It is a wasted dream… Unless you start by knocking down every a tier in your local area. Then it might be worth taking a shot. But if you can’t win the local tournaments consistently, you’ll get eaten alive by Gannon Buhr and Company! Of course, if you can get a 400K per year sponsor, then do that! And don’t worry about much else.
Another way to view this is that you invested $1022 towards your content creation work. I'm an older guy and new disc golf player and I will never become a pro. I haven't even entered any tournaments yet. But, like a bunch of people here maybe most of your subscribers, I find this type of content to be super interesting. You're a pretty damn good player and I appreciate the disc reviews and really, the variety of content that you produce. Not that it will help too much when you go up against Gannon and AB, but there are a bunch of us in RUclipsland who are rooting for you. :)
The former cpa in me finds this very interesting and a little sad for the sport I love. I’d like to see the PDGA take one major metro area and push disc golf hard at the school club level. I knew a guy that more or less single handily grew lacrosse from a small club scene to a huge high school sport in Minnesota. All that said I’m retired and I still love when I get to a course and there ain’t a car in the parking lot. The nearby pickleball court is packed with angry looking players waiting their turn. God have mercy if they all move to the disc golf course.
This was such a pleasing video to watch. I love breakdowns of expenses and as someone who has started playing within the last year and thought about tournaments this was extremely informative!
Seeing this, and then looking at pros who do this makes me realize how much money most of these pros are losing per week. Playing pro disc golf unless you are a top 30 player seems like it isnt worth the amount of money they are losing.
You’ve gotta think though, the average lower tier pro is probably living cheaply in a car/van, which means they only have those gas expenses (but worse mpg) and a few others, which definitely makes it seem much more viable. 5k in airbnbs is steep! Even the guys who get Airbnbs seem to usually share them which I’m sure helps
@@murphyd8205 Vanlife has its own expenses. It’s not nearly as cheap as people think - especially when you factor in a $40K+ (often $80k+) van that gets like 15mpg. Also all that driving is counterproductive to doing well at a tournament. It’s not good for your body.
Love to hear about all of this from you. I guess the bright side is that you can write this off so as long as it's generating content, all worth it in the end.
this is great content. i've been loving watching the disc golf journey of a man in his upper 30's fighting his way to the top! i too am pushing to see how far i can get before the MP40. congrats on the earnings. we need a follow up video on the finances of how you get income from your various social presence and the likes! maybe also insight into the physical and dietary things you are doing on the athletic side? idk how those would do for a disc golf channel... but ya never know! i trust this encouragement reaches you well!
I also enjoy cycling as a sport, and the finances are similar - new talent trying to break in have to travel around all season and not cash much at all. Only at the pinnacle of the sport do they have a chance to make much money. Some things we do for passion and enjoyment. 🤷🏽♂️ Thanks for the videos and creative content!!
I'm not in accounting but i've always enjoyed that type of stuff so thanks for putting in info about taxes. Any chance you could get a guest who's an accountant to talk about the tax side. Always wonder if you count disc golf as a business how many years you can count it off as a loss. Also i'm sure you do (or it wouldn't work out for you) but do you use 2 cards 1 for personal and 1 for disc golf business?
Thanks for the video. I am no where near the level of player you are, but I never thought of keeping track of the money I spent on disc golf. For what it is worth I think you are a solid disc golfer and make great content.
as a business owner for 25+ years and a disc golfer for 3 along with being a follower of your content since the beginning, I would say this- you (imho) should definitely look at this, as you said, as valuable experience, and expenses incurred as part of your larger content creation business. I am certain you do and you are making great content like this to help people understand what a touring pro is up against. I hope you are making decent returns on content. I for one find it very interesting and appreciated this video. My input is, Always use the IRS mileage allowance when figuring travel expenses on your own vehicle, it’s most accurate and realistic. Keep doing the tour if you can with a young family without compromising your relationship, and try harder to cash, LOL. Lastly, play more disc golf in your videos and I love seeing that you brought back the green highlights for gaps in the latest videos. I can’t believe more creators aren’t doing that. You’re living a dream man and I know you work hard, so keep up the good work! Also, congrats on “Bogey”, I have 2 teenage girls and you will never believe how fast it goes until you are there, trust me! Enjoy the time with your little one, it’s the best thing you have ever done by far. Cheers!
