Here’s something you never thought you’d see: Innova struggling to keep talent on its team.
Apparently, Paul McBeth leaving Innova in November of 2018 was the start of a trend. Since that decision, a host of top-tier disc golfers have also left Innova for what they felt were better opportunities. The below list isn’t exhaustive, but it represents a trend that can’t be ignored:
- Adam Hammes left in 2019.
- Drew Gibson left in 2020.
- James Conrad left in 2021.
- Thomas Gilbert left in 2021.
- Ricky Wysocki left in 2022.
Not only is that last one the most recent, but oddly enough, it was almost expected …
After much deliberation I have ended my partnership with Innova Discs! #makinghistory
— Ricky Wysocki (@sockibomb13) December 31, 2021
Rumors swirled about for weeks on social media leading up to Rick’s decision. But now that the 2021 DGPT Player of the Year has decided to bail on the world’s largest disc golf manufacturer, the following question both begs to be asked and demands to be answered …
What on earth is going on at the “funny farm” that is Innova Champion Discs?
Forgot about Marwede too! Geez! They really took a hit this off-season https://t.co/vIgi1Jc3L1
— Hunter Thomas (@FDG_Hunter_T) January 2, 2022
It’d make for a sexy story, but no – the sky’s not falling in Rancho Cucamonga. And there’s no scandal brewing about the mistreatment of players or unhappiness prevailing amongst their pros.
The skinny of the situation is as follows: Innova doesn’t pay their players what they 1) feel they are worth, and 2) can get elsewhere with another disc manufacturer out on the open market.
Here’s the crazy thing, though: Innova doesn’t need anybody, really. No one player is bigger than their brand. Whether it be the absence of McBeth, Wysocki or LeBron James himself, Innova’s going to move plastic with or without the star talent other brands so desperately crave.
Thank you, big-box retailers.
Data’s limited on the state of sales at Innova in the post-McBeth era, but what is available online strongly backs up such a claim. For example, according to Infinite Discs, during the first quarter of 2021, Innova molds occupied five of the top 10 best-selling distance drivers in the U.S.
For fairway drivers, it was even better: six of the top 10 best-sellers.
Again, that was roughly two years after McBeth left Innova.
Innova’s losing players like they’re going out of style. If the company wanted, it could fix the issue. To do so, it would take money and resources. They have plenty of both. Innova knows more about what works (and what doesn’t) than you or me – they’ll be just fine …
For now, at least.
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