Media and Coverage

It's a spectator sport like no other
Competitive fishing took its first major turn into the mainstream in 1996 with the introduction of the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, the first made-for-television tournament series featuring lucrative cash awards and a groundbreaking cut format that allowed more in-depth coverage of top anglers. This season FLW Outdoors, owned by Minneapolis investor Irwin L. Jacobs, announced a new broadcasting partnership with Fox Sports Net that provides bass, walleye, redfish and kingfish tournament coverage across FSN's network of 20 regional sports channels every Sunday at 11 a.m. Eastern time. The "Wal-Mart FLW Outdoors" show can reach a universe of 82 million homes through FSN, which also serves as the cable television home to 62 of MLB, NHL and NBA teams based in the United States.
The final day's weigh-in from each FLW Tour event is also broadcast live via satellite to Wal-Mart stores nationwide and aired on the Wal-Mart Television Network. This satellite feed is also available to local television stations that want to capture dramatic footage for the evening news. On site, thousands of spectators gather for weigh-ins that are unlike any other.
Industry insiders believe the added television coverage by FSN and ESPN will assist in growing tournament fishing's popularity even further and will help bring more participants into the sport at all levels.
Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series and seven other national tournament circuits offering a combined $30 million in awards through 214 events in 2005. The 27-year-old organization is the purveyor of America's largest and most prestigious fishing tournaments, including the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, EverStart Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour and Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series.
 

Fishing is for everyone
According to the International Game Fish Association, fishing was first documented by Egyptian artwork and is one of the oldest and most popular outdoor sports. What makes fishing so unique is that it is completely nondiscriminatory. Although tournament fishing requires a tremendous amount of skill and stamina, all people, regardless of their physical stature or gender can participate as equals in the sport. No 4.3-second 40s or 500-pound bench presses are required - just a desire to learn the skills and the determination use them under sometimes difficult conditions.
One out of every six people 16 and older fishes an average of 16 days per year, spending more than $1,000 in the process. Fishing is popular among women - 27 percent of anglers are female. In fact, there are more women who fish than who play basketball, volleyball, softball, golf or tennis. And fishing, more than any other sport, is family oriented. Sixty-five percent of nonanglers and 88 percent of anglers say they would go fishing or fish more often if asked by a child.
 

Worldwide Coverage
The "FLW Outdoors" show will be broadcast throughout the world in such countries as Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary and the United Kingdom. In total, "FLW Outdoors" will reach more than 300 million households outside the U.S.; making it the most widely viewed weekly outdoor-sports television show in the world. Through CCTV5, China alone will broadcast to 210 million households, while Germany and Russia will each reach over 30 million households. In addition, negotiations with other international broadcasters are currently being finalized.
 

Texas Redfish Series Announces Media Coverage
"2006 is going to be an exciting year. We have partnered with the TV Show "Secrets of the Bays" to televise all of the tournaments including the championship. The tournaments will air on the Sportsman Channel on Friday nights at 9:00 PM."