Love ur videos u make now. But was wondering would u go back and make more reselling videos just curious. Like when u go to a disc golf tournament look for thrift stores near by or Walmarts. Just curious because watching ur reselling videos years ago helped me start selling on Amazon. Thank you
Dude this is awesome. Puts things into perspective! But hey no need to be ashamed of a S&C trainer! I love that this sport is getting into S&C, as a S&C coach myself, I would love to see more disc golfers! Prop brotha 🔥
11:39 "if I would've cashed". Does that assume the last spot? We all know that "if I would've won everything" alternative, but I'm curious where your break-even average cash spot would be
I think playing local A tiers is the way to go. Definitely not as good content-wise, but for people in the 970-1000 rating range, I think it’s the best way to get better and make some cash.
If you don't have a dream, you won't accomplish anything. Put your money where your mouth is. What competetive sport isn't expensive? Have kids on a softball or soccer traveling team? How many young people, young adults dream about playing in the NBA, MLB or any similar pro sport? The process is expensive. Those that play, both AM and Pro, do it first for the love of the sport and their own personal competitive nature. You aren't obligated, you are pursuing a dream. Thanks for giving us your personal experience. One thing that you mentioned was realizing success at the local geographic disc golf scene. It makes sense to build disc golf locally, C, B and A-tier tournaments with good, developed local sponsorships where pros and ams alike can benefit from good payouts and local competition. Not big money, but a good grind.
lol this is literally how it goes in most sports aside from pretty much soccer basketball football and baseball. And there’s dozens of sports that are even in the Olympics where it’s just as bad or worse than disc golf.
Really cool insight into the financials of trying to tour. Hopefully you eventually make money otherwise the IRS might classify this as a hobby instead of a business. Good luck dude!
$350+ fees per event is absolutely ridiculous. Traveling is already expensive, but that's outside of the organizers control. I doubt the fees are more than a drop in the bucket compared to the sponsorships for these big events. Reduce payouts if you must, but making entry fees that expensive just doesn't sit well with me.
the problem is a lot of that money goes to the payout. The only way this changes is if pro tour events starts funding their payouts with 3rd parties, not players wallets (WHICH THEY SHOULD!!)
@@TylerTiede The Pro Tour already partially funds payouts with 3rd parties. Just picking one event last year at random (Ledgestone Open). 199 players paid $350 entry fee = $69,650. However, total payout was $144,700. So more than half of the payout came from "Added Cash" beyond entry fees. There just isn't that much money in disc golf.
It's not ridiculous at all. Either you're registering MPO because you think you can cash, or you're registering for the chance to play with a real pro. In both cases it's a fair price. It's only a problem if you're playing tournaments that are out of your league (very likely in the case of DGPT), or you're a delusional wannabe. Sometime both.
There would be no good payout with no big entry fees, there would be no full time touring, there would be no pro tour, there would be no exposure, there would be no jokes or dgpt media. High entries are a necessity to grow the sport monetarily and in popularity. It’s a PRO tour for a reason and should be more exclusive. There are more than enough mid level players to make a secondary tour for aspiring pros. The tour shouldn’t be open for just anyone to register.
In 2018, I had the opportunity to compete at the World Masters Ultimate Club Championships. Including personal training, I spent $10,000 on Ultimate that year so I know the pain. Hey, at least you made some money!
Damn gas is cheap in the US. In finland gas is around ~2euros / litre, which (according to google) translates to roughly 7.83 USD/Gallon. No wonder you guys drive so much :D
Everything in America is also three times further away than things in Finland... the average person drives 54 miles (87 kilometers) round trip to work every single day.
This is a lot more coherent than another disc golfer trying to explain a financial statement. Apparently you can make up income and do something called "write offs" that just makes anything you spend fine! Very interesting to get a look at the reality of just trying to exist on tour for even a short while. I hope the new tour figures out a business model that works so more people can make a living at it, but I'm not holding out much hope when in the absence of steep growth companies can only sell so much plastic and training isn't scalable past the individual level. I guess there's content, but that's a full time job too. Definitely hard to cobble together enough to make a living unless you're top 3 every week.
Yeah way to keep your expenses down. Also beware of disc golf industry accountants. Have seen some of their advice, there’s a reason they prey on disc golfers rather than work big-4 or partner a local firm.
Might sound like a crazy idea, but maybe pursuing the content creation as a long-term plan would pay off much more than pursuing going on the tour just simply based upon how competitive it is and how you already have 50 K subs halfway to 100 K, just seems like there’s so much more money in RUclips to be made
I think a lot of the issue is not getting sponsorships from companies outside of the disc golf sphere. Why not dabble in sponsorships that are not really disc golf related, but could be of some help for most pros? Beer, supplements, or something else possibly? Influencers with a channel and the possibility of pushing ads of a certain product could change the game for most of these pros while their contracts with disc manufacturers decline.
