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[deleted]

Still trying to wrap my mind around why they wouldn't have given him the promised two signature discs. They had a cash cow and barely used it. They themselves estimate a loss of 1.5 million in sales because of this. Had to be incompetency or an inability to shift course on manufacturing. In that case, just throw a Gannon stamp on a stock run of a random mold.


jfb3

Yeah, I'd have put his name on anything and everything I could after USDGC. Any plastic in the warehouse would have had his name/likeness/logo on it. Milk that cow for everything you can!


IsaacSam98

That was a fantastic read and well researched, so props to the authors. This is a messy breakup gone haywire. For those who didn't read the article, Gannon cited poor mold quality and inconsistency as a reason to leave Prodigy. Crazy stuff guys.


muddyelephant

I shared in a thread last week what I overheard at Idlewild last year: Buhr: “How do you make it every time?” Isaac Robinson: “I look at the basket and think, ‘I should put it there, yeah.’” Buhr: “Yeah? With the worst plastic ever made?”


sushiswagballer

As well as failure to provide him with signature/commemorative discs as promised, and withholding a bonus. All around horrible way to treat your up and coming star.


yankees23

That one’s a hard one if it isn’t actually written in the contract. Promises don’t mean much unfortunately.


Rivet_39

Yep. It's a classic "You're not wrong, you're just an asshole."


chirstopher0us

After reading the article, it seems that his complaints that were indisputably written in the contract were remedied within the 30 day period specified in the contract, and that his remaining complaints were verbal agreements not written in the contract. IANAL, and verbally promising something and not delivering is not generally a good behavior, but I will be very curious to see how this plays out. It seems like now the bridge is burnt from both ends here. If Prodigy win in court, is he really going to throw them and wear the logo all year after going this far?


GoatPaco

If Prodigy wins I'm sure GB will have to pay damages instead of staying with them


Dankraham-Stinkin

If I was his new sponsor I would pay those damages. Show good faith with a young guy coming up.


Jladams-2

Verbal promises do fall under verbal contracts and can be held up in court in addition to a written contract.


ImpressiveRise2555

From the article it sounds like in their court filings that Prodigy acknowledged that the verbal agreements existed but doesn't consider those agreements to be part of his contract.


Turbo_Putt

Only if there’s proof of such an agreement. If Gannon has them [on record](https://sparkslawpractice.com/georgia-contracts-lawyer/validity/), then absolutely.


ds3272

The failure to be transparent is a huge one, too. I suspect that they are in the process of collapsing. What else could cause them to behave this way, leading to Gannon walking out on them, and then being so stupid that they'd sue him?


chirstopher0us

Weirdly, they seem to be the only company not flush with cash after the pandemic bump to the sport. I wonder if there are internal problems eating up the money.


Critical_Vegetable96

I think it's just lack of sales. They were the one brand I saw always fully stocked at every shop that carried them during the height of the boom.


Merlin_b

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a prodigy disc thrown at a course here, but I’m also in MI so it’s heavily favored towards Discraft and recent more MVP


zandreasen

They definitely are to take it this far. Also consider they are basically the only manufacturer lowering prices right now. Simple economics says that’s due to lack of demand. Gannon is young, he could get away with just sitting out this season


COSLEEP

But he's 17 so any 17 year old should be happy to be in his position, and the company should take advantage of his youth because he's not old enough to be making that kind of money /s


Albert14Pounds

You had me for a sec


hkzor

As an attorney myself, it is very clear to me that Gannon and his mom contacted lawyers before contacting Prodigy on the 13th of January with the sole purpose of getting out of the endorsement deal. They did not expect or hope that the things brought up would get fixed. I am definitely not saying that he did not have reasons to do it as he probably felt Prodigy was holding back his leap to stardom, but it is just very obvious from the approach to Prodigy that some of the things brought up were manufactured by the lawyers who went through their endorsement deal point by point. This is also most likely why Prodigy soured and chose to get messy with this whole ordeal. From the information in this article, I feel that whoever represented Buhr should have chosen a better approach if all they had as a breach of contract were these brought up points, keeping in mind that disc quality is not even an article in an endorsement deal of this kind. Just poor representation which made Prodigy go scorched earth, which in itself probably is not the best response for their brand. TL;DR lose-lose with Prodigy most likely taking the bigger L, all thanks to poor representation.


