Simon Lizotte makes US$1 million a yr throwing what most individuals name Frisbees.
The son of a Canadian — he nonetheless has ties to the nation and was in
Nova Scotia
serving to a pal design a disc golf course at a ski hill within the fall — he now lives in New England and his experience in course design in a rising sport permits him to make tens of hundreds of {dollars} on prime of his skilled disc golf winnings.
However life wasn’t at all times this manner.
For the primary 4 years of his profession, Lizotte lived in a late-Nineties RV wrapped in a vinyl commercial for Discmania, the Finnish producer that sponsored him. The association was not profitable: no cash, simply free discs “and a shirt and a hat principally,” he stated with amusing.
He’d fly into the USA from Germany, drive to tournaments, characterize the model and entertain followers. The prize cash was modest, a number of hundred {dollars} right here, a thousand {dollars} there, however bills have been low. By the tip of a season, he may earn between $5,000 and $10,000, practically all of it gone earlier than the cycle started once more.
“I bear in mind having 1,000 euros in my checking account again then,” he stated. “For me, 4 digits felt like success.”
Early on, Lizotte acknowledged a tough fact: except he grew to become one of many world’s best gamers, he wouldn’t be capable of make a lot of a residing on match winnings. He’d should construct a private model on the similar time, so he started treating tournaments as a advertising and marketing platform. He leaned into crowd-pleasing high-risk pictures and trick throws, performs that stood out even after they didn’t result in victories.
“Even in tournaments, I’d throw risk-reward pictures not essentially to win, however to entertain,” he stated.
Lizotte’s been recognized to strive pictures together with his eyes closed and ship a disc full circle round a tree earlier than it lands on what in golf could be known as the inexperienced.
“That was an effective way for me to construct a giant following on tour and I didn’t should be the participant who continually wins each match,” he stated.
The method paid off. In 2023, following a breakout aggressive season that included 4 Disc Golf Professional Tour wins, Lizotte signed a 10-year contract with MVP Disc Sports activities LLC price US$1 million.
The corporate a
nnounced the signing on its web site
, calling him “the main man in disc golf — charisma, attraction and one heck of an arm.” The partnership, it stated, “is an ideal match of technical and manufacturing ability and essentially the most naturally proficient disc golfer on the planet.”
Disc golf is rising worldwide, with 16,000-plus programs in additional than 90 nations and thousands and thousands of gamers logging rounds every year, in line with analysis agency Enterprise Analysis Insights. The tools market alone is price tons of of thousands and thousands and will attain US$1 billion by the early 2030s.
Disc golf participation and trade progress are quickest in North America and Europe, making it one of many fastest-growing out of doors sports activities globally.
It’s gaining severe traction in Canada, too. There are greater than 90 programs in Ontario, practically 47,000 gamers booked rounds in British Columbia in 2024 and participant counts at prime programs throughout the nation and infrastructure are rising.
Born in Germany to a Canadian father and German mom, Lizotte was raised in Germany after his household returned from Canada. He’s nonetheless a Canadian citizen, however now lives in Grafton, Mass. At this time, he attributes three out of each 4 {dollars} he makes to his media presence and product gross sales slightly than match outcomes.
“You want a giant model and it’s good to promote discs,” he stated. “That was the trail to creating this a profession.”
Early on, he leaned closely into Instagram, posting disc golf trick pictures impressed partially by creators similar to Brodie Smith, who constructed a large following via
trick-shot movies on YouTube.
Lizotte launched his YouTube channel in 2018. Since then, he has posted greater than 400 movies and grown his viewers to over 215,000 subscribers.
“That took off shockingly quick,” he stated. “Particularly when COVID began and lockdowns started. I noticed it as a possibility to go all in on YouTube, posting actually each different day.”
For roughly six months, Lizotte maintained that tempo and his channel grew to become a central engine of his model. One month, he made nearly US$25,000 in advert income.
By the mid-2010s, disc producers started monetizing participant reputation extra straight via “signature discs” — normal moulds stamped with a participant’s title or emblem. Gamers sometimes earned between US$2 and US$4 per disc bought. For athletes with giant followings, these margins shortly outpaced their prize cash.
However there’s extra prize cash now, and annual winnings can hit six figures.
The sport’s turning level was the pandemic. Participation surged as a result of anybody can play it and it’s comparatively low-cost. Producers expanded manufacturing, and media publicity — notably via YouTube — accelerated progress.
Now 33, Lizotte is underneath contract with MVP Discs for six extra years. He continues to compete at a excessive degree, however he’s more and more targeted on longevity, each financially and bodily as years of throwing have taken a toll on his elbow.
That’s why contemplating new aspect gigs similar to designing programs is necessary.
“In the event you design three or 4 programs a yr, that’s superb,” he stated. “The enterprise aspect of it’s fascinating.”
Lizotte was in Nova Scotia for that motive in November, visiting a property together with his pal, Ben Smith, a well known course designer in Jap Canada who’s engaged on a course at Ski Wentworth, about an hour-and-a-half drive from Halifax. Smith invited Lizotte to supply an expert participant’s perspective.
“He needed suggestions on the land and the imaginative and prescient,” he stated. “I used to be joyful to be there; it was a variety of enjoyable.”
Typically a participant may even generate income on the way in which out.
Living proof: Lizotte in late 2022 introduced his departure from Discmania. To mark the event, the corporate launched 20,000 farewell signature discs, which bought out in 25 minutes, making him $80,000 richer.
“That was loopy,” he stated.
The second underscored a broader shift in skilled disc golf economics. Years of audience-building allowed Lizotte to make some huge cash unbiased of match outcomes, conventional promoting or broadcast publicity. The worth lay in direct fan relationships and that’s the way you make thousands and thousands throwing a Frisbee.
“It’s loopy, proper?” he stated. “However I at all times knew I used to be working in direction of one thing good. I simply stored working towards it.”
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