Personal training is the only thing that's different anyways because it's always a good idea to invest in your health and fitness even without it being geared towards a sport/game/hobby. So even if it comes as a "major loss" it actually isn't because of its importance and impact on your quality of life.
As tax accountant, I was not prepared to hear tax info from a bodanza video today lmao. Fun breakdown, definitely sounds like touring is only really worth it if you can afford to burn some money. Also, regarding the training, any chance you'll be sharing what you've learned from that at some point? You mentioned a change in your understanding of biomechanics relating to frolf, I'd be interested in hearing that tbh. Good luck in 2025!
Personal training is worth it for the health benefits alone. It will make a huge difference in your longevity and overall quality of life even if it doesn't pan it in a disc golf way.
Trust that your pursuit of your dream will pay off bodanza because i believe it will. consider the connections and knowledge it gains you even if you never podium. appreciate the candor reviewing the numbers. was entertaining.
Look at it this way…he paid $10k to spend most of his time playing disc golf (not to mention giving himself tax write offs for his expenses, such as travel, hotel, discs and other equipment & etc.) Pretty cheap price if it’s what you love to do. It might or might not be sustainable for him, but how much would you pay for a year of mostly doing what you love doing as opposed to slogging through jobs that you’re considerably less enthusiastic about so you can barely break even?
Thanks for the transparency on the losses. Now how about the earnings of your videos (Not in details ofc, but just to make sure you can live well)? 😀 The social media estimators seem pretty bad at that, I truly hope you make more than 1k/mo with YT ads / video sponsorship
*Invested. Come on, you're the guy who knows business. If we only worry about what could have been, we'd have to calculate all the money Calvin loses every year by playing with a frisbee instead of being an engineer. In short, you're a wonderful Disc Golf Dad and I hope you continue the disc golf part. The other is a given.
Most good players would be much better off just playing a local tournament every weekend. I’ve seen guys take home $300+ at a c-tier. In Michigan there’s 10 or more tournaments per week within an hour of me. Entry is usually $50-$100, and you could do multiple per week.
i hope to goodness you have an accountant and are writing a lot of this off and have an LLC or something set up. lots of opportunity to offset your other income.
Lots of people spend $10000 a year on travel, or a car upgrade, or just poorly managing their finances. I'm glad that you stopped calling your expenses "losses". You could basically just consider this to be 'traveling wisely'. Even if you didn't make cash at any event you're still going on epic vacations so you're no worse off than people who spend $10000 on a trip to Europe.
"I only cashed in 5" - dude, remember how just the other day, you had a goal, to cash at your fist event ever? progress my guy - and way faster progress than the average person.
Pretty simple. Professional Disc Golf is like being a Professional Comedian. If you’re not part of the elite talent… you’re just a road dog going gig to gig. All because you want to hone your craft. You’ll see a lot of cool places. Meet a lot of awesome like minded peeps. All there going against the norm and living life the way you want to. If you’re in it for money gtfo cause you wont get far
Drifting isn't any better lol, I do it mainly as a hobby but enter comps if I'm in the area. one day of driving is about $800 and that's me sleeping in a tent and not including fuel or food or things breakings or crashes..
@@ErinBarrera-jh3ji tires my guy! drifting consumes tires haha. Entry to the track and event and tires are the main cost per day, this doesn't include race fuel and fluids and maintenance and this doesn't include anything you break either. I don't do drift events every weekend as that's unrealistic but I 6-8 events a year between spring, summer and fall is the norm.
@nateworzalla6773 bro. My apologies. I took "drifting" as going from here to there and making a way. Idk. I'm confused. Haha. Nothing but love man either way. Keep kicking ass in life. Always be Blessed.
Theres nothing wrong with being a local pro and playing a couple tour events. Either way you are a really good player and we will be rooting for you in all your events.
Well I thought $60 CDN was a lot for a poorly run C tier tourney 🙃 The personal trainer will pay for itself! Think about Baby Bogey 10 years from now when your still able to run around the course 😂
Just admit you’re not doing this for the passion already jeeeeze. You could easily use social media to couch surf the events. You choose the Airbnb expenses. I did this for years without pouting about losses. Grow a pair and get out there and want it!
dude, any investment into your physical health and well-being is always worth it. Probably the most valuable investment that any human could make, regardless of age, job, or hobbies
Nothing is semi pro, when you can go out to local events and win. You don't have to be a touring pro to be known as Pro. The reason you were out 10,000 because you have bad spending habits, You believe becoming a good content creator will make you pro is sad, you just need to play well, You should of been saleing a average of 12 disc per event at 20$ to cover all event fees. To take airplane rides and air b and b, is where your loss of revenue came in to play.