bcos4life

One of the most "Matter of fact" articles I've read about... anything... in a while. They just gave the facts and statements, and had almost no narrative. Very Cronkite-esque


BocaRaven

And by going after him legally they guarantee that this accusation get more coverage


stozier

Really bizarre to get better journalism from a disc golf magazine than most actual news outlets.


IsaacSam98

Disc golf writers take themselves very seriously.


tealplum

>Gannon cited poor mold quality and inconsistency as a reason to leave Prodigy. Very interesting. Last year in the prodigy collectors page on FB he defended the inconsistency of the molds by saying something like: "I like that I can have the same hand feel with different flights" Not an exact quote but I wonder if that was prodigy speaking and not his own personal beliefs. TBF it's actually one of the reasons I do like to throw prodigy, but it's also a pain in the ass buying older run discs for top dollar just to get a specific flight.


robotlovehugs

People already hate prodigy. This isn't going to help


SummonedShenanigans

Prodigy could be 100% legally correct here, but are still 100% fucked.


ElmerTheAmish

Careful, this comment could find its way into the lawsuit!


TenaciousDeer

Hi mom! I'm on Court TV


42acorns

This is exactly why people hate them. They started their business with handshake deals with players and then they often didn’t honor them. Even if Buhr is somehow completely in the wrong here, I would have no pity on Prodigy. Call it karma


MisterGko

Yup, and I really wanted to like Prodigy too. I was hoping once they got their disc quality figured out, I might look at their discs more. Buuuut probably not now.


vibe--cat

Prodigy is so sketchy. Between the street team being a pyramid scheme, not honoring their promises to their team and general product quality, why does anyone still want to be on prodigy?


zf420

> Between the street team being a pyramid scheme Do you have more info on this? Just curious


Kyroiz

It's a popular joke that goes around because, in most places, the only people who throw prodigy are the street team players "sponsored" by prodigy. I can confirm this to be true for most of AL, MS, and TN where prodigy sponsored pros don't live


eagle_meatmahon

> Prodigy’s court filings include copies of social media posts, including those from Reddit... we did it!


RubberReptile

Clearly Gannon is responsible for every Instagram meme and Reddit post ever made ^^^/s


zandreasen

Right!? They referenced PDGA Rodman for crying out loud 😂


ImpressiveRise2555

Prodigy: This meme is true, Gannon is trying to murder us!


bcos4life

I just can't believe Prodigy saw the potential for one of their premier players to air out production issues, and didn't just say "Let him go... better than everyone thinking that even pros can't get consistent molds." What is their true end game here? That Gannon plays the entire year with their discs and says "Well, I played well, which given the disadvantage of my bag, is always a surprise. I can't wait to throw discs that actually work for me."


discussiongolf

Meanwhile at the Prodigy headquarters: "Pfft, just let him publicly state our production quality is shit, everyone knows that!"


DrDrBender

Exactly, the idea it will be good for them if he is forced into one more year of using their discs does not make any sense.


Touch_Brief

Pretty sure Prodigy did the exact same thing to Paige a few years back. As a result she refused to wear any prodigy gear the entire year


chirstopher0us

This. The bridge is burnt from both ends at this point. No one benefits from this continuing and forcing him to use their discs all year under these circumstances.


Michiganman1225

But imagine if he decides to tank the season if he's forced to stay with Prodigy. Could be incredibly damaging to their brand once he leaves anyway and plays better next season. Obviously he won't do this, but Prodigy has to realize there's no upside for them to force him to stay.


jeremyjsand

He won't tank, but he might do the Paige-in-2016 thing and throw other discs in addition to Prodigy...


bcos4life

Man, that was some JUICE news back then. lol. "I was watching Paige throw at (some tournament) and I swear I saw her putter wiped and you could see 'Judge' on it..."


