Playing disc golf for a living sounds amazing right? It seems like all you have to do is get good enough and then just go on tour and you’re set! This is far from the truth. Disc golf is still a long ways away from being a sport that is easy to make a living completely off of tournament earnings. I hope this post sheds some light into the financial struggle that many pros go through to play this game we love.

The first thing that needs to be considered is how much do pros make at each event. For this data, I am going to look at a typical touring pro. I am not going to be looking at the Paul type players who are finishing top 3 at every event. Instead I am going to look at the average player on tour. For example, let’s look at Austin Turner. At the point of me writing this, Austin has averaged cashing around $510 at each event. After factoring in entry fees, assuming they are not covered by Discraft, he profits about $395 on average at each tournament. This comes out to a total of $8,690 profit up to this point. I am not going to factor in anything that he receives from his sponsor due to the fact that I do not know an estimate as to what Discraft gives him financially. Next we will factor in travel costs. From January to June, he traveled a total of 12,221 miles. Averaging 30 miles to the gallon, gas will cost him $1,018. More than likely this is cut in half at least due to touring with people. So we will say his profit is at $8,181 for the year. This does not include his trip to Europe because I know that no player would go there without the sponsor paying for it. These numbers also do not include driving while at locations or any trips home. Next up on the list of expenses is lodging. Assuming that he stayed at friends’ houses for 25% of the nights on the road and always split an average priced hotel room, lodging costs a total of $2,550. This leaves $5,631 profit left for food and taxes. We will be a little generous with food and say that it cost a total of $1,200 which brings the profit for the year down to $4,431. Finally, the government takes about $1,700 if this is his only income source. This leaves him with $2,731 profit left from touring. This number is based completely on estimates, but gives a good general idea to what a player would make touring without a sponsor. This also does not factor in any phone plans, car payments, insurance, etc. I am sure that Discraft treats Austin very well and that the profit numbers are a lot higher for him, but for an average player trying to make it without a sponsorship, it is nearly impossible.

This is where other jobs, passive income, clinics, running tournaments, and many other things come into play. Many of the top pros have a tour series disc where they are receiving somewhere in the range of $3-$5 per disc that you buy with their name on it. This is much more profitable than any tournament they can play in. Think of how many times Sexton Firebirds sold out. Now imagine Nate Sexton making around $4 off of each of these. Tour life is beginning to make sense now right? I have also heard that it is more profitable for Paul and Nate to run a McBeast challenge than it is for them to play in a tournament. I am sure this is true for most pros with tour series discs and side tournaments. For pros that are not at that level, it is all about marketing yourself so that you can run successful clinics, sell personal stamped discs, and really get creative with alternative ways to make money and support your dream.

Many of us sit here and dream about what it would be like to be a touring pro, but few think about all the time and effort that goes into making sure you have enough money to live. I hope that in a few years people will be able to read this post and laugh at how little pros make, but until then the grind continues. Touring pros have to balance their side jobs on top of practice and being dedicated to the sport that they love in order to make a living. Right now, the players at the very top live comfortably, but hopefully soon there will be enough money in the sport that we will be able to say that for most touring pros.

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