4 |
2.0% |
|
|
|
OK |
10 |
5.1% |
|
|
|
PA |
4 |
2.0% |
|
|
|
SC |
8 |
4.1% |
|
|
|
TN |
9 |
4.6% |
|
|
|
TX |
19 |
9.7% |
|
|
|
VA |
5 |
2.6% |
|
|
|
WI |
2 |
1.0% |
|
|
|
WV |
1 |
0.5% |
|
|
|
Total |
196 |
100% |
|
|
|
Southeastern Stren and Western Stren Participation |
|||||
SE AOY |
West AOY |
||||
State |
# Anglers |
Percentage |
State |
# Anglers |
Percentage |
AL |
52 |
21.5% |
AZ |
65 |
22.8% |
AR |
1 |
0.4% |
CA |
190 |
66.7% |
CA |
1 |
0.4% |
CO |
2 |
0.7% |
FL |
50 |
20.7% |
ID |
5 |
1.8% |
GA |
26 |
10.7% |
NV |
5 |
1.8% |
IL |
1 |
0.4% |
OR |
5 |
1.8% |
IN |
2 |
0.8% |
UT |
10 |
3.5% |
KY |
7 |
2.9% |
WA |
3 |
1.1% |
LA |
3 |
1.2% |
Total |
285 |
100% |
MI |
1 |
0.4% |
|
|
|
MO |
1 |
0.4% |
|
|
|
MS |
11 |
4.5% |
|
|
|
NC |
11 |
4.5% |
|
|
|
NH |
1 |
0.4% |
|
|
|
NY |
1 |
0.4% |
|
|
|
OH |
4 |
1.7% |
|
|
|
ON, CND |
2 |
0.8% |
|
|
|
PA |
3 |
1.2% |
|
|
|
SC |
41 |
16.9% |
|
|
|
TN |
18 |
7.4% |
|
|
|
TX |
1 |
0.4% |
|
|
|
VA |
2 |
0.8% |
|
|
|
VT |
1 |
0.4% |
|
|
|
WV |
1 |
0.4% |
|
|
|
Total |
242 |
100% |
|
|
|
As far as tournament costs go, there is no difference in the entry fees from east to west. In the Series events, entry fees cost $16,000 a year and the Strens cost $3,300 annually. Entry fees aside, there are other tournament expenses that an angler must endure such as gas prices, hotel fees, camping fees and food. Hotel fees, camping fees and food are pretty much level across the board unless an angler decides to live it up. Gas prices, on the other hand, are not level across the U.S., though, with the highest prices being in California.
In light of that, I took our fictitious Simi Valley, CA angler and estimated what it would have cost him for truck fuel and boat fuel. Truck fuel cost was determined selecting a fuel mileage of 12 mpg while miles driven and fuel cost per gallon were determined through www.mapquest.com. Once the totals were determined they were doubled in order to compensate for a pre-practice trip.
Boat fuel was determined by a 2 day pre-practice trip, 3 day practice and a 3 or 4 day tournament. I assumed each day the angler would go through 40 gallons of fuel. Prices for boat gas were determined by the prices at the venue city as found on www.gasbuddy.com. Table 3 below shows the fuel costs for our Simi Valley angler compared to an angler living in Birmingham, AL (BP Eastern Series) and Atlanta, GA (Southeastern Stren). These cities were chosen due to being centrally located with respect to all the event venues.