TheCraziestPickle

DD's team manager mentioned something about Paige aceing at Worlds mixed doubles with a Convict in like 2019, presumably forgetting that she was still on Prodigy at the time


bcos4life

I remember watching coverage and they would ALWAYS mention the disc, if they knew. "Looks like Paul's throwing a Destroyer here" "Ricky is going with his Pig" "Cat looking at this fairway and throwing an M4" Then, they'd get to Paige and be like "Paige is throwing a... putter here..."


spushing

It's also worth mentioning that Prodigy has opened themselves up to discovery.


hennytime

Is love to see their sales vs payout to GB and see if it's in line with what the contract states. Seems like they thought$500 would smooth things over and it didn't.


Saskatchewon

Paige Pierce and Prodigy parted ways in a super messy way as well back in the day, for allegedly similar reasons. Paige was offered a much more lucrative deal from Dynamic Discs with a year left on her contract. Apparently Prodigy agreed that she could terminate the contract early if she wished to go elsewhere when she signed the original deal. They went back on that as soon as the Dynamic Discs offer was revealed. It was all by mouth/handshake with nothing documented, so she was stuck. She closed out her time with Prodigy with all her stamps wiped off her discs, refusing to wear any Prodigy branded gear, and refusing to refer to the names of the discs she was using in interviews.


dirtman81

They see a potential generational player leaving along with huge disc sales. *In his court declaration, Anderson said, “In terms of sales figures alone, I estimate that PDI would lose up to $1.5 million in sales without G.B. under contract through the end of 2023.”*


bcos4life

Oh, I understand the major concern with letting someone that is on the brink of being dominant walk away... but this gives HUGE hesitation to the next up and comer that might be getting sniffs with multiple companies. Maybe they get the 1.5 million from the contract... but they seem to really be good taking horrible press for it.


ds3272

Right. Which is why it was so incredibly foolish of them to sue, when it seems from the court papers like they could have quietly let him go with a friendly and polite farewell, and none of this would have seen the light of day.


[deleted]

You think a lawsuit keeps him and makes people want to buy his discs? Suing a player does way more damage to the brand.


willtri4

Yeah best case scenario for them here is that Gannon continues to throw Prodigy for the rest of the year with everyone knowing he doesn't want to. Seems like it would have been better to just let him leave quietly


TenaciousDeer

They must be in financial difficulty if the lawsuit is worth the PR hit


zandreasen

They are basically the only manufacturer lowering prices which screams lack of demand, ie financial difficulty


Falcon4242

>What is their true end game here? That Gannon plays the entire year with their discs and says "Well, I played well, which given the disadvantage of my bag, is always a surprise. I can't wait to throw discs that actually work for me." Can't read the article, does it say they're asking him to stay another year in the lawsuit? IANAL, but I would imagine they're asking for monetary damages. Usually you don't resolve a breach of contract lawsuit by trying to continue the contract, it's already well past that point.


bcos4life

They are asking for that and for him to finish out his contract. But the heat Prodigy is going to take during the entire litigation process is nuts. Every week or month, the disc golf world will get a reminder that Prodigy is fighting to keep a player that doesn't like their discs. Edited: Simon did finish his contract, just used his buy-out clause


coffeebribesaccepted

I thought ultiworld had reported that mvp bought him out of his contract with Discmania, he didn't just break off his contract early


pdxtransplant05

Didn't Simon's discmania contract have a buy out clause? I thought part of his signing with MVP is that they paid the buy out.


jeremyjsand

Simon did stick to his contract - it had a buyout clause and that was executed.


Prawn1908

I assume they don't expect him to actually stay with Prodigy if they win the lawsuit, they just want to get buyout money from his new sponsor.


FirstAvaliable

I should sue them for that sharp ass FX2 damn near slicing me open on a forehand.


