The risk of fishing the Bassmaster Elite Series has been removed with the elimination of entry fees.
“It’s the best thing ever,” Greg Hackney, of Gonzales, La., said. “This is like a new beginning. I’m as excited about this year as I was when I came back in 2021. It’s new and different. This is really the biggest thing since the Elites started.”
Hackney said he’s thrilled he won’t have to shell out another $45,000 in entry fees. In his quarter century of Bassmaster competition, Hackney’s entry fees have totaled almost $1 million.
“I have a lot of experience. I’ve fished a lot of different tournament trails, and I’ve been around,” the 51-year-old from Gonzales, La., said. “In my career, I’ve spent a lot of money on bass fishing. I’ll enjoy going to work next year and not having to pay to play.”
Buddy Gross said he’s happy to be able to play at all. Gross, of Chattanooga, Tenn., said returning for his sixth Elite season was unlikely before the no-entry move, and he knows he’s not the only one in that boat.
“I didn’t see a way I could come back losing the sponsorships I did. It’s not anything I’ve done,” the 52-year-old said. “Everybody is losing sponsor dollars in the fishing world.
“What B.A.S.S. has done is a positive thing. MLF went to $6,500 an event this year — we went to zero. I’m not complaining about it.”
More than $4.5 million will stay in Elite anglers’ pockets. On the other hand, B.A.S.S. has increased its contributions by $200,000 to provide $4.1 million in payouts for the Elites and Classic next year.
“They’re putting $4.1 million in, and we’re not fishing for our own money anymore,” Gross said. “How can you ask for anything better?”
“This is not an experiment,” Hackney said. “MLF experimented playing with someone else’s money. B.A.S.S. is not playing with someone else’s money. It’s all theirs.
“This is a tried-and-true business that’s been around for 50 years, and it will be around for the next 50 if this planet still exists.”
The knock from some anglers is the payout scale was altered to be more performance based. Elite winners still receive $100,000, and payouts now graduate down to 40th place.
“It’s always been top heavy,” said Hackney, the active money leader with $2.9 million in earnings. “There are 100 guys, and like most professional sports, it’s not designed where the whole 100 is going to make it. I hate to say it. They’re not.”
Still, analysis by B.A.S.S. of the past four seasons shows two-thirds of the field would have been better off financially under the new model without entry fees. The rewards might not be as great, but the risk is gone.
“I went back on the numbers, and it works,” Hackney said. “On a good year, you’re not worried about it. But a bad year won’t sting as bad. They’ll sting mentally, but at least they won’t hurt your pocketbook and affect your family as they had in the past.
“And now, when you hit a big lick, you’ve really hit one. I always take my entry fees out of my winnings. When you win an event, now first place is legitimately $100,000. You clear $100,000.”
The move also elevates bass fishing in the sports world, putting it more on par with other professional leagues whose players don’t pay to play. Hackney marveled that B.A.S.S. was able to make the move in the current economy.
“Honestly, it’s the worst economy since 2008,” he said. “If we get the economy going in the right direction, this deal will just get better over time.”
Hackney and Gross hope payouts increase in the future, yet they think naysayers aren’t taking into account they’re already starting the year $45,000 ahead.
“I don’t think the money has been great before this, when we were paying to play,” he said. “Now that we have the opportunity to just show up and fish free, they’re burning it down? I’m very happy about the change.
“Fishing has always been performance based. And it is now. I saw the paybacks, and I’m not saying it’s perfect, but it’s better than it’s been.”
Both Hackney and Gross said the move gives anglers a greater chance to invest, whether it be in their equipment, IRAs, real estate, etc.
“There’s no retirement in the sport of bass fishing,” Hackney said. “We’re all self-employed. We’re all individual businesses. The only way to have retirement is investments. For me, this looks like a perfect opportunity.”
In his 236 B.A.S.S. tournaments, Hackney has won six times and took the Bassmaster Angler of the Year title in 2014. Gross has earned $523,600 in 57 entries, which includes two $100,000 Elite titles.
Both said the top-loaded payouts should change how anglers approach tournaments, with more shooting to win. Hackney and Gross both understand the angst among anglers who only fished for cut checks of $10,000, which have been significantly reduced, but they think those anglers aren’t considering the bottom line.
“Most of the ones who’ve never won a tournament are the ones going to have the hardest time with it,” Gross said. “I may never win another one, but I’m always out there trying to win.
“I’m not out there worrying about what 40th place pays. Sure, we all want to make more money. If you finish 40th all year long, you’re not going to be able to buy a new Mercedes.”
Hackney said he wishes any issues would be kept internal. Negative publicity could decrease the chance of gaining new sponsors, hurting the potential of improving payouts.
“We need to treat it like a business and keep it closed doors among our employees and our business,” Hackney said. “Don’t put it out to public. The public doesn’t pay my bills.
“We don’t want to scare a Toyota, or whoever’s looking to get in this bass fishing deal, then starts reading all these comments — ‘Do I want to put money there?’ We are professionals, and we need to start acting like it.”
B.A.S.S. provides the Elites with the best platform in the industry. After Bassmaster experienced record TV viewership in 2024, B.A.S.S., FOX and FS1 have expanded coverage in 2025.
Along with weekend Elite Bassmaster LIVE broadcasts on FS1, the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic will air for six hours on FOX, which recently added Championship Sunday afternoon coverage of the Lake Fork and Lake Tenkiller Elites.
The positive exposure could keep the needle moving forward. Again, Hackney said he’s looking at the big picture, and the move to no-entry fees is huge.
“I can fish for the same money, but it’s not costing me anything,” he said. “This is one of the greatest steps in the right direction since the Elite Series started.”
