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2022 ELITE SERIES RFP

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100 of the world’s best anglers*

4 days of fierce competition on the country’s best fisheries

 

Festival-style expos held at each event for fans

Covered across Bassmaster and 3rd party media - each event on average, generates 35MM impressions

*Field size can fluctuate annually due to eligibility guidelines

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2021 Bassmaster Elite Series Schedule

Feb. 11-14, AFTCO Bassmaster Elite at St. Johns River, Palatka, Fla.
Feb. 25-28, Tennessee River, Knoxville, Tenn.

March 19-21, Pickwick Lake, Florence, Ala.
April 8-11, Sabine River, Orange, Texas

April 22-25, Lake Fork, Emory, Texas
May 6-9, Neely Henry Lake, Gadsden, Ala.

May 20-23, Lake Guntersville, Scottsboro, Ala.
July 8-11, Lake Champlain, Burlington, Vt.

July 15-18, St. Lawrence River, Waddington, N.Y

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PARTNER WITH US

We work for youthe B.A.S.S. event, operations, tournament and marketing teams deliver a virtually turn-key community event;

our goal is your success

Showcase your community as a premier bass fishing destination—national tournament coverage across B.A.S.S. best-in-class media (the biggest brand in bass fishing!) and non-BASS media will reach millions of fishing enthusiasts; plus, event promotion reaches both national and drive-market consumers

 

Drive tourism and more tourism revenue following the event—consumers love to fish where the pros fish; host an Elite event and they will follow coverage and vacation in your community

WHAT PEOPLE SAY

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SEL HEMINGWAY,

Georgetown County Administrator

Hosting a Bassmaster Elite Series event exposes your community to thousands of visitors that may not have visited your area in the past.  In addition to the direct economic benefits to the accommodation, hospitality and retail establishments; this exposure has a great deal of residual value as many of these first-time visitors return in subsequent years for recreation and vacations.

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JANET CASSADA,

Waddington, New York

The Bassmaster Elite tournament that we have had the privilege to hold since 2013 has dramatically changed our County here in Northern NY. The economic impact has been substantial for our area.  The community and the Elite anglers have formed what one can only call a family relationship.  Many of our community have opened their homes to these anglers and formed long lasting relationships. We North County Events who have put this event on for the past 7 years are proud of the working relationship we have with Bassmaster.

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NEIL PAUL, 

Executive Director of Visit Anderson

Hosting the Bassmaster Elite Series created a tremendous impact  in our community.  The initial impact comes from hosting the premier tournament organization in bass fishing. The media impact of hosting the Bassmaster Elite Series has an international reach that has allowed us to market and promote our fishery and community across the world, and the residual impact of hosting the Bassmaster Elite Series has resulted in every other tournament organization wanting to fish in our community. I wish every community could experience the success we have!

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ABOUT US

Take-Off/Competition (daily from 7am-3pm)

  • Thursday-Friday: Full field; Saturday: cut to 50; Sunday: Top 10 

  • Each Pro is accompanied by a Marshal who acts as a “referee” and provides content for coverage

Here’s What Happens

  • Fans gather in the wee hours to watch take-off; like many major sporting events, colors are raised and the anthem is played before competitors are announced and a parade of bass boats peel off

  • Area marinas and launches in the vicinity stay busy—hundreds of fans follow the pros on the water for a “front-row seat”

Weigh-ins on the Bassmaster Stage (daily beginning at 3:30pm)

Here’s What Happens

  • Thousands gather; they bring their lawn chairs and enthusiasm and cheer for their favorite Pros

  • Hosted by industry icon Dave Mercer; the drama unfolds as catches are weighed and Pros are interviewed

  • Professionally-designed all-new-in-2019 stage features a jumbotron ensuring there’s not a bad seat in the house

  • A DJ keeps the crowd rocking during pre-show and makes announcements during the EXPO

Outdoors EXPO

  • Saturday and Sunday: noon-6:00pm*

Here’s What Happens

  • Family-friendly atmosphere

  • Bassmaster sponsors activate; consumers shop apparel and fishing gear and take on-the-water boat/motor demos; there are giveaways and interactive exhibits