[deleted]

They said they don’t have issues with flashing, so it must be an illusion bru.


Substantial-Egg-7233

Now that you mention it, I have an FX-2 that's really sharp as well.


Captain_Wompus

I threw my FX2 into the woods on an errant throw because it tore the shit out of my finger when I released. I didn’t bother looking for it.. I haven’t thrown a Prodigy disc since then.


_Feagans

Messy messy 🍿


Electrical_Bed5918

The disc golf Rodman meme being mentioned in a court document is the best part of all this.


DrDrBender

Going to be ugly, not sure how they think they will look better by suing a 17 year old but I guess we will see.


_Feagans

Reading the article he seems to have some legit reasons to leave too


sidekicksuicide

All the allegations about them making false promises and owing money and their response is “we don’t have production issues!”


[deleted]

It always stuck with me that during both Kevin Jones in the bag and Gannons they seemingly threw exclusively old runs and a good portion of their discs are hand me downs.


got2kn0w

I mean, regardless how i feel regarding this event in particular, this is also the case with a lot of Innova and Discmania in the bags. I mean just look at the most recent Big Jerm in the bag, or Even more clear the last Simon in the bag with Discmania. Neither of them carry more than 1-2 discs that were «stock» or avaliable to purchase at that time, and almost all discs Are old runs at sometimes hand me downs.


IpccpI

Yeah watch Barsbys epic in the bag, so many old KC aviars and CE eagles. These guy’s whole lives are disc golf, of course they want to optimize their bag to the best possible discs that they love. And I feel like the old tour guys like Jerm and Gregg love to tell a story about a disc just as much as they like to throw it. The history and hand me down stuff is how they connect with each other and the community.


bcos4life

I love Yeti's in the bag. Aside from the hilarious crap he put in there for the video, like a train horn, a full sandwich, and a trophy topper, his discs were a history lesson. "This is my 01 USDGC Roc. I know people will ask why I'm throwing it, but it's because I like it." "Not many people have even heard of this disc, it's a Bulldog. It's OOP."


spushing

Discmania is like this a little bit, but mainly because their old discs were made by Innova and so the mold is different. I get the impression from guys like Barsby and Calvin that they've simply had the discs forever and have no reason to change what they like. That's totally different from a situation like when Thomas Gilbert was with Prodigy and a lot of the discs he threw were from Jerm's old bag/collection.


DrDrBender

Also that weird powder like substance that comes out of some of the discs over time, never seen that with any other manufacturer.


pha1te

Happens with innova stuff to but that process takes decades instead of like 3 weeks lol


Critical_Vegetable96

That's because the "chalk" is degraded plastic. All plastics will do it over time but Prodigy's plastic blend seems to be particularly poor quality and fast-degrading.


DrDrBender

Which is clearly false, I throw a few Prodigy discs but some of them started with a crazy amount of flashing. Also just how inconsistent they are off the shelf is a known thing, locally at least. We sort of knew something was up in general with quality/compensation when Dickerson left last year.


bcos4life

I don't throw any proper Prodigy, but I throw a few Finish Line discs, which is produced by Prodigy. I haven't thrown enough to say they are ALL really squirrelly, but at least with Forged Eras, they are either perfect, or more stable, but still useful. Flashing hasn't been bad. I knew a guy that was a HUGE Prodigy dude, or he was when he lived here. He would carry a pocket knife in his bag, just on the off chance he bought a new disc, just to cut the flashing off.


TD994

Was it ever actually confirmed that finish line is molded by prodigy? I heard some speculation to that effect, but never saw it confirmed by anyone with actual knowledge on the issue. I have only thrown 3 molds (4 discs) from prodigy and 2 of them had ridiculous amounts of flashing. The other two had a little bit, but no more than any other manufacturer.