With the cost of everything now in this country, people that want to play competitively will probably just stay close to home and play C + B Tiers or whatever? One guy on my card at a C-Tier last August said; "I need to find a new hobby...this is getting way too expensive to travel to these events every year".
Its Futile....look at how much you put into making Content and the Reward from it....with your 50k subs you're not going to get Monetization worth the time it takes to create. There is No Money in it For People Like You......nice try.....many have lead this way and All Fail.....You are No Different and Your Game is Not Pro Level bro.....😂😂😂 You'll be History by the end of 2025....
@Unknown-rb3ip he started playing disc golf like 2-3 years ago, you expect him to be at the same level as pros already? I can guarantee you're nowhere near as good as him, and you were probably absolute trash 2-3 years in. He actually has a shot, unlike you haters. Which is why you're hating.
As a company owner I see it cost you 10gs to film your content to make profits from your company(channel). Im sure your videos made more than 10k from the videos made on the trips alone
At least it's just a loss leader for you You lose money on tour, but get a sponsor, sell discs and get views and subscribers from it So you could argue you only lost whatever would be left after all those are taken out
@Unknown-rb3ip not my point Even if he fails to qualify he still gets content from it Competing increases his other income sources (although not enough to offset this cost obviously)
![Can I Beat Anthony Barela w/ His NEW DISC?! [Discraft Cigarra Review]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/F7RsqBsmEb0/mqdefault.jpg)
![Can I Beat Anthony Barela w/ His NEW DISC?! [Discraft Cigarra Review]](/img/tr.png)
This video proves to me that a “local” tour is more doable financially.
Thank you for showing us the being a professional disc golfer is a wasted dream. Saved me a bunch of debt. Much appreciated
It is a wasted dream… Unless you start by knocking down every a tier in your local area. Then it might be worth taking a shot. But if you can’t win the local tournaments consistently, you’ll get eaten alive by Gannon Buhr and Company!
Of course, if you can get a 400K per year sponsor, then do that! And don’t worry about much else.
Another way to view this is that you invested $1022 towards your content creation work. I'm an older guy and new disc golf player and I will never become a pro. I haven't even entered any tournaments yet. But, like a bunch of people here maybe most of your subscribers, I find this type of content to be super interesting. You're a pretty damn good player and I appreciate the disc reviews and really, the variety of content that you produce. Not that it will help too much when you go up against Gannon and AB, but there are a bunch of us in RUclipsland who are rooting for you. :)
I bought a Bondanza Sphinx .. I’m helping 😂
The former cpa in me finds this very interesting and a little sad for the sport I love. I’d like to see the PDGA take one major metro area and push disc golf hard at the school club level. I knew a guy that more or less single handily grew lacrosse from a small club scene to a huge high school sport in Minnesota. All that said I’m retired and I still love when I get to a course and there ain’t a car in the parking lot. The nearby pickleball court is packed with angry looking players waiting their turn. God have mercy if they all move to the disc golf course.
This was such a pleasing video to watch. I love breakdowns of expenses and as someone who has started playing within the last year and thought about tournaments this was extremely informative!
0:07 OH YEAH THERE I AM ON THE LEFT! LOOK AT THAT AWESOME ORANGE SHIRT!
nice orange shirt my guy! you pull it off!
you look like a walking creamsicle
@ my brother is also wearing an orange shirt in the background of Barela’s putt on hole 1 of his -16 round.
@@garnerthecube ok doomer
@ have you ever seen such an orange shirt in your life?
I really like how much detail and effort you put into your videos. That’s all.
Great insight! Love the transparency. 😊
Seeing this, and then looking at pros who do this makes me realize how much money most of these pros are losing per week. Playing pro disc golf unless you are a top 30 player seems like it isnt worth the amount of money they are losing.
You’ve gotta think though, the average lower tier pro is probably living cheaply in a car/van, which means they only have those gas expenses (but worse mpg) and a few others, which definitely makes it seem much more viable. 5k in airbnbs is steep! Even the guys who get Airbnbs seem to usually share them which I’m sure helps
Sponsors
Yes....stay home.....leave Touring to US.....
