CYBERBASS: FLW Outdoors to start fantasy fishing game online
True, bass can be a tough nut to crack. Predicting the top finishers in a bass tournament with as many as 200 contestants can be even tougher.
Still, thousands of people are going to have boatloads of fun trying to pick winners this year, and many of them are going to reel in some valuable prizes in the process. In fact, someone will net a cool $1 million cash playing FLW Outdoors' FantasyFishing.com game before summer is out.
Pinch me if you think I'm dreaming. But I promise I'm not. FLW's newest twist on fantasy sports is destined to turn at least one person into an instant millionaire. Hundreds of others will win shares of nearly $2.4 million in cash and prizes guaranteed to be given away to participants over the course of the 2008 Wal-Mart FLW Tour season, which gets underway Feb. 28.
And get this. You don't even have to wet a hook or have any prior knowledge of fishing to play. Better yet, it doesn't cost a dime to enter.
FLW Outdoors is a tournament fishing organization based in Benton, Ky. The company conducts more than 200 bass,walleye, redfish, king fish and striper tournaments across the country each year. The tournaments are divided into a series of levels and divisions, and the bass-fishing Wal-Mart FLW Tour is the organization's signature series.
Bass tournament competitors ante up healthy entry fees to compete -- some as high as $3,500 for a single event that pays back as much as $200,000 to the angler who accumulates the heaviest weight total over four competition days.
Tournament venues vary. This year's FLW Tour schedule includes six qualifying events -- Lake Toho in Florida, Lewis Smith in Alabama, Lake Norman in North Carolina, Beaver Lake in Arkansas, Fort Loudoun-Tellico in Tennessee and the Detroit River in Michigan.
The top qualifiers will advance to the 2008 Forrest Wood Cup on Lake Murray in South Carolina. The winner of that tournament will win a $1 million grand prize.
FantasyFishing.com: What is it?
Fantasy sports games have been around for years. The concept was launched around major league baseball and quickly spread to football and other professional sportss arenas. In team sports like baseball and football, fantasy participants choose make believe teams by selecting real-life players and compete based on their players' performances.
The fantasy concept is not new to professional fishing. FLW Outdoors and BASS have been dabbling in it for several seasons. But the paybacks have never been richer than they are now. Not even close.
FLW's guaranteed $1 million cash payout to the winner of its fantasy competition is the richest ever offered in fantasy sports games.
The remaining $1.4 million of the guaranteed purse will be paid out in the form of cash and prizes including boats, trucks, ATVs, jet skis, gift certificates, savings bonds, gas cards and much more. The top-ranked fantasy player in every tournament will win $100,000 cash.
Playing the game
It's as simple logging on to the FantasyFishing.com Web site and filling out a short registration form. That's when the competition begins. Once registered, players pick 10 pro anglers they think will fare well in each tournament. The anglers are ranked 1-10.
That's it. The anglers take it from there.
Fantasy participants earn points based on where their anglers finish in each tournament. Bonus points are awarded for each angler pick that finishes in the Top 10 standings, or in the same place in the order they were ranked.
Hundreds of ways to win
The FantasyFishing.com player that accumulates the most points at the end of each tournament wins $100,000. An additional $343,595 worth of prizes will be divided among the top finishers in each qualifying event. Each qualifying event pays back 585 places. The Forrest Wood Cup pays back 639 places.
Consistency counts big time in FantasyFishing.com. The player who accumulates the most overall points at the end of the season wins $1 million.
The earning potential doesn't end there. Players are automatically entered in the Rank 7 Bonus Game once they pick a pro team. Rank 7 will pay up to $5 million to the first player who correctly picks the Top 7 finishers, in order, in any 2008 FLW Tour event. Players also are allowed to set up their own leagues to compete against their friends if they want.
The player's advantage
All sorts of variables come into play in bass fishing. Not all anglers are created equal. Nor are the tournament lakes. Other elements like changing weather conditions, water levels and the season of the year impact how well the fish bite and which fishing techniques and lures will work the best.
It appears that followers of professional fishing might have a leg up nonfishing peers once the game begins. But that is not necessarily true.
To assist contestants in making more educated picks, the company is offering an optional subscription called the "Player's Advantage." The $39.95 annual subscription links to angler profiles, lake reports, expert analysis and other valuable resources that can help contestants fine tune their choices from one tournament to the next. The service also provides e-mail or mobile notification to keep you informed on how your picks are faring over the course of the event.
Who can play?
The contest is open to anyone who is legally competent to enter into legally binding agreements under the laws of the jurisdiction in which they reside, unless otherwise specified in the game rules.
Contestants are allowed to enter picks for each tournament once. Attempts to enter multiple times under different e-mail addresses is grounds for disqualification, according to game rules.
Log on to the Web site to learn more about FantasyFishing.com. There are links to easy-to-understand instructional videos and other good tools to help you improve your chances of reeling in some big prizes once the tournament season gets underway.
• Matt Williams' e-mail address is mattwilliams@netdot.com.
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