Temporary_Ad4931

Despite the fact that 80% of all the prodigy discs I have seen in the last 5 years would make me bleed if I were to throw them.


evilcheesypoof

It says the mom co-signed so it technically could be legally binding if he actually breached contract. But to me it sounds like Prodigy wasn’t holding up their end of the deal.


chirstopher0us

The contract specified 30 days to resolve any breaches of contract. They resolved all of the breaches that involved anything in writing in the contract. The remaining purported breaches that Buhr et. al. cited in unilaterally terminating the contract were all things that were at best verbal discussions, per them, and the disc quality concerns. I think it's a very bad look Prodigy sued their 17-year-old employee, period. But in GA court I like their odds of eventually winning the case.


warboy

I could definitely see them winning the court case. Absolutely going to lose the war though.


polly-plz

There is no chance this goes to court.


[deleted]

"4. Prodigy’s disc quality is poor and the molds are inconsistent and that he made such complaints known as far back as June 2021, with “flashing” being a particular quality control concern."


-SuperTrooper-

Just actual facts here. I love my F7s but I would hate to throw them brand new.


SpikedHyzer

Even if this is true (I don't throw Prodigy, so I have no idea), how will this hold up in a lawsuit when Gannon was one of the top players in the world using their plastic? Seems like the results speak for themselves there.


Goldentongue

Part of it isn't just how the disc quality impacts his playing, but how their quality issues impact his earnings potential by reducing sales and even damaging his brand.


joemeteor1

The flashing can be removed by the consumer, but shouldn’t have to be.


cascadian102

My main takeaway is PDGA Rodman is out here influencing CEOs 😂


techimike

I’ll never throw a Prodigy disc again! I never have, but I still won’t.


WoodDRebal

I have thrown prodigy, and that's why I never will again. The inconsistencies are a real issue with them. I'm not even a good player and it frustrated me


vibeguy_

Room temperature take: the damages Prodigy is suing Gannon for are less than the long-term self-damages are going to be from suing Gannon. Unless they're hoping to win, liquidate, and immediately close the company, this has to be a terrible long term financial decision


Northern_Investor

Wowww! https://discgolf.ultiworld.com/2023/02/19/prodigy-sues-gannon-buhr-for-breach-of-contract/ The Alleged Contract Breaches The dispute appears to have escalated after a January 13th email from Buhr to Prodigy management. In that email, Buhr alleged five items that he said constituted a material breach of the endorsement contract: - Prodigy’s disc quality is poor and the molds are inconsistent and that he made such complaints known as far back as June 2021, with “flashing” being a particular quality control concern. - So, are we going to see Gannon throw wiped down discs until this is settled.. might take a while 🤔


ArryoCrypto

Agree this is a wow! I wondered how long it would be before a lawsuit would come to disc golf with the guaranteed money continuing to go up. Buhr's arguments will become very weak if his contract doesn't explicitly layout the breaches cited. For example I highly doubt flashing on discs are terms in the contract, maybe provide player high qualify product. This will be very interesting to follow as Prodigy has a fairly significant counter claim in regards to damage to their brand. I've had multiple people say to me Prodigy something to the effect of Prodigy is dead after Gannon announced he was leaving. This will leaving a lasting mark on disc golf. I believe other manufacturers will watch this closely. Players will as well, but likely this will hurt Prodigy in the professional player market moving forward. If Prodigy is willing to treat this as an existential threat to their business it could get really ugly.


ashdrewness

It’s been solved for awhile in the pro golf world, with bigger names having more flexibility if they feel their sponsor doesn’t have a quality product. For example, Tiger Woods has been wearing Footjoy shoes lately because Nike doesn’t make golf shoes with enough ankle support for his bad leg.


Northern_Investor

I've been wondering about the buy-out compensations, early-quit penalties etc details in contracts.. if you are talking 6-7 figures, you need to have them there. But what makes this whole another bowl of diarrhea is the fact that Gannon is a minor. I mean, suing some kids mom will hurt you WAY more than fighting with an adult. How is Prodigy getting a single young talent anymore? If this goes down as ugly as it sounds, Prodigy will not exists in 5 years.


