This past off-season was batty, wasn’t it?
Some of the biggest names in professional disc golf changed sponsors. And not just those small, “mom-and-pop” deals you hear about on Instagram – we’re talking about disc manufacturers.
One of the more unexpected moves of the off-season, however, came from Nikko Locastro’s departure from Westside Discs in December – a few things made this especially bizarre:
- Nikko signed a two-year extension with Westside at the start of the 2021 season.
- Nikko won the 2020 Preserve Championship in Clearwater, Minn.
- Nikko won the 2021 Waco Annual Charity Open, as well.
Finding himself without a title sponsor and clearly still capable of winning, the belief was that some company would quickly scoop up Nikko’s services – and perhaps at a bargain, too.
The guy’s track record with sponsors is insane, so why not?
Weeks passed, though – nothing.
Was Nikko really so far off his freaking rocker that not a single disc manufacturer could bring themselves to pay the guy to huck their stuff? Not a chance. In reality, his soon-to-be sponsor was playing chess, while the rest of us were busy fumbling around with checkers chips …
You know how this story ends – Locastro signed with Clash Discs out of Finland:
- One year.
- Six figures.
- Signature series discs.
Here’s the brilliance of it all, though …
Overnight, Clash Discs went from a no-name brand to a key player in disc golf.
Here’s how they did it:
First, they made a splash with a guy who’s 1) freakishly talented, and 2) hard to work with. They live in Finland – the more oceans between ‘em, the better. But this worked for Clash: Nobody went after Nikko. They saw an opportunity to “get in the game,” and they seized it.
Second, Nikko literally waited until the very moment competition began to announce his new sponsor: All-Star Weekend in Tucson, Ariz. And when he did, you responded in the same way I did – in the same way every disc golf fan did: by quickly Googling “Clash Discs.”
That very same weekend, after this little gem of a toss, how could we not?
The first ace of the season clocks in at 536 FT!!!
— Disc Golf Pro Tour (@DiscGolfProTour) February 13, 2022
🥏: @nikkolocastro pic.twitter.com/3ufIJBzTUn
Not a bad way to push plastic for a microscopic, foreign-bred brand.
And lastly, to cap it all off, Clash rode the wave they’d created to enter the American market. No joke, at the time of Nikko’s signing, Clash offered only six molds, and you couldn’t buy their discs in the U.S. Heck, you still need Google Translate to read their all-Finnish website …
Today, Infinite Discs gushes about the company on their blog. The retailer also offers their plastic to anyone who hopes to build a mixed bag along the lines of what Nikko rocks.
So to recap, here’s the formula:
Polarizing Player + Anxious Audience + Delayed Announcement = Sponsor Success
Did Clash Discs win this past off-season?
Eh, probably not – Discraft would like a word …
But if we’re to solely measure off-season success by the amount of market share a manufacturer gains from the end of one season to the start of the next, they obliterate the competition.
Listen, Clash Discs played us …
And because of it, we’ll all soon be playing with them – with their plastic, that is.
Have anything to add? Take to Twitter to let us know – we’ll actually (for real) get back to you.