Fuel Estimates for Eastern and Western Series Events |
Fuel Estimates for Southeastern and Western Stren Events |
||||||||||
Tow Vehicle Fuel |
Tow Vehicle Fuel |
||||||||||
From Simi Valley, CA |
From Simi Valley, CA |
||||||||||
Event |
Miles |
Fuel Cost |
Event |
Miles |
Fuel Cost |
||||||
Havasu |
1285.84 |
$306 |
Clear Lake |
2004.6 |
$506 |
||||||
Col. R. |
4132.68 |
$1,019 |
Roosevelt |
1999.4 |
$473 |
||||||
Delta |
1396.12 |
$353 |
Oroville |
1802.96 |
$455 |
||||||
Clear Lake |
2004.6 |
$506 |
Delta |
1396.12 |
$353 |
||||||
Totals |
8819.24 |
$2,185 |
Totals |
7203.08 |
$1,789 |
||||||
Boat Fuel Estimates |
Boat Fuel Estimates |
||||||||||
9 days 40 gal/day |
$/gal |
Fuel Cost |
8 days 40 gal/day |
$/gal |
Fuel Cost |
||||||
Havasu |
360 gal |
$2.56 |
$921 |
Clear Lake |
320 gal |
$3.02 |
$966 |
||||
Col. R. |
360 gal |
$2.78 |
$1,000 |
Roosevelt |
320 gal |
$2.65 |
$848 |
||||
Delta |
360 gal |
$2.98 |
$1,072 |
Oroville |
320 gal |
$3.06 |
$979 |
||||
Clear Lake |
360 gal |
$3.02 |
$1,087 |
Delta |
320 gal |
$2.98 |
$953 |
||||
Totals |
$4,082 |
Totals |
$3,747 |
||||||||
Total Western Fuel Estimate |
$6,267 |
Total Western Fuel Estimate |
$5,536 |
||||||||
Tow Vehicle Fuel |
Tow Vehicle Fuel |
||||||||||
From Birmingham, AL |
From Atlanta, GA |
||||||||||
Event |
Miles |
Fuel Cost |
Event |
Miles |
Fuel Cost |
||||||
Okeechobee |
2627 |
$578 |
Okeechobee |
2282 |
$510 |
||||||
Eufala |
693 |
$144 |
Santee Cooper |
1167 |
$248 |
||||||
Dardanelle |
1766 |
$367 |
Wheeler |
913 |
$194 |
||||||
Clarks Hill |
1102 |
$229 |
Guntersville |
623 |
$133 |
||||||
Totals |
6190 |
$1,319 |
Totals |
4987 |
$1,086 |
||||||
Boat Fuel Estimates |
Boat Fuel Estimates |
||||||||||
9 days 40 gal/day |
$/gal |
Fuel Cost |
8 days 40 gal/day |
$/gal |
Fuel Cost |
||||||
Okeechobee |
360 |
$2.60 |
$936 |
Okeechobee |
320 gal |
$2.60 |
$832 |
||||
Eufala |
360 |
$2.49 |
$896 |
Santee Cpr |
320 gal |
$2.38 |
$761 |
||||
Dardanelle |
360 |
$2.41 |
$867 |
Wheeler |
320 gal |
$2.45 |
$784 |
||||
Clarks Hill |
360 |
$2.38 |
$856 |
Guntersville |
320 gal |
$2.49 |
$796 |
||||
Totals |
$3,556 |
Totals |
$3,174 |
||||||||
Total Eastern Fuel Estimate |
$4,876 |
Total Eastern Fuel Estimate |
$4,260 |
||||||||
Difference in West vs. East Cost |
$1,391 |
Difference in West vs. East Cost |
$1,275 |
||||||||
Difference in West vs. East Miles |
+2628 |
Difference in West vs. East Miles |
+2215 |
||||||||
Table 3
The bottom line shown in Table 3 is that is costs roughly $1,400 more to fish the Western Series than the Eastern Series and $1,300 more to fish the Western Stren compared to the Eastern Stren. This may not seem like much but if you take an angler who is fishing both, the total is nearly $2,700 more.
The other bit of information gleaned from the data is the western angler travels up to 5,000 more than his eastern counterpart. This many miles equates to more days off work, i.e: more vacation needed, just to get to and from the events. Since the vast majority of anglers in the west have a normal day job, this equates to more time away from their family and less vacation time to spend with them.
So what does it take to fish the Series events and Stren events money-wise? Table 4 shows the estimated cost to fish with respect to fuel, entry fees, food and lodging. For this, I assumed two anglers would share a room at a cost of $40/night and would spend the government average daily food allowance of $44/day.
