Pittsburgh Post Gazette
5 August 2005
By Deborah Weisberg
The organizers of last week's bass-fishing tournament consider their trip to Pittsburgh a triumph, and that could open doors to scheduling other tournaments on the three rivers as soon as 2007.
BASS was thrilled with the turnout for Citgo Bassmaster Classic on the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers.
"Two thousand and six is already locked and loaded," said Dean Kessel, vice president of operations for BASS, which is owned by ESPN. "And we're just beginning to have an internal dialogue about 2007. We're impressed with what transpired last week. It was one of our most successful Classics ever. That makes Pittsburgh inviting. It makes for intriguing potential."
Donna Bour, who manages the Local Organizing Committee for the Classic, said Kessel hasn't made any promises. "He said BASS wants to bring a major tournament to Pittsburgh, but he didn't say which one or when, only 'We'll be in touch.' "
With an estimated $45 million in economic impact for the greater Pittsburgh area -- a figure supplied by BASS -- the local committee, a consortium of businessmen and other boosters, budgeted $2.8 million for the Classic in cash and in-kind services, Bour said. About $1.5 million came from the state general fund, which is derived from state tax dollars, and the rest from local sponsors.
The committee paid BASS a $750,000 license fee to secure the Classic for Pittsburgh. It paid $60,000 to rent Mellon Arena, $75,000 for the David L. Lawrence Convention Center for the outdoor equipment show and had a marketing budget of $250,000.
It also scored some freebies. The Gateway Clipper and Kennywood, which owns Sandcastle, provided their venues for Classic parties for BASS and ESPN staff, the anglers and their families, and volunteers, who came largely from BASS Federation clubs.
It is unlikely another Classic, with its week of festivities, would come to Pittsburgh because the championship is moving to February at Lake Tohopekaliga near Disney World in Florida, and there is speculation it will be held in that area permanently. Disney owns BASS/ESPN.
BASS, however, has doubled the number of qualifying tournaments for next year and added a BASS Women's Tour, which eventually could serve as a Classic qualifier. Locations are chosen on the basis of importance to sponsors, travel logistics and support from the marketplace, Kessel said.
Pennsylvania had never been a host to a Classic until this summer, but the state ranks in the top five in BASS memberships and sells more hunting and fishing licenses than most..
"We don't consider Pittsburgh a non-traditional market. Last week's Classic proved that," Kessel said.
Fan enthusiasm even overshadowed fishing made more difficult by a prolonged period of hot, dry weather. TV shots of a filled-to-the-gills Mellon Arena made a global splash where it most matters for ESPN and its sponsors, who have been burned by poor turnouts in other cities, especially Chicago.
"Response in Pittsburgh was tremendous across the board," Kessel said. "It's good TV to show lunkers at every cast and every weigh-in. But our research has proven to us that our viewers and our fans are interested in how fish are caught, how anglers approached the three rivers, rather than just size."
BASS, though, faces competition from the Wal-Mart FLW, which has offered bigger purses in the past. Veteran BASS pro George Cochran won this year's FLW championship, worth $500,000 and has said he will fish FLW exclusively next year. The winner of the BASS Classic received $200,000.
BASS plans to increase its top prize to $500,000 next year, but the FLW will counter with a special tournament with a $1 million first-place purse.
The FLW said it would consider coming to Pittsburgh, now that BASS has opened the door. "We haven't been invited, but we're interested," said FLW spokesman Dave Washburn. "Classic weights didn't show a great fishery, but that doesn't mean there isn't great potential."
The FLW wanted to have a bass tournament in Erie last year, but balked when the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission refused to relax its culling regulation, which required tournament anglers to have no more than one fish under the limit in their livewell. Last month, the commission board voted to abandon the rule, effective next year. That will enable anglers to possess the limit and still be able toss back a smaller fish for a larger one.
Bour said the local committee will try to determine if Pittsburgh saw the 80,000 tourists BASS had projected for the Classic, though it might be hard to determine because not everyone stayed at Downtown hotels. Regardless, she said, the TV exposure was valuable beyond measurement.
"When I caught a glimpse of the helicopter shots of Pittsburgh on ESPN, I kept thinking, 'That's really Pittsburgh up there!' " Bour said.
"I hope we can take momentum from the Classic and find activities beyond fishing, like [ESPN's] Great Outdoor Games, which would be a great fit not just for Pittsburgh but for the Laurel Highlands and surrounding areas," said state Rep. Marc Gergely (D-McKeesport), who serves on the local committee. "The stage is now set. You can't put a dollar figure on the type of exposure we got, with ESPN in Point State Park telling the world about how clean our rivers are now."