Kingfish Journal Interviews Irwin Jacobs, Chairman of FLW Outdoors, on the Launch of the Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour

The Kingfish Journal spoke with Irwin L. Jacobs, chairman of FLW Outdoors, today regarding their introduction of the Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour. With a long history of producing big-money bass and walleye tournaments, the FLW Outdoors is embarking on their newest expansion into “bluewater.”

When asked about the motivation for this new series, Jacobs explained that fishermen tend to focus and have a strong loyalty to a particular species. And king mackerel fishermen are no exception. The FLW Outdoors has been planning for Thursday’s announcement for about 18 months. They have been quietly hiring the top experts and gathering intelligence on what’s needed to build a world-class king tournament series.

Wal-Mart has previously sponsored some boats that have participated in SKA events and through that experience they learned a lot about the current state of tournament fishing. What they determined was that an infusion of real money and strong sponsorship was needed to take king tournament fishing to the next level.

The greater goal is to grow the sport, but Jacobs was unapologetic on one point; selling boats and motors. Jacobs’s not playing with house money – he’s putting up his company’s money in hopes of increasing sales of Genmar boats (Aquasport, Hydra-Sports, Seaswirl and Wellcraft). Jacobs controls both Genmar and the FLW Outdoors. Jacobs noted, “There’s no question that we want people to be responsive to our products.” Plus, he’s mindful of the other sponsors. Wal-Mart has been the title sponsor in the bass and walleye series since 1997 and Yamaha is fully on-board for this new venture. Additional sponsors are going to be announced in 2005.

When asked about the fact that many top teams already have sponsorship deals with other manufacturers and motors, he said, “they can still participate, but the big pay day comes with our products.”

There’s been considerable interest in determining how the 100-boat field for the inaugural 2005 series will be determined. There was early talk that it was “by invitation” with priority entry to Genmar boats. Jacobs told the Kingfish Journal it would be simpler than that. He stated it would be “first-come, first-serve” based on those that applied and paid a deposit. He explained that if 150 boats applied they would accept all the Genmar entries and then fill out the remaining slots based on who had applied first. It appears for non-Genmar teams the early bird will get the worm. After the field is set, there will be a waiting list.

Jacobs was quick to add, “We hope to have more boats in future events.” Having a ten-year history in bass and walleye tournaments -- with over 75,000 anglers involved -- Jacobs said they are very capable of handling the growth that they hope occurs. He quipped, “we won’t leave anyone out on the highway.”

The FLW Outdoors bass and walleye tours have many different levels of competition. Jacobs explained it using a baseball metaphor; they provide the “big show”, a minor league and farm club opportunities. There’s talk in the industry that the SKA and other local tournaments will act as the farm clubs and minor leagues with the FLW Kingfish Tour being the big show. Asked if Thursday’s announcement was just the start of multiple king tournament tours produced by FLW Outdoors he said, “We’ll give the fishing community what they want. It will be based on the participation levels we receive. We’ll need support from all those involved and we’ll need to see that our products and sponsors are being purchased and supported.”

There has been considerable debate in the kingfish community as to how this new development will affect the SKA’s Yamaha Pro Tour. We asked Mr. Jacobs for comment on what this does to the SKA’s tour? He politely declined to make any comments regarding the SKA. He did say that he hopes the FLW Kingfish Tour will allow fisherman to “make a living, become a professional, and do what they love, just as we have done in our other events.”

Jacobs reinforced that the tour is intended to take the sport to a new level -- to bring it a larger profile. Currently FLW events have substantial television viewership. They also provide tremendous financial benefits not only to the anglers but also to local communities where tournaments are held. Plus, they are very active with the Armed Forces and plan to bring these benefits to king mackerel fishing.

Jacobs asked the Kingfish Journal to remind potential participants to bookmark the FLW Outdoors’ website (www.flwoutdoors.com) as more details, registration specifics and on-the-water rules and regulations are coming soon.

To close the interview Mr. Jacobs noted that the FLW staff is very friendly and professional. Everyone on staff is committed to helping the sport and you can see this for yourself if you attend or participate in one of the 2005 events.

The Kingfish Journal would like to thank Mr. Jacobs for taking time to speak with us. A special thanks to Bill Petrowiak for his help in promptly and professionally setting up this interview.