Two regular Joes will compete with pros for $3.25M purse at inaugural 'The Champions' bass fishing tournament
If you’ve ever watched a bass fishing tournament and thought you could hang with the best anglers on earth, it might be time to put up or shut up.
World Bass Enterprises (WBE) is giving two average Joes the chance to compete in The Champions this fall, putting them on the same water, in the same tournament and in pursuit of the same record-setting prize money as some of the best bass fishermen in the world.
No pressure.
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The Champions, an inaugural tournament hosted by WBE, will feature a $3.25 million purse, including $1.25 million for the winning angler. That’s the largest prize in the sport’s history. The field will include the top 25 anglers from the Bassmaster Elite Series and the top 25 from Major League Fishing’s Bass Pro Tour.
And now, two fans will get a chance to join them.
WBE founder and CEO Brian Bird told OutKick Outdoors the idea came from fans themselves.
"You know, whenever we would do a podcast or we would do a social launch on one of our social media, there was always comments of, ‘Well, how do I get in? The everyday person should get to fish in something like this,’" Bird said. "And so I just — it bothered me."
So, he came up with a solution.
Fans who buy the tournament’s pay-per-view streaming package will be entered for a chance to win one of the two spots. There is also a no-purchase-necessary mail-in option.
"You buy the pay-per-view event, and it’s 50 bucks," Bird said. "We’re streaming the opening ceremonies. We’re streaming the tournament, of course, the weigh-ins, but we’re streaming the Champions Dinner. We’re streaming the pro-am. You get to watch all of that."
Then WBE will draw two anglers from those entries.
"We’ll just have two anglers that we draw out of that that buy the pay-per-view that are just everyday Joes, and give them a chance to compete in this tournament at the same level as the professionals," Bird said. "So I think it’s going to be really cool."
Watch Brian Bird's full interview with OutKick Outdoors here:
Bass fishing has plenty of weekend warriors who are convinced they could hang with the pros if given the chance. This time, two of them will actually get to prove it.
"I think it’s a story in itself for these people to get to participate in something like this," he said. "I mean, at media day, I can’t imagine the questions they’re going to receive. They may have more attention on them than the pros do.
"Maybe one of them will make the top 15 to fish in the championship on Saturday. That’d even be way cool too. So we’ll see what happens."
The Champions will be held Oct. 28-Nov. 1 at Sanders Ferry Park on Old Hickory Lake in Hendersonville, Tenn., just outside Nashville.
Bird said the goal is to create a true world championship event, something bass fishing has never really had before.
"I love the sport, for one, and I love watching tournaments, and I love watching all the anglers participate," Bird said. "But I’ve always been like, well, who’s the best, right? Because there’s two leagues, and in all of our other sports, there is a true championship. You know, a Super Bowl or NBA championship or whatever you want to call it, and I just felt like the sport of bass fishing was missing that."
First place will pay $1.25 million. Second place gets $500,000, third gets $300,000, fourth gets $200,000 and fifth gets $100,000.
"We wanted it to be the biggest payday," Bird said. "If we’re going to call this thing the Super Bowl of bass fishing, the world championship of bass fishing, whatever you’re going to call it… the payday needed to reflect that type of status."
Bird said professional anglers do well, but they don’t make the kind of money athletes in other major sports make. If this is going to be treated like a true championship, he believes the money should match.
"If you’re the best in the world," he said "you deserve to see that big payday."
The fishing will be the centerpiece, but WBE is building The Champions into a much bigger event.
The five-day event will include three days of competition, media day, opening ceremonies, weigh-ins, a flyover, fireworks, a massive expo, a pro-am tournament, fan activities, food and beverage vendors and musical performances from Riley Green, Lee Greenwood, Randy Houser and Trace Adkins.
"The way we’re setting it all up is it’s all like what probably the fans and athletes experience at a Super Bowl," Bird said.
He said fans can also expect a kids park with a petting zoo, BB gun shoots, fishing activities, aquariums, bounce houses, casting and flipping contests, horseshoe contests, bands, a beer garden and food vendors.
It’s a full-blown bass fishing festival.
WBE announced that one fan will win Bird’s former Ranger Z521R 55th Anniversary Limited Edition 2023 bass boat. Fans can enter by buying merch from WBE’s online store, or by mail without making a purchase.
Bird told OutKick Outdoors he wanted the giveaway to feel more personal than simply buying a random prize. He said the boat has been well cared for and is "like brand new."
"We’ve won some tournaments together, but I just thought it’d be awesome for a fan to get to have it and see somebody else getting to use it," Bird said. "And hopefully, it’s as good to whoever wins it as it’s been to me."
Bird said WBE is also giving away other prizes, including ATVs, a trip to the Bahamas, an alligator hunt and fishing trips.
"There’s lots of opportunities to win so much stuff, and that’s something else that’s really neat about this," Bird said. "I don’t think there’s ever been an event like it that’s giving away as much as we’re giving away to the fans."
Including, of course, the chance to compete in the tournament itself — which will either be really cool or really humbling.
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