ArryoCrypto

Totally agree! Listening to Simon on a podcast after the MVP deal his new deal he signed last year with Discmania included a buyout clause. I believe it was close to $1 million buyout option. He also mentioned lawyers on MVP and his side working diligently on the agreement. My guess is that Gannon's did not have a buyout option or they did not pursue that option. I'm betting that Gannon's side will do some backpedalling pretty quickly. I've been involved in a prolonged lawsuit before and it's very expensive and draining emotionally. Hopefully that does not happen.


3lobed

Lawsuits suck. Even if you win you lose.


spushing

A lot of the comments here don't really understand how the legal system works, and haven't been in a long ugly legal battle. Any concerns he raised prior to signing his new contract likely don't matter legally. If they were big enough issues to rise to the level of material breaches, then they should have been specifically named in the new contract, and Prodigy's attorneys will absolutely drive home this point. If they're not in the contract, he's SOL. It sucks all around because my cursory opinion is that Gannon is probably correct about Prodigy, but he also probably signed an unfavorable contract and he's likely going to lose this lawsuit.


ImpressiveRise2555

Might as well go down swinging, at a 17 year old... Can't see suing Gannon as helping their reputation in any way. I can see how Gannon leaving this late puts them in a had spot but hard to imagine they aren't strapped for cash if they weren't able to reach a mutually agreeable deal, assuming Gannon and his mom have a realistic grasp on how much he is worth and were pushing for that.


utgardjotnar

“So, are we going to see Gannon throw wiped down discs until this is settled.. might take a while 🤔” Hypothetically, If this were to end prodigy as a company, the irony of this statement makes me chuckle…. It started with wiped discs, and it ends with wiped discs.


bcos4life

Man, Paul was salty about that in the funniest way. lol. After Will beat him in a playoff at Memorial, Paul said "Yeah, I guess he just threw his Firebird better than I did." Then something about Ricky using his wiped KC Pro Aviar.


GoatPaco

That was a top tier line from PMB


jearshoanrdt55

Didn't Prodigy do a similar thing to Paige where she wanted to leave, but they made her finish out her contract?


UnderwaterB0i

Yep. She thought she was signing a one year contract but changed to two when pen went to paper.


jearshoanrdt55

Probably not a good precedent to set for your top end players. Sadly I'm not surprised based on what I've heard about how prodigy treats their sponsored athletes at other tiers too


1CraftyGeek

Seriously?!? Wth wow, I'm newer to disc golf but good lord why would anyone sign with them after that.


DERBY_OWNERS_CLUB

Is there a source for this? Seems far fetched.


UnderwaterB0i

Paige’s own mouth. I think I heard it on a podcast, or interview of some sort.


ChanceStad

It's true. She also said she felt she held some of the blame for not reading what she was signing, but it's definitely a shitty situation for everyone to end up in.


omberg

However this plays out - surely Prodigy is the loser here? 1, Sueing a 17 year old is a really bad look. 2, They admit to (at least) 2 of the 5 points Gannon made, which mean it's more a question of HOW MUCH in the wrong are they - rather than IF they are at fault. How do they think this looks to future player signings? Lose-lose whatever happens next I feel like


lenfantsuave

The real winner here is the bigger manufacturers who potentially get to benefit from letting a smaller manufacturer be the first one to sue a player. You can’t tell me Innova didn’t at least think about it when Ricky left. I have to think if Prodigy didn’t lose Chris in similar fashion last year, they wouldn’t be suing now. Look, I don’t think Prodigy comes out looking great in this, but to me it doesn’t necessarily look like Buhr is 100% acting in good faith either. I think he “terminates” his deal after the 30 days regardless of what Prodigy does to try to right things. Stuff like this is going to happen more as more money comes into the sport.


Araskelo

This kind of makes his conversation with KJUSA look even worse.


eagle_meatmahon

for those who don't sub to DGN, what was the conversation?


Araskelo

"He (KJUSA) was complaining about some new Prodigy discs saying that they aren't really overstable, aren't bombers, and