Western Series |
Western Stren |
||
Entry Fees |
$16,000 |
Entry Fees |
$3,300 |
Truck Fuel (2 Trips) |
$2,185 |
Truck Fuel (2 Trips) |
$1,789 |
Boat Fuel |
$4,082 |
Boat Fuel |
$3,747 |
Hotel 9 nights $40/night |
$360 |
Hotel 8 nights $40/night |
$320 |
Food 9 days $44/day |
$396 |
Food 8 days $44/day |
$352 |
Total |
$23,023 |
Total |
$9,508 |
Eastern Series |
SE Stren |
||
Entry Fees |
$16,000 |
Entry Fees |
$3,300 |
Truck Fuel (2 Trips) |
$1,319 |
Truck Fuel (2 Trips) |
$1,086 |
Boat Fuel |
$3,556 |
Boat Fuel |
$3,174 |
Hotel |
$360 |
Hotel 8 nights $40/night |
$320 |
Food |
$396 |
Food 8 days $44/day |
$352 |
Total |
$21,632 |
Total |
$8,232 |
Difference |
$1,391 |
Difference |
$1,275 |
Table 4
Table 4 reveals that is costs $23,000 to fish the Western Series and $9,500 to fish the Western Stren. For the angler that fishes both, that’s a basic cost of $32,500 and that does not include tackle or other necessities.
The difference between the east and the west is still $2,700 since I leveled the food and lodging costs between the two regions. So why does the east fill events while the west has trouble? Lets look at something more telling than just how much it costs to fish a series of events.
Cost of Living Comparison
Again I am going to use my fictitious Simi Valley angler in this analysis. This time, though, I am going to compare what it costs him to live in Simi Valley compared to a number of other states/cities throughout the southeast. For this I used the median salary for each state found at the U.S. Census Bureau. Table 5 provides that data along with the cost of living percentage-difference for each state and the California equivalent after adjusting for the increase in the cost of living expense. The cost of living information was obtained from www.bestplaces.net.
Cost of Living in Various U.S. Cities Compared to Simi Valley, CA |
||||
City, State |
Overall |
Housing |
Avg Salary |
CA Equivalent Worth |
Atlanta, GA |
-19% |
-29% |
$54,670 |
$44,283 |
Ocala, FL |
-37% |
-63% |
$51,040 |
$32,155 |
Little Rock AR |
-42% |
-72% |
$43,450 |
$25,201 |
Birmingham, AL |
-42% |
-74% |
$44,660 |
$25,903 |
Jackson, MS |
-51% |
-86% |
$40,150 |
$19,674 |
Nashville, TN |
-35% |
-57% |
$45,650 |
$29,673 |
Columbia, SC |
-41% |
-70% |
$46,750 |
$27,583 |
Charlotte, NC |
-34% |
-59% |
$46,200 |
$30,492 |
Shreveport, LA |
-46% |
-76% |
$43,450 |
$23,463 |
Frankfort, KY |
-41% |
-74% |
$44,000 |
$25,960 |
Average |
-39% |
-66% |
$46,002 |
$28,439 |
Table 5
After the cost of living adjustment, you can see there isn’t much left due to the high cost of living. Yes, Californians make more money but even the median salary of $62,000 a year doesn’t go too far when you have $4,000/month house payments.
What’s amazing in Table 5 is there is only one state listed where you could actually fish both the Series and Stren events and still have money left over. There are 8 states where you could fish the Series and then one state all you can do is fish the Strens. Obviously this assumes all your wages are going to fish. “Hi Honey, next year I’m going to take all my wages and fish. . .” That would go over like the proverbial floater in a punch bowl.
Conclusion
So how do you fix this? That’s a difficult task but I think there are some solutions that could help matters tremendously. These aren’t my ideas solely but idea shared by Dobyns, Colby, Batey and many other in this region. The first thing I’d do is hold all the tournaments in California. Take away the Columbia River and Roosevelt tournaments and replace them with Shasta, the Delta or Clear Lake. Then knock down the entry fees from $4,000 to $2,500 per event. The next thing I’d do is take some of the Fantasy Fishing money and distribute it throughout the leagues to either replace the entry money taken away or use it to pay out further down the field.
It’s obvious that the expenses California anglers face are much higher than anywhere else in the U.S.. And, since the breadth of anglers that fish the western circuits are from California, it makes sense to fulfill their needs, much of which are based on simple economics. If the tournament organizations don’t heed these requests for better schedules, lower entry fees and closer or more centrally located venues, some other organization, who will “listen to their customers”, will move in and take it all.