Overview Major League Fishing runs bass fishing as a live-scored sport: at its top level an official rides in every boat, each bass is weighed the moment it is caught and released, and the leaderboard moves in real time against a daily Cutline that decides who survives to the next day. MLF describes itself as the world's largest tournament fishing organization, hosting 172 bass tournaments a year across the United States, with MLF tournaments licensed in 20 countries, and it produces all of its own events and content. Anglers Boyd Duckett and Gary Klein came up with the idea, MLF was set up in 2010 with Outdoor Channel, and in 2019 it bought Fishing League Worldwide. In MLF's 2025 decks, Kroenke Sports and Entertainment owned half of MLF and a company owned by the professional anglers owned the other half. On site The pro level is the Bass Pro Tour, which in 2025 ran seven four-day stages from January to August, plus Heavy Hitters, a big-bass all-star event fished out of league boats and jerseys, and the General Tire Team Series of two-angler teams. The season ends at REDCREST, where the top pros and grassroots qualifiers fish for a $300,000 top prize, alongside the REDCREST Outdoor Sports Expo: three free days of more than 150,000 square feet of exhibits, seminars, meet and greets and giveaways, held in 2026 at the Bass Pro Shops flagship in Springfield, Missouri. Beneath the tour run the MLF5 trails, named for the five fish each angler brings to the scales at the day's weigh-in: the Tackle Warehouse circuit, the Toyota Series, the Phoenix Bass Fishing League with 200-boat fields in 24 divisions, and the Abu Garcia college and high school series. Audience More than 30,000 anglers fish MLF's grassroots events a year, including about 1,800 college anglers from more than 800 schools and 10,000 high school anglers. MLF counts its grassroots anglers as fishing about 84 days a year. In the MRI data it cites, more than half of MLF's television fans do not watch the NFL and nearly three quarters do not watch NASCAR. Talent and Influencers MLF's 2025 partnership decks list Kevin VanDam, the Bass Fishing Hall of Famer, among its angler co-owners. REDCREST has been won by Bobby Lane in 2022, Bryan Thrift in 2023 and Dustin Connell in 2024, and the tour's field has included Jacob Wheeler, Edwin Evers and Mike Iaconelli. MLF's eight-episode series Circuit Breaker followed one Bass Pro Tour angler through a full season. Track record Bass Pro Tour stages stream live on MLF's site, the MOTV app and Rumble, then air as two-hour shows on Discovery Channel and Outdoor Channel, with a Heavy Hitters recap on CBS in December next to an NFL game. Through the first four events of 2025, MLF's livestream views ran 53 percent ahead of 2024 and minutes watched 35 percent ahead. In 2025 MLF brought in Zoomph to measure sponsor exposure across social and digital. Brand presence A brand can take the title or presenting position on a Bass Pro Tour stage or a Team Series event, or put its name on the Cutline itself. At Heavy Hitters and the Team Series, logos ride on angler and officials' jerseys and on the competition boats; livestream segments carry an on-screen sponsor for about 20 minutes a day. On the grassroots trails partners brand trailer rears, stage backdrops, windflags, the weigh-in bags and tanks and the release boat, and can post contingency awards for anglers. In 2025 General Tire, Toyota, Phoenix Boats, Abu Garcia, YETI and Tackle Warehouse each had their names on a series. Each August MLF also runs a Sponsor Pro-Am, where partners' guests fish two days alongside tour pros.