@@murphyd8205 Vanlife has its own expenses. It’s not nearly as cheap as people think - especially when you factor in a $40K+ (often $80k+) van that gets like 15mpg. Also all that driving is counterproductive to doing well at a tournament. It’s not good for your body.
@@Unknown-rb3ipmost fly. Even korn ferry(semi pro) league are getting sponsors flying them places.
I'd love to see a video breaking down how to start playing in local tournaments, division breakdowns, becoming rated, etc! Love the vids
Pay for a pdga membership, sign up, play and dont dnf, wait for the ratings to be published.
Love to hear about all of this from you. I guess the bright side is that you can write this off so as long as it's generating content, all worth it in the end.
Can you explain what you mean by write it off?
Americans thinking 3 is alot for a gallon.. we pay like 7-8$ most places in Europe 😅
Great video! I enjoyed the full breakdown. Keep it up.
this is great content. i've been loving watching the disc golf journey of a man in his upper 30's fighting his way to the top! i too am pushing to see how far i can get before the MP40. congrats on the earnings. we need a follow up video on the finances of how you get income from your various social presence and the likes! maybe also insight into the physical and dietary things you are doing on the athletic side? idk how those would do for a disc golf channel... but ya never know! i trust this encouragement reaches you well!
I also enjoy cycling as a sport, and the finances are similar - new talent trying to break in have to travel around all season and not cash much at all. Only at the pinnacle of the sport do they have a chance to make much money.
Some things we do for passion and enjoyment. 🤷🏽♂️
Thanks for the videos and creative content!!
I'm not in accounting but i've always enjoyed that type of stuff so thanks for putting in info about taxes. Any chance you could get a guest who's an accountant to talk about the tax side. Always wonder if you count disc golf as a business how many years you can count it off as a loss. Also i'm sure you do (or it wouldn't work out for you) but do you use 2 cards 1 for personal and 1 for disc golf business?
Thank you so much for doing this breakdown bodanza ❤😊
Thanks for the video. I am no where near the level of player you are, but I never thought of keeping track of the money I spent on disc golf. For what it is worth I think you are a solid disc golfer and make great content.
as a business owner for 25+ years and a disc golfer for 3 along with being a follower of your content since the beginning, I would say this- you (imho) should definitely look at this, as you said, as valuable experience, and expenses incurred as part of your larger content creation business. I am certain you do and you are making great content like this to help people understand what a touring pro is up against. I hope you are making decent returns on content. I for one find it very interesting and appreciated this video. My input is, Always use the IRS mileage allowance when figuring travel expenses on your own vehicle, it’s most accurate and realistic. Keep doing the tour if you can with a young family without compromising your relationship, and try harder to cash, LOL. Lastly, play more disc golf in your videos and I love seeing that you brought back the green highlights for gaps in the latest videos. I can’t believe more creators aren’t doing that. You’re living a dream man and I know you work hard, so keep up the good work! Also, congrats on “Bogey”, I have 2 teenage girls and you will never believe how fast it goes until you are there, trust me! Enjoy the time with your little one, it’s the best thing you have ever done by far. Cheers!
Love ur videos u make now. But was wondering would u go back and make more reselling videos just curious. Like when u go to a disc golf tournament look for thrift stores near by or Walmarts. Just curious because watching ur reselling videos years ago helped me start selling on Amazon. Thank you
Thank you for showing this with us 😍
You da man cause I don’t think anyone works harder at becoming a pro. I’ll jump for joy when you do.
Would love to see you come play the Palisade Awakening! An A-tier in Colorado, filling fast, and Joel and Aaron are playing 😉
Dude this is awesome. Puts things into perspective! But hey no need to be ashamed of a S&C trainer! I love that this sport is getting into S&C, as a S&C coach myself, I would love to see more disc golfers! Prop brotha 🔥
Good job. This is the info that those aspiring need to see. So from budgeting standpoint start at roughly $1,600/wk.
11:39 "if I would've cashed". Does that assume the last spot? We all know that "if I would've won everything" alternative, but I'm curious where your break-even average cash spot would be
That was quite insightful, thanks for sharing!
Love the new logo! Did you design that?
I think playing local A tiers is the way to go. Definitely not as good content-wise, but for people in the 970-1000 rating range, I think it’s the best way to get better and make some cash.
