MLF Announces Major Changes For BPT

Back To Every-Fish-Counts

October 17, 2023

By MLF Communications Staff

BENTON, Ky. – Major League Fishing today announced long-term plans for the Bass Pro Tour, including an investment in increased livestreaming of MLF competition, a return to the every-fish-counts scoring format and an exclusive roster of 50 anglers for the BPT in 2025 to increase visibility and showcase top performers.

2025 Bass Pro Tour

The 2025 Bass Pro Tour field will feature an all-star roster of 50 anglers comprised of the Top 35 pros from the 2024 Bass Pro Tour lifetime Angler of the Year (AOY) standings, the Top 10 anglers from the 2024 Bass Pro Tour single-year standings who did not qualify via the Top 35 lifetime AOY standings and the Top 5 anglers from the 2024 MLF Invitationals.

Each regular-season 2025 BPT event will be four days with every angler competing the first two days. The Top 20 anglers based on two-day cumulative weight will advance to the Knockout Round (Day 3). Weights will reset in the Knockout Round, and the Top 10 anglers will advance to the Championship Round (Day 4). Winners will be determined by heaviest cumulative weight from the Knockout and Championship rounds.

“The future of our sport is livestreaming, catch-weigh-immediate release and every fish counts,” said MLF President and CEO Boyd Duckett. “By focusing on 50 anglers in a more compact event that’s easy for both diehard and casual fans alike to follow, we’ll do what other successful leagues have done to grow – focus on a small group of the highest performers and make them the most visible personalities in the sport. It also allows us to enhance what are already the sport’s best payouts.”

Each Stage on the 2025 Bass Pro Tour will pay $130,000 to the winner and $2,000 through 50th place. REDCREST will feature a top prize of $300,000, with $10,000 through 20th place and $5,000 through last place. Heavy Hitters will feature $100,000 for a win with big bass awards in each round of $25,000, $50,000 and $100,000.

Reinstating Every-Fish-Counts

Scoring on the Bass Pro Tour will return to the every-fish-counts” format in 2024. After scoring each anglers’ five biggest bass per day in 2023, the change will recapture the excitement and pressure of the Tour’s original format.

“We responded in 2023 to fans and anglers who wanted to see how five-fish scoring would work with our ScoreTracker live leaderboard,” said MLF Executive Vice President and General Manager Kathy Fennel. “Unfortunately, viewership growth was stagnant. The Bass Pro Tour thrives on intense competition and the scoring change affected the Tour’s competitiveness in an unexpected way. By reinstating the every-fish-counts scoring structure and having fewer anglers in the Knockout Round, pros will no longer be able to let their guard down without the risk of being overtaken by someone climbing ScoreTracker.”

2024 BPT Format

In addition to the scoring change, the format of each Bass Pro Tour event in 2024 will also be adjusted. Forty anglers in Group A will compete on Days 1 and 3 and 40 anglers in Group B will compete on Days 2 and 4. Only the Top 10 anglers from each group – based on the two-day, heaviest cumulative weight – will advance to the Knockout Round (Day 5). Weights will be zeroed for the Knockout Round and the top 10 anglers will advance to the Championship Round (Day 6).

Weights from the Knockout Round will carry over into the Championship Round and the winner of each event will be decided by the heaviest Knockout and Championship round two-day cumulative weight.

MLFNOW! Livestream Expansion

MLF is adding nearly 20 percent to its livestream offerings in 2024 with the addition of the General Tire Team Series to its MLFNOW! lineup. All six days of competition from each of three qualifiers and all seven days from the General Tire Team Series Championship, filmed in the fall of 2024 for television broadcast in 2025, will be livestreamed on MLFNOW!

Each 2024 Bass Pro Tour Stage will feature four days of MLFNOW! livestreamed coverage – the final two days of the Qualifying Round, the Knockout Round and the Championship Round. REDCREST 2024 will stream all four days of competition and the Heavy Hitters all-star event will stream all six days of competition.

MLF will also livestream all three days at each Invitational stop, as well as the final day of competition from the Toyota Series Championship, BFL All-American and College Fishing National Championship. All told, fishing fans will have a total of 84 full days of MLF livestreamed content to consume in 2024.

“The General Tire Team Series is one of our most exciting products,” Duckett said. “Condensing the Bass Pro Tour livestream to four days allows us to expand our Team Series coverage, which is a win-win for fans. We’ll have an easier to follow Bass Pro Tour format and an extended season with 25 days of Team Series livestream coverage to watch in the fall.”