Do Professional Disc Golfers Make Money?
Yes, professional disc golfers obviously make money! Professional Disc Golf players participate in various tournaments and apart from tournament winnings, a lot of money comes from sponsorships and promotions, just like in any other professional sports.
For example, two of the highest paid male professional disc golfers are Paul McBeth and Ricky Wysocki, both earning a guaranteed $1,000,000 a year from their sponsors. The total earnings per year are probably even higher than that, but as we do not know the details of their contracts, one can only speculate.
As for FPO, female professional open players, the TOP earning FPO players are all making around the same figure per year, which stands at ~$125,000. PS! Out of handful of potential high salary earning players, only two FPO player’s contracts have been announced publicy. These contracts belong to Kristin Tattar and Kona Star Panis, both are earning a guaranteed $125,000 a year.
If you are interested in reading about the McBeth & Wysocki MILLION dollar per year contracts or FPO players Tattar and Panis contracts, you can find the information at the end of this article.
How much money does an elite level pro disc golfer make?
The TOP 20 Prize Money Earners in disc golf earned ~$70,000 on average during the 2023 season. PS! This does NOT include sponsorship deals or any other incomes, ONLY tournament prize money earnings.
For example, Kristin Tattar earned the most prize money during the whole season, a record breaking $116,247 & the #20 tournament prize money earner on the list was Ella Hansen, who earned $41,894 from tournament winnings.
Here are the TOP 10 Prize Money Earners in Disc Golf in 2022
Continue reading here – https://discgolffanatic.com/top-10-prize-money-earners-in-disc-golf-in-2023/
What if you are not as good as Wysocki, McBeth nor Tattar, how much money do average touring professional disc golfers make?
Here’s a great answer from James, author of DiscGolfMentor.com:
Most players are certainly not at the level of Paul McBeth, and we should consider that not all of these players have lucrative sponsorships. The money from solely winning disc golf tournaments could cause some players to reconsider going pro.
The earnings drop off considerably further down the list. Let’s look at the 50th ranked male player in the United States as of 2021.
Rank Name 2021 Earnings Career Earnings 50 Andrew Presnell $31,406 $106,980 The money just isn’t there unless you score a sponsorship, which may only happen if you’re one of the best players in the world.
In 2020, the purse total was about $3.25 million; one year later, it almost doubled to $6.4 million. Compared to 2018, the Disc Golf Pro Tour payouts were 58% higher in 2021, with National Tour payouts up 61%. This is a huge increase in a short amount of time, considering the organized sport of disc golf hasn’t been around for long.
It should be said as well that high paying sponsorships are becoming more and more commonplace at the profession level for disc golfers which is making the sport more and more appealing as a career move.
Read the full article here – https://discgolfmentor.com/how-much-money-do-pro-disc-golfers-make-and-how-it-compares-to-other-sports/
Disc golf tournament payouts have increased significantly
Disc golf has gained a lot of popularity in recent years and the professionals are making more money than ever before!
Ian Cleghorn, writer from UDisc:
The table shows 14 of the largest events in 2021 that also ran in 2020. The sums of their purses jumped from $777,306 to $1,222,630.
Source – https://udisc.com/blog/post/money-talks-disc-golfs-all-time-top-earners-more
For example, the 2021 Disc Golf Pro Tour Championship winner Nathan Queen won $30,000, 2021 United States Disc Golf Championship winner Paul McBeth took home $20,000 for winning the title. James Conrad won the 2021 PDGA Professional Disc Golf World Championships title and won $16,500 for the first place.
Ian Cleghorn, writer from UDisc:
In 2021, we saw some of the largest cash purses in pro disc golf history. The standout, of course, was the $250,000 doled out at the Disc Golf Pro Tour Championship, which now ranks as the largest purse ever at a disc golf tournament.
Money Talks: Disc Golf’s All-Time Top Earners & More
If you are looking for more numbers and all-time top earners list, check out this UDisc’s article – https://udisc.com/blog/post/money-talks-disc-golfs-all-time-top-earners-more
Do Professional Disc Golfers Pay Taxes on Winnings?
Yes. Pro disc golfers earn cash or prize money from tournaments and they have to pay taxes. As long as a disc golfer is a resident of the US, the player has to pay the Federal Income Tax. This tax is payable in cases of winning inside and outside the country. Same case most probably applies to any other country and their disc golfers.
Pro TIP! If you start earning money with disc golf, you might want to check out your local Income Tax laws just in case!
How Any Disc Golfer Can Get Sponsored by Scott Stokely
Are you an up-and-coming disc golfer, who is looking for sponsors? Check out this video from Scott Stokely on how any disc golfer can get sponsored:
Read more about Paul McBeth’s contract with Discraft here:
Paul McBeth Signs 10-Year, $10 Million Contract Extension with Discraft
Ricky Wysocki Signed a 4 Year, $4 Million Contract with Dynamic Discs, here:
Ricky Wysocki Signs 4 Year, $4 Million Contract with Dynamic Discs
Kristin Tattar Signed 4-Year, $500K Extension With Latitude 64, read more here:
Kristin Tattar Signs 4-Year, $500K Extension With Latitude 64
Kona Panis Signed a 4 Year, $500K Deal with Dynamic Discs, read more here: