TULSA, Okla. – Offering praise to Major League Fishing and its “exciting and innovative style” of bass fishing competition, Mercury Marine and MotorGuide today announced their sponsorship of the new league.
Major League Fishing, a partnership between Outdoor Channel and 24 of the world’s best anglers, features made-for-television bass fishing events designed to bring high-level challenges to participants and entertainment, as well as insight, to audiences.
Mercury served as the exclusive engine sponsor during the inaugural Major League Fishing event, filmed recently on Lake Amistad in southwest Texas. All competing anglers fished in boats equipped with 150-horsepower Mercury engines and MotorGuide trolling motors.
“Mercury Marine is proud to partner with Major League Fishing on this exciting, innovative style of competitive angling,” said Mercury Marine President Mark Schwabero.
“Professional bass circuits have traditionally featured engines in higher horsepower ranges, so we’re thrilled to see this lower horsepower get a chance to be in the spotlight.”
Major League Fishing Commissioner Don Rucks said Mercury has been the “unquestioned leader for years in performance, durability and technology” in the competitive fishing industry.
“We have outstanding partners in Mercury and MotorGuide. These are folks that have supported competitive fishing for a long, long time, and we are absolutely delighted to have them as partners,” Rucks said.
Schwabero, indicating his hope for a long-term partnership, said, “Mercury has just introduced a new 150-horsepower fourstroke that we’d like to see on Major League Fishing boats in the future.”
Major League Fishing’s first event, the Challenge Cup, took place November 6-11 on Lake Amistad near Del Rio, Texas. The Lake Amistad event debuted the league’s innovative format that allows anglers to compete with no limit on the number of legal fish they can catch and weigh. Competitors were not allowed to begin competition with stored, user-generated GPS waypoints, and were not allowed any practice time. The anglers also were equipped with real-time leader boards in their boats.
The Challenge Cup will be offered beginning February 6 on a series of Internet-based pay-per-view broadcasts. The event will be shown on Outdoor Channel in April.