  • Veterans and first responders honored with gifts from Bassmaster and our partners

  • Member recognition—1st 100 members can receive free cap

 

Local Festival

Many markets schedule Elite events as part of an existing festival or create a new festival to enhance the Elite experience; Festivals are promoted by Bassmaster in conjunction with the tournament and have included:

  • Kids attractions

  • Food and beverage vendors and/or BBQ competitions

  • Local craftsmen and artisans

  • Local/regional businesses

  • Musicians/Concerts—from local talent providing live music during the EXPO to nationally-recognized performers hosting full-blown concerts

A local festival also provides another revenue stream for host via:

  • Booth sales

  • Taxes on merchandise sold

  • All concession revenue

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  ELITE EVENT DRIVES REVENUE  

Over $1MM Projected Economic Impact during event week 

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  2020 Elite Series Promotion - Lakes Included!  

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TELEVISION

  • 92 Hours Broadcast on TV:

    • 86 Hours of LIVE Coverage on ESPN2

    • 13 Hours of Posted Shows 

    • 399MM+ LIVE TV Minutes Consumed  

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DIGITAL

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SOCIAL

  • 8MM+ Site Visits

  • 51MM Page Views

Elite LIVE + Weigh-in:

  • 3.6MM Streams

  • 99.4MM+ Minutes Consumed 

  • 111MM Impressions

  • 20MM Video Views

  • 5MM Engagements

  • 9K Posts

  Third-Party Media Potential Audience  

1.2 Billion+

Sources: Adobe Analytics, Nielsen, Brightcove, Livestream/Vimeo 2020, Social Media, Cision/PR Newswire

NEW FOR 2021

TELEVISION & LIVE BROADCAST

Over 300 Total LIVE hours in 2021

  • Bassmaster Elite Series: 68.5 hours exclusively on FOX network, FS1

    • Saturdays and Sundays, beginning at 8:00am ET

 

  • 234 Hours on Bassmaster.com — secondary digital stream runs simultaneously during the live television broadcast

 

  • All 234 Hours simulcast on FOX Sports GO (Streaming)

 

FS1 Lands No. 2 Spot For

Total-Day Audience In 2020*

*Nielsen 2020
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EDITORIAL EXPOSURE

Your community and fishery become the focus of the fishing world — Elite waters, big bass and Pro-Angler endorsements are part of the edit package — drawing anglers to fish your waters!

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Digital

Location listed on every page, "Bassmaster Elite on Lake (name)", included on tournament schedule, attend page, streaming video, multiple stories, photo galleries, blogs, etc.

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Print

Tournament feature story in B.A.S.S. Times; end of season recap in Bassmaster

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Social

Your lake will be promoted in multiple posts including video across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
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Television

Featured in The Bassmasters shown Live on FS1 and

streaming on Fox Sports Go

Saturdays & Sundays , 8-11 am ET

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EVENT PROMOTION

Event promotion via B.A.S.S. assets and in local media drive event attendance and encourage consumers nationwide to follow tournament coverage
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The Bassmaster Team

EVENTS

  • Works with you on hotel and space needs

  • Works with you and local representatives to plan all event logistics (staging, exhibits, parking, traffic flow, etc.)

  • On site to manage set-up and tear-down and oversee volunteers

  • Acts as a liaison with B.A.S.S. sponsors and partners on their expo set-ups and event needs

MARKETING 

  • Works with you on a targeted marketing campaign to drive attendance (national and drive market)

  • Runs event coverage campaign targeted to national B.A.S.S. audience to encourage those that can't make the event to follow the action which showcases your destination, driving tourism post event

  • Provides a marketing kit including printed banners, posters and postcards for distribution around town

  • Provides creative services for all marketing collateral — we'll design everything you need

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COMMUNICATIONS

  • Implements a robust PR campaign (in partnership with your PR team) to over 1,000 media outlets — running prior to, during and post event

  • Answers inquiries from non-B.A.S.S. media

  • Hosts non-B.A.S.S. media reps on site

TOURNAMENTS

  • Manages all aspects of competition

  • Works with state and local authorities on fish care and all local permitting

  • Return fish to the fishery following each day's weigh-in

EDITORIAL

  • Content creators on site covering the event for Bassmaster, B.A.S.S. Times and Bassmaster.com

