The events of this week have shown us just how tenuous major-league bass fishing truly is. It's the final pop of the decade's fishing bubble – the same one that burst in NASCAR – and it started with the Citgo and Anheuser-Busch pullout from BASS, followed by the Advance Auto Parts retreat.
It's somewhat fortunate for BASS that its sponsor collapse happened largely before the current recession. BASS scaled back, regrouped and moved forward primarily with support from endemic companies that don't have any choice but to participate, no matter the economic clime. And I count Toyota in BASS's endemic portfolio, because a truck and boat go hand-in-hand.
Trouble at FLW Outdoors began last year when Playtex and ConAgra walked away, and continued this year with zero or diminished involvement from Land O' Lakes, Walmart, BP and uncertainty about Castrol, Proctor & Gamble and others.
Plus, FLW's biggest endemic sponsor, Pure Fishing, walked away this week. The hope among everyone is that Cabela's can help fill that void, but it hasn't exactly been a stellar year for retailers.
In response, FLW Outdoors has cut trails, cut purses, cut staff and cut production costs.
Amidst all that concern, though, came yesterday's bombshell that Genmar will be sold – probably within the next few weeks. That means Ranger's on the selling block. And remember that Ranger is the sole reason FLW Outdoors exists.
It's decidedly hard to imagine that Irwin Jacobs, who serves as both Genmar chairman and FLW Outdoors chairman, would put all his weight behind FLW Outdoors to help sell boats for a party that wrested Ranger away from him.
What if Bombardier (Evinrude) makes a play and gets Ranger? The engine manufacturer and Jacobs are currently in a spitting match that undoubtedly traces back to the Genmar bankruptcy and the significant monies owed between Evinrude, Genmar and FLW Outdoors. How would Jacobs feel about operating FLW Outdoors to sell boats for Evinrude?
The news is the same at Brunswick – there's no love lost between that company and Jacobs.
Then there's the possibility that Ranger could go to a buyer who just doesn't get the whole pro-fishing thing. And would such a buyer pay off the balance of what Ranger owes FLW Outdoors (Operation Bass) – listed as $3.26 million at the start of the BK? Would such a buyer honor Ranger warranties?
There's certainly a buzz in the fishing community that Ranger founder Forrest Wood, along with current Ranger management and employees, could make a play.
As it sits right now, Genmar shopped itself heavily for the past few months and no clear buyer emerged. It wasn't able to obtain the credit to bail itself out, and so the sell-off has begun.
During that shopping period, Genmar selected one party (named only as the stalking horse) as being in the best position to purchase assets. That doesn't necessarily mean the stalking horse is truly interested. There's every possibility it's simply a straw buyer meant to fend off outside parties and gain Jacobs time to buy back profit-makers like Ranger and Four Winns.
After all, Jacobs knows his way around bankruptcy courts – he built Genmar by purchasing bankrupt boat companies for pennies on the dollar.
Caught in the middle are the creditors that Genmar owes – everybody from engine manufacturers to media to parts suppliers to lure manufacturers to pros.
And right now there are families all around the U.S. wondering if dad will have a job next year as a pro fisherman. Much of that depends on who winds up with Ranger, and to a lesser degree Stratos and Champion.
It's tough to grasp all the ramifications of what happened this week, but through it all, one truth resonates: Don't underestimate concern for the future of FLW Outdoors with Ranger on the auction block.
