JACK WOLLITZ B.A.S.S, ESPN join forces

What began as an idea spawned in a roadside motel room on a rainy day in 1967 now has come under the wing of sports broadcasting giant ESPN Inc.
B.A.S.S. Inc., which was founded by Ray Scott 33 years ago, has been acquired by ESPN, according to an announcement by both companies Wednesday.
It grew: Launched as Bass Anglers Sportsman Society, the organization grew from a handful of names on cards in a box to more than 600,000 members worldwide and attained a reputation as the premier sanctioning body for professional and amateur bass fishing.
As the bass fishing movement gained momentum over the years, thousands of anglers in the Youngstown area joined B.A.S.S. The region's top bass anglers credit development of their skills to the knowledge they gathered reading the features published by the organization's popular BASSMASTER Magazine.
Through its professional tournament trail, B.A.S.S. popularized the catch-and-release concept, and is regarded as the impetus for ideas like livewells in boats, outboard motor kill switches and other safety and performance advances.
It was sold: Scott sold B.A.S.S. a decade ago to President and CEO Helen Sevier, who will continue to oversee the organization.
"This is very exciting for B.A.S.S., our membership and our sport," Sevier said.
Sevier said ESPN's "track record for growing properties" will serve B.A.S.S.
well as it continues to expand the sport into homes across the country.
"ESPN and B.A.S.S. are two great brands with compatible assets and a shared love of fishing and the outdoor genre," said ESPN President George Bodenheimer. "Our goal is to benefit B.A.S.S.'s large and loyal following by using our combined expertise and multi-media platforms."
Broadcast time: After more than 15 years on cable network TNN, The BASSMASTERS television series switched to ESPN2 this season and has been broadcast at 6 p.m. on Fridays.
The headliner event on the BASSMASTER Tournament Trail is the BASS Masters Classic, generally regarded as the world championship of the sport. Staged each summer in major markets like Chicago, New Orleans, Baltimore and Cincinnati, the Classic provides additional broad exposure for bass fishing.
In announcing their pairing, neither B.A.S.S. nor ESPN cited specific plans for the future. It is reasonably certain, however, that the combination will result in changes that will make bassing more visible.
"From an angler's standpoint, I am extremely excited," said pro competitor Skeet Reese of California. "This is potentially the best thing that has ever happened to bass fishing and could truly take it to the next level ...making B.A.S.S. events more fan friendly than anything else out there."
In recent years, the BASSMASTER Tournament Trail faced competition from the Wal-Mart FLW Tour run by Operation Bass. Both circuits have made strides in overcoming the difficulties of televising tournaments.
Various formats: B.A.S.S. and Operation bass have worked with various competition formats that today enable fishing fans to literally ride along with the top pros as they seek and catch their winning strings. Tiny cameras mounted on anglers' hats and wireless technology contributed to the evolution.
The advances have been considerable.
The first tournament broadcast I saw was the 1983 BASS Masters Classic out of Cincinnati. Working with just two cameras and automotive writer Brock Yates as the announcer, the production crew was severely limited in its ability to find contestants catching fish.
TV bass action has come a long way since that pioneer event in '83. But it also has a long way to go before it catches up with other popular televised sports.
My guess is ESPN and B.A.S.S. will figure it out soon now that they've joined forces.