If you don't have a dream, you won't accomplish anything. Put your money where your mouth is. What competetive sport isn't expensive? Have kids on a softball or soccer traveling team? How many young people, young adults dream about playing in the NBA, MLB or any similar pro sport? The process is expensive. Those that play, both AM and Pro, do it first for the love of the sport and their own personal competitive nature. You aren't obligated, you are pursuing a dream. Thanks for giving us your personal experience. One thing that you mentioned was realizing success at the local geographic disc golf scene. It makes sense to build disc golf locally, C, B and A-tier tournaments with good, developed local sponsorships where pros and ams alike can benefit from good payouts and local competition. Not big money, but a good grind.
The Pro tour as a whole needs a reality check. Pros are basically homeless outside of the top like 5 guys. its not a real pro sport.
lol this is literally how it goes in most sports aside from pretty much soccer basketball football and baseball. And there’s dozens of sports that are even in the Olympics where it’s just as bad or worse than disc golf.
They call themselves "athletes" lmao.
Most people make their money from sponsorships
@@Thompsoncorv Again outside the top 5, those deals are not enough to live on.
Really cool insight into the financials of trying to tour. Hopefully you eventually make money otherwise the IRS might classify this as a hobby instead of a business. Good luck dude!
Thanks for the insight!
Terrific video Anthony, very interesting. Question, do you have a 'day job' or other source of income to help offset your disc golf expenses?
interesting, thank you for the insight
$350+ fees per event is absolutely ridiculous. Traveling is already expensive, but that's outside of the organizers control. I doubt the fees are more than a drop in the bucket compared to the sponsorships for these big events. Reduce payouts if you must, but making entry fees that expensive just doesn't sit well with me.
the problem is a lot of that money goes to the payout. The only way this changes is if pro tour events starts funding their payouts with 3rd parties, not players wallets (WHICH THEY SHOULD!!)
@@TylerTiede The Pro Tour already partially funds payouts with 3rd parties. Just picking one event last year at random (Ledgestone Open). 199 players paid $350 entry fee = $69,650. However, total payout was $144,700. So more than half of the payout came from "Added Cash" beyond entry fees. There just isn't that much money in disc golf.
It's not ridiculous at all. Either you're registering MPO because you think you can cash, or you're registering for the chance to play with a real pro. In both cases it's a fair price. It's only a problem if you're playing tournaments that are out of your league (very likely in the case of DGPT), or you're a delusional wannabe. Sometime both.
There would be no good payout with no big entry fees, there would be no full time touring, there would be no pro tour, there would be no exposure, there would be no jokes or dgpt media. High entries are a necessity to grow the sport monetarily and in popularity. It’s a PRO tour for a reason and should be more exclusive. There are more than enough mid level players to make a secondary tour for aspiring pros. The tour shouldn’t be open for just anyone to register.
In 2018, I had the opportunity to compete at the World Masters Ultimate Club Championships. Including personal training, I spent $10,000 on Ultimate that year so I know the pain. Hey, at least you made some money!
Damn gas is cheap in the US. In finland gas is around ~2euros / litre, which (according to google) translates to roughly 7.83 USD/Gallon. No wonder you guys drive so much :D
Wish we could drive less. There's no way to get around without a car a lot of the time.
1.65-1.90€/L is closer
It’s about the same bulk price, Fins are just taxed more than anyone when it comes to tax.
We have to drive so much. The US is huge and we haven't invested as much as we should in public transportation.
Everything in America is also three times further away than things in Finland... the average person drives 54 miles (87 kilometers) round trip to work every single day.
10k to travel around the USA for 7 weeks ain't bad , money comes back, time and memories don't so well worth the investment 🤙🍻
God damn. So unless I am doing youtube or somehow suddenly become as good as Ricky I'm SOL
Don't think it's ever been (financially)viable to just jump on the Pro tour.
You gotta be a real local champ to start playing all of the Pro tour.
This is a lot more coherent than another disc golfer trying to explain a financial statement. Apparently you can make up income and do something called "write offs" that just makes anything you spend fine!
Very interesting to get a look at the reality of just trying to exist on tour for even a short while. I hope the new tour figures out a business model that works so more people can make a living at it, but I'm not holding out much hope when in the absence of steep growth companies can only sell so much plastic and training isn't scalable past the individual level. I guess there's content, but that's a full time job too. Definitely hard to cobble together enough to make a living unless you're top 3 every week.
You should collab with J milly
Your business costs about 11k to operate for 1 year. That’s phenomenal.
Yeah way to keep your expenses down. Also beware of disc golf industry accountants. Have seen some of their advice, there’s a reason they prey on disc golfers rather than work big-4 or partner a local firm.
This is the appropriate way to look at it
Does your trainer tell you why you're doing limited range of motions on bench press, split squats, or pushups?
