Wal-Mart FLW Tour leads with record cash awards in 2002

October 14, 2001 • MLF • Archives

GILBERTSVILLE, Ky. – The world’s most lucrative professional bass fishing series has upped the ante once again with a $650,000 boost to tournament purses, the sport’s first live network television series, an all new championship format, new sponsors and three new venues.

Wal-Mart FLW Tour anglers will compete for a total cash purse of $5.1 million in 2002, up from $4.45 million in 2001. Of the $650,000 increase, $350,000 has been added to the Wal-Mart FLW Tour Championship purse, which increases from $450,000 to $800,000, and $300,000 has been added to qualifying event purses. Each regular qualifying event will now feature a $550,000 purse while each open will feature a $1.05 million purse.

Perhaps even more important to the sport is the FLW Tour’s historic broadcasting partnership with PAX TV that will bring live coverage of a competitive bass fishing series to network television for the first time. Beginning January 19, the Wal-Mart FLW Tour television series will feature live studio coverage of competitive fishing. And on January 26, live coverage from the Wal-Mart FLW Tour season opener presented by EverStart Batteries on Lake Okeechobee will debut. Each 2002 Wal-Mart FLW Tour stop will be broadcast live on PAX TV. The 27-week series, which also includes live coverage of the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League All-American and the Ranger M1, will air every Saturday at 3 p.m. EST

“If you look at the history of major sporting events, the real turning point in terms of popularity came with the introduction of live television coverage,” said Charlie Hoover, Operation Bass president. “This is without question one of the biggest things ever to happen in professional bass fishing. It will take the sport to the next level.”

Operation Bass has tapped the Dempsey Film Group based in Little Rock, Ark., to produce its new magazine-style FLW Tour show, which will have a potential reach of 84 million households nationwide on PAX TV. Founded 10 years ago, the award-winning Dempsey Film Group is known for pushing the creative envelope for such clients as Rawlings Baseball, TCBY and SunCom.

Anglers competing on the seven-venue Wal-Mart FLW Tour will visit three new sites in 2002. Lake Ouachita near Hot Springs, Ark., will host tour stop No. 3 March 13-16, and Old Hickory Lake near Nashville, Tenn., will host stop No. 5 May 15-18. Lake Champlain near Plattsburgh, N.Y., which was originally the site planned for the 2001 Wal-Mart FLW Tour Championship before it was cancelled following the Sept. 11 attacks, will host the $1.05 million Forrest Wood Open June 19-22.

The remainder of the schedule will be held at tournament-tested venues comprised of Lake Okeechobee near Clewiston, Fla., for the season opener Jan. 23-26; Wheeler Lake near Florence, Ala., for tournament No. 2 Feb. 13-16; Beaver Lake near Rogers, Ark., for the $1.05 million Wal-Mart Open April 17-20; and Shreveport, La., for the Wal-Mart FLW Tour Championship Sept. 11-14.

Since it’s inception in 1996, the Wal-Mart FLW Tour has kicked-off its season on Lake Okeechobee. Beaver Lake has hosted the $1 million Wal-Mart Open since 1998, which is also the year the tour last visited Wheeler Lake. Shreveport hosted the 2000 Wal-Mart FLW Tour Championship and a qualifying tournament in 2001.

More anglers will advance to the semifinal and final rounds in each regular season tournament of 2002. Whereas fields were cut from 175 pros and 175 co-anglers to 10 pros and 10 co-anglers after the two-day opening round in previous seasons, the semifinal round in 2002 events will feature 20 anglers in each division. Ten pro anglers will advance to the final round of regular season events, doubling the number from prior years.

The 2002 Wal-Mart FLW Tour Championship will also feature an exciting new bracket format that is markedly different from past seasons. Forty-eight pros will be seeded in the championship based on their points standings through six qualifying events. The No. 1 seed will be pitted against the No. 48 seed and No. 2 will face No. 47, etc. After the two-day opening round, 24 anglers (based on accumulated catch weight) will advance to the one-day semifinal round. Following the semifinal round, the 12 remaining competitors will be reseeded for the final round based on their total three-day catch to that point. During the final round, the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds will compete head to head for a top award of $260,000-the richest cash award of any professional bass fishing series. Anglers seeded No. 3 and No. 4 will compete for third and fourth place money, etc.

Forty-eight top co-anglers based on points standings for the season will be randomly paired with pros during the championship. After the opening round, the top 24 co-anglers (based on accumulated catch weight) will advance to a third and final day of co-angler competition. These co-anglers will start from zero and fish for the heaviest one-day weight for a top award of $25,000.

The pro angler amassing the most points over the course of the season will be named the Land O’Lakes Angler of the Year and receive $25,000 plus a Ranger bass boat with a Yamaha or Evinrude outboard. Previous Anglers of the Year, Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich.; Clark Wendlandt of Cedar Park, Texas; and David Walker of Cannon, Ky., have been featured on special collector’s edition Kellogg’s cereal boxes.

Named after the founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, the Wal-Mart FLW Tour has elevated professional fishing to new levels of national awareness since its introduction by Operation Bass Inc. in 1996. In it’s inaugural season the tour featured 14 sponsors and a purse of $863,750 over seven events. Wal-Mart became the tour’s title sponsor in 1997, and since that time, the tour has added substantially to its sponsor lineup and cash purses. Today the Wal-Mart FLW Tour has 31 sponsors, which allow it to pay the sport’s top prize money.