Is Brodie Smith Good For Disc Golf?

Brodie Smith has a big personality. He has been a polarizing figure since his foray into disc golf in December of 2019. Like him or hate him, he has brought more people to the sport of disc golf. But is this what we really want? The sport is in uncharted territory due to an explosion in popularity. With COVID as a backdrop and Smith bringing more eyeballs to the sport we are not simply a fringe activity anymore. Let’s take a look at Smith’s journey into disc golf and why he is such a polarizing figure.

Background

Brodie Smith rose to prominence as a premier ultimate frisbee player at the University of Florida, where he won two USA Ultimate College Championships, in 2006 and 2010. He went on to a career in professional ultimate frisbee before a nagging knee injury slowed him down.

Throughout this time he started a YouTube channel. He rose to fame for doing ultimate frisbee trick shots. Some of these shots were featured on “Sportscenter’s Top Ten” segment and garnered him many fans. Smith gained a loyal following out of this attention and currently boasts 2.2 million subscribers.

Venturing Into Disc Golf

On Dec. 27, 2019, Brodie Smith announced on Twitter “My disc golf journey begins in 2020!” By January 17, 2020, he had a sponsorship with Discraft. This was met with great speculation and murmurs around the disc golf community. His critics saw this as another attempt to monetize his social media fame while supporters in the disc golf community saw this as a way to grow the sport.

He posted various videos to YouTube throughout the next few months and competed in his first tournament beginning on March 12, 2020. The tournament was the Waco Annual Charity Open and is a huge early-season tournament that is part of the Disc Golf Pro Tour (DGPT). This is where his critics began to make their voices heard as Smith played the opening round on the feature card with Paul McBeth, Drew Gibson, and Cale Leiviska. His critics pointed to the fact that this was his first-ever disc golf tournament and he was already playing on a feature card. Other players have grinded for years on the road and never played on a feature card. Why spoon-feed this guy?

Smith has developed a relationship with Paul McBeth in which they have collaborated on multiple videos. McBeth has also become a mentor and somewhat of a coach to Smith’s disc golf game. They even went in on a business venture together to co-own Foundation Disc Golf, a disc golf retailer and media outlet. Many critics point to the fact that if they had Paul McBeth as a mentor they could be where Brodie Smith is now. We’ll never know, but the fact is that currently, Brodie Smith is 999 rated and getting better all the time. He has proven that this was not just a media stunt and that he is taking the sport seriously.

While he is selling a multitude of products through Discraft, he is giving back to the sport by posting a huge volume of videos on his YouTube channel, playing heaps of tournaments, and making himself available for fan interaction. This has undoubtedly led to more respect and more fans.

And the numbers do not lie. As of this moment the opening round front nine at Waco, of which Smith was on the card, has over 570k views on Brodie Smith’s YouTube page. The final nine at Waco, which Smith was not on the card, has over 333k views on the JoMez Pro page. Final rounds always have more views than opening rounds. Why does this tournament have more than 230k more views for the opening round than the final round?

Growth

Brodie Smith is bringing more advertising dollars into the sport. Some of the larger companies that are now involved in disc golf are Bushnell, Arby’s, and Grip6 Belts. Disc golf also was covered on TV via two influential sports networks; the Dynamic Discs Open was covered on CBS Sports Network in August 2020 while the Disc Golf Pro Tour (DGPT) Championship aired on ESPN2 in November 2020. Long time disc golf media outlet JoMez Pro assisted with shooting and producing the tournaments, bringing more money and notoriety into the disc golf circle.

While disc golf has had segments on major TV networks in the past, these marked the first time that extended tournament coverage was broadcast. It was a true stepping stone for disc golf. Was this just a result of other major sports limiting their seasons due to COVID or was this a result of Brodie Smith bringing more eyes to the sport and giving it legitimacy? It certainly is a combination of many factors but the fact is that the timing of Brodie Smith’s venture into disc golf has synced up directly with massive gains in advertising, sponsorship, and viewership of disc golf.

But is this what disc golf really wants? Do we want more outside influence in the sport? Disc golf has a grass roots history that dates back to the 1970’s and has grown by word of mouth and by witnessing the wonder of flight. Disc golf purists do not want to see the game change due to more money and outside influence flowing into the sport. They point to aspects such as disc golf being played on ball golf courses to accommodate more spectators and better camera angles as just the reason that disc golf need not grow any further. Is disc golf selling it’s soul for money and growth? Should we try to keep disc golf in its purest form by always competing through the woods?

Brodie Smith has a young fan base. He is bringing younger players to the sport that do not necessarily know the history and unwritten rules of the sport. Critics will point to this as a lack of respect while supporters will say that every sport has to go through growing pains to gain legitimacy amongst the culture. Again, the numbers do not lie. Tournaments across the country have begun to fill up with more youth players. Traditionally, disc golf was played by middle-aged men. Now, the sport is trending toward players of all ages and backgrounds.

Conclusion

Brodie Smith represents a change in disc golf. He represents a future involving larger advertising and sponsorship deals and disc golf venturing into bigger media markets. He represents a changing of demographics from the historical demographic of disc golfers. Everyone has their own take. But the bottom line is this; Brodie Smith is bringing more people and more money to the sport of disc golf. Disc golf is in the midst of massive growth with a future that will have influences from many outside sources. Let’s use the attention that Smith has garnered for our sport to grow disc golf in a manner that we can all be proud of.