Might sound like a crazy idea, but maybe pursuing the content creation as a long-term plan would pay off much more than pursuing going on the tour just simply based upon how competitive it is and how you already have 50 K subs halfway to 100 K, just seems like there’s so much more money in RUclips to be made
I think a lot of the issue is not getting sponsorships from companies outside of the disc golf sphere. Why not dabble in sponsorships that are not really disc golf related, but could be of some help for most pros? Beer, supplements, or something else possibly? Influencers with a channel and the possibility of pushing ads of a certain product could change the game for most of these pros while their contracts with disc manufacturers decline.
Personal training is the only thing that's different anyways because it's always a good idea to invest in your health and fitness even without it being geared towards a sport/game/hobby. So even if it comes as a "major loss" it actually isn't because of its importance and impact on your quality of life.
As tax accountant, I was not prepared to hear tax info from a bodanza video today lmao. Fun breakdown, definitely sounds like touring is only really worth it if you can afford to burn some money.
Also, regarding the training, any chance you'll be sharing what you've learned from that at some point? You mentioned a change in your understanding of biomechanics relating to frolf, I'd be interested in hearing that tbh.
Good luck in 2025!
Personal training is worth it for the health benefits alone. It will make a huge difference in your longevity and overall quality of life even if it doesn't pan it in a disc golf way.
I think you should include Sponsorship. You probably wouldn’t have played if you weren’t sponsored.
Trust that your pursuit of your dream will pay off bodanza because i believe it will. consider the connections and knowledge it gains you even if you never podium.
appreciate the candor reviewing the numbers. was entertaining.
Hope you are keeping track of all your mileage for taxes
So it’s cheaper than bicycling by a pretty huge amount? Hell yeah, might go to a few tourneys
Some of the pros have camper vans, and just live in them most days. That would cut your expenses in half.
love this channel. Following since the A.B reselling channel : ) keep it up
Great breakdown and reality check for those in the sport who want to pursue it
Touring in any sport doesn't make sense until you're dominating locally.
I'm a retired engineer. Make $millions over my 40+ year career. Now playing disc golf for fun. #winning
Look at it this way…he paid $10k to spend most of his time playing disc golf (not to mention giving himself tax write offs for his expenses, such as travel, hotel, discs and other equipment & etc.)
Pretty cheap price if it’s what you love to do. It might or might not be sustainable for him, but how much would you pay for a year of mostly doing what you love doing as opposed to slogging through jobs that you’re considerably less enthusiastic about so you can barely break even?
Confusing video. Why are you not including money from your sponsorship? Are they giving you nothing to represent them at tournaments or travel?
Thanks for the transparency on the losses. Now how about the earnings of your videos (Not in details ofc, but just to make sure you can live well)? 😀
The social media estimators seem pretty bad at that, I truly hope you make more than 1k/mo with YT ads / video sponsorship
*Invested. Come on, you're the guy who knows business.
If we only worry about what could have been, we'd have to calculate all the money Calvin loses every year by playing with a frisbee instead of being an engineer.
In short, you're a wonderful Disc Golf Dad and I hope you continue the disc golf part. The other is a given.
Could be worse my friend loss $30,000 a year racing motorcycles in the 1990s
Most good players would be much better off just playing a local tournament every weekend. I’ve seen guys take home $300+ at a c-tier. In Michigan there’s 10 or more tournaments per week within an hour of me. Entry is usually $50-$100, and you could do multiple per week.
Probably could say it is an expense related to promotion for your channel
do you know where nate turner has been?!?!?
i hope to goodness you have an accountant and are writing a lot of this off and have an LLC or something set up. lots of opportunity to offset your other income.
Lots of people spend $10000 a year on travel, or a car upgrade, or just poorly managing their finances. I'm glad that you stopped calling your expenses "losses". You could basically just consider this to be 'traveling wisely'. Even if you didn't make cash at any event you're still going on epic vacations so you're no worse off than people who spend $10000 on a trip to Europe.
Come on down and sign up for the Palisade Awakening.
You coming to Portland again next season?
Call it $1,500 a week, over the 33 week DGPT season that is $49,500 per year.
alright alright. I'll buy one more sphinx... but thats it
also, I would guess, the person training, was between 5-7K for the year. but maybe based on your uncomfortableness, maybe 10
Wow more in car rental then airfare. I would not have guessed that
"I only cashed in 5" - dude, remember how just the other day, you had a goal, to cash at your fist event ever? progress my guy - and way faster progress than the average person.
