Hook, Line & Sinker: Bassmaster Classic Begins This Friday

ESPN Dedicating 12 Hours Of Coverage To Bassmaster Classic

ESPN and ESPN2 this weekend will air over 12 hours of taped highlights and live weigh-in coverage of the 35th annual Bassmaster Classic, which begins this Friday on the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers and their tributaries, according to Don Hopey of the PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE. This year’s winner receives $200,000 of the $700,000 total purse. Over 100,000 people are expected to attend the competition and 17,000 “will pack the Mellon Arena for the weigh-in” each evening. The tournament will cost Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh $2M to stage but is projected to create $34M in local economic impact. Over 20 businesses have signed on as tournament co-sponsors. Pittsburgh was selected to host this year’s event over Hartford, Nashville and Dallas. Aiding in Pittsburgh’s selection was ESPN’s desire “to expand the audience and marketing for its signature fishing tournament beyond the South” (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 7/25).

LIVE BAIT: Organizers said that the Classic ESPN Outdoors Expo from Thursday-Sunday at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh is “the largest freshwater fish show in the country.” In Pittsburgh, Teresa Lindeman noted the free expo will feature 175-200 exhibits where visitors can “try archery, test their casting skills, see real bass and ... walk out with a DVD featuring themselves reporting from an ESPN booth.” Two ESPN fishing shows will originate from the convention center roof and there will be cameras “roaming the show floor” (POST-GAZETTE, 7/25).

MAN VS. BEAST: To promote ESPN’s coverage, ad agency Fort Franklin, Boston, has created “offbeat advertising that treats the competitors — people and fish — as athletes facing off against each other.” Tagged, “The competition is wild,” the multi-million dollar campaign has online and offline elements including virtual fish trading cards with names like “Lance Bass,” “Gordon Van de Bass” and “Larry Bassman.” The fish are listed as playing defense with the anglers on offense (Stuart Elliott, N.Y. TIMES, 7/25).

FEEDING FRENZY: BASS spokesperson Doug Grassian expected to issue “more than 200 credentials” for the event to organizations including SI, Time magazine, the N.Y. Times and “several big northeastern papers,” as well as newspapers that “more regularly cover BASS events.” Grassian also expected three journalists from Japan and one from EuroBass magazine (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 7/27)....BASS Fantasy Fishing has nearly 50,000 registered fans over the last three years, and ESPNOutdoors.com Exec Editor Ed Scheff said that “at a growth rate of 15[%] a year, more fishing games are in the works” (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 7/25).