TV & DIGITAL

  • Produces 24 hours of LIVE on-the-water streaming coverage on Bassmaster.com and FOX Sports; includes Facebook live video to drive viewers online

B.A.S.S. DELIVERABLES

Bassmaster media platforms deliver promotion and branding for your city and lake
  • Multiple text and audio mentions during the television and streaming episode

6MM average page views tournament week

  • Location listed on every page, "Bassmaster Elite on (lake)"

  • City/lake listed on tournament schedule

  • Attend page specific to your event (with event details)

  • Streaming video

    • Daily Weigh-Ins (approximately 8 hours over 4 days)

    • LIVE on the water broadcast (24 hours over 4 days); produced by JM studios

  • Multiple stories, photo galleries, blogs (pre, during, post)

    • Includes one photo gallery of local destination (host input welcome)

Robust PR campaign to drive non-Bassmaster media coverage

  • Campaign runs pre, during and post event

  • Reaches 1,000 media outlets

  • Listed in annual B.A.S.S. media guide

PR efforts, combined with additional third-party tournament coverage, generates an average of 35MM 3rd party tournament impressions​ per event

3.3MM combined print readership

  • Tournament feature story in B.A.S.S. Times; end of season recap in Bassmaster

  • BONUS full-page ad in Bassmaster magazine ($25k value); creative supplied to spec by local host

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram

12MM+ reach during tournament week

  • Multiple posts to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram

  • Includes Facebook live video daily (promoting LIVE on the water coverage to drive viewers)

  • Video highlights uploaded to YouTube 

  • Drive Tourism RevenueTotal estimated economic impact (hotel, food, fuel, etc.) event week: $1MM​+​

  • Promotion during the event including stage mentions, signage, and :30 commercial spot* on jumbotron played daily​

 

*:30 spot to be supplied by host city and approved by B.A.S.S.​

B.A.S.S. staff works for you!

  • Events — handles pre-event logistics and manages event on site

  • Marketing — your event advertising and creative agency

  • Communications — PR and manages all non-B.A.S.S. media

  • Tournaments — runs the competition

  • Editorial — gathers content to put your destination in our media

  • TV production — produces content for streaming and television

HOST DELIVERABLES

When Bassmaster comes to town, our hosts provide, complimentary:

Hotel/Meeting Space

  • 75 hotel room nights

  • Meeting space with necessities (Wednesday of tournament week); hotel or other venue near hotel or weigh-in:

    • Registration area (six, 6-foot tables)

    • Two meeting rooms for 75 people theater style, held concurrently (podium & microphone in each)

    • Reception area for 180 people (with light appetizers and soft drinks)

Event Space and Necessities

  • Venue for Weigh-in/Festival Grounds

    • Must be adjacent to, or near, fishery

    • Must meet insurance requirements

    • Must be large enough to accommodate weigh-in staging with seating area and festival—must be at least 100,000 square feet (green space or parking lot)

    • Must have parking for thousands of fans or host to provide parking/shuttle plan

  • Service yard

    • Minimum of 150’ x 350’ near the boat ramp

    • Must have water hook-ups

  • Overnight security at the weigh-in venue (Tuesday night through Sunday morning)

  • Daily waste management services (plus a dumpster)

  • Adequate rest room facilities at weigh-in venue and take-off (if take-off is not at/near weigh-in venue)

  • Ice delivered to the weigh-in area for fish care; amount determined by B.A.S.S.

  • Installation of one (1) high speed internet connection

Elite Host Fee: $75,000

Marketing

  • Advertising promotion; host to drive attendance via your media relationships and resources

NOTE: B.A.S.S. Marketing will work with host on creative and media buys

Volunteers and Day Labor

  • Provide contact for volunteers and labor to assist with set up, tear down and tournament operations

  • Help needed on Wednesday and Sunday night of tournament week, and Monday morning following tournament

  • Trustees from local jail or community service workers welcome

 

B.A.S.S. highly recommends host include a local festival (as previously outlined) to enhance the Elite experience and drive attendance and host revenue.

 

 

 

 

THANK YOU

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