Pretty simple. Professional Disc Golf is like being a Professional Comedian. If you’re not part of the elite talent… you’re just a road dog going gig to gig. All because you want to hone your craft. You’ll see a lot of cool places. Meet a lot of awesome like minded peeps. All there going against the norm and living life the way you want to. If you’re in it for money gtfo cause you wont get far
Drifting isn't any better lol, I do it mainly as a hobby but enter comps if I'm in the area. one day of driving is about $800 and that's me sleeping in a tent and not including fuel or food or things breakings or crashes..
800 driving around? I'm a van lifer and don't spend 800 a week with a wife and toddler. What are you buying dude?
@@ErinBarrera-jh3ji tires my guy! drifting consumes tires haha. Entry to the track and event and tires are the main cost per day, this doesn't include race fuel and fluids and maintenance and this doesn't include anything you break either. I don't do drift events every weekend as that's unrealistic but I 6-8 events a year between spring, summer and fall is the norm.
@nateworzalla6773 bro. My apologies. I took "drifting" as going from here to there and making a way. Idk. I'm confused. Haha. Nothing but love man either way. Keep kicking ass in life. Always be Blessed.
@@ErinBarrera-jh3ji all good man and best of luck to you as well!
Theres nothing wrong with being a local pro and playing a couple tour events. Either way you are a really good player and we will be rooting for you in all your events.
keep grinding it'll pay off :)
The cost of those tournaments is too much.
Well I thought $60 CDN was a lot for a poorly run C tier tourney 🙃 The personal trainer will pay for itself! Think about Baby Bogey 10 years from now when your still able to run around the course 😂
10k seems like a fair price for a 6 month vacation.
How much you make off RUclips ?
Just admit you’re not doing this for the passion already jeeeeze. You could easily use social media to couch surf the events. You choose the Airbnb expenses. I did this for years without pouting about losses. Grow a pair and get out there and want it!
I already know that Graham Stephan inspired this video
I still think this was a good investment for you
dude, any investment into your physical health and well-being is always worth it. Probably the most valuable investment that any human could make, regardless of age, job, or hobbies
Nothing is semi pro, when you can go out to local events and win. You don't have to be a touring pro to be known as Pro.
The reason you were out 10,000 because you have bad spending habits,
You believe becoming a good content creator will make you pro is sad, you just need to play well,
You should of been saleing a average of 12 disc per event at 20$ to cover all event fees.
To take airplane rides and air b and b, is where your loss of revenue came in to play.
investing in yourself is always a win.
With the cost of everything now in this country, people that want to play competitively will probably just stay close to home and play C + B Tiers or whatever? One guy on my card at a C-Tier last August said; "I need to find a new hobby...this is getting way too expensive to travel to these events every year".
Damn that's way less loss than I expected. The way big names pros complain
It’s a tough, but it’s so worth it
not when you enter a baby into the equation.
“content”
Get a prius and sleep in it.
Do not show the wife this.
Next video: how sponsor's can offset the loses.
now, show how much $ you made with those videos being on the road. Hopefully that is more then 10K.
Keep living the dream.
You can guess at this yourself. Estimate $7-8 per 1K views. This video is already at 10K views, so he's made ~$75 today.
Disc golf "Athlete" 🤣
What is the definition of an "athlete"?
@@aaronmayhew2.0 - perhaps much like the former U.S. supreme court Justice's definition of obscenity - you know it when you see it !
Its Futile....look at how much you put into making Content and the Reward from it....with your 50k subs you're not going to get Monetization worth the time it takes to create.
There is No Money in it For People Like You......nice try.....many have lead this way and All Fail.....You are No Different and Your Game is Not Pro Level bro.....😂😂😂 You'll be History by the end of 2025....
Haters gonna hate. How did you do on the pro tour this year good sir?
@Unknown-rb3ip he started playing disc golf like 2-3 years ago, you expect him to be at the same level as pros already? I can guarantee you're nowhere near as good as him, and you were probably absolute trash 2-3 years in. He actually has a shot, unlike you haters. Which is why you're hating.
As a company owner I see it cost you 10gs to film your content to make profits from your company(channel). Im sure your videos made more than 10k from the videos made on the trips alone
At least it's just a loss leader for you
You lose money on tour, but get a sponsor, sell discs and get views and subscribers from it
So you could argue you only lost whatever would be left after all those are taken out
@Unknown-rb3ip not my point
Even if he fails to qualify he still gets content from it
Competing increases his other income sources (although not enough to offset this cost obviously)