So I have a question that I have not been able to nail down through doing some research and wondered if anyone on this site had any insights.  I understand that the fishing market is around $45B, with bass fishing generating approximately $16B of that.  There are approximately 27M freshwater anglers.  So I took that roughly 35% of the total fishing market based off revenue and came out to approximately 9.5-10M bass anglers.  How many of those do you think fish tournaments?  10%?  20%?  I am in my final class of my MBA program, and I need to analyze the size of the bass tournament fishing market.  So the number of people that fish bass tournaments in the US (and abroad if you have that information).  This includes high school, college, pros, bass clubs, etc.  Thanks for reading!

I can't argue with your reasoning.   Probably as close as anyone else might guess.  In your favor is the 'fact' that nobody will be able to challenge your numbers, no matter what you come up with.  Statistics suck.

 

Not sure what sort of useful info might be gleaned from a data set that equates the guy down the block in a 'once a year, 5-boat $100 pot', with KVD.....but then again, I'm not sure about a LOT of things.

 

.....sorry for sounding rant-ful....I have a job highly dependent on data and statistics and I can bring you to any conclusion you want just about every time 

 

 

Thanks for the input.  I doubt I will be able to lock down a super solid number, and with this project im going to have to make some assumptions anyway, so why not the size of the market? lol.  And I agree.  Stats do indeed suck.

Lies, d**n lies, and statistics.

 

Just be able to defend your numbers and all will be good.

It might be easier to take a slice of the national data.  Say, pick a state that has all this info easily available.  I'm thinking Texas might be a good data set.  Or a mixture of states in a region.  I don't know of any one place that has all tournament info on a national level.  You have to remember, there are TON of smaller (less than 50 boats) events put on by small clubs or opens.  Some clubs and opens rarely post the results online.  Good luck!

Thanks for the input.  I am in one of those clubs.  We are generally less than 20 boats.  I just wanted to make sure that the knowledgeable people of BR didnt have some special numbers or a resource that I couldnt find.  I am just going to have to make some assumptions, but I'm fine with that.  It will actually make it easier given that nobody can really fact check my numbers, like another member mentioned, which will allow me to better meet my projected product revenue numbers.  Thanks again!

Not certain how much recent stats are out there, but data from early 90s pegged the bass tourney market at approx. 1 million anglers, which using your analysis would work out to 10% of all bass anglers in general. That sounds about right. Their estimated economic impact was $800 million.

 

Lots of individual state analysis available online, but check out the studies by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for national stats. Also, if you haven't already, track down "What Competitive Fishing Can Do for Fishery Management" (Schramm & Fedler), available online in its entirety for good info. It's an older paper, but the numbers probably still hold true as angler participation dropped through most of the 90s and 2000s.

Revenue from bass tournaments or from tournament bass anglers? The vast majority of bass tournaments are local club events that don't generate any tournament revenue outside of pot money donated by the anglers. All the local bass anglers buy bass fishing tackle and about 50% of local bass clubs own a bass boat. 

Tom

Hey Tom,

 

I would be the size of the tournament anger market.  So the number of tournament anglers.  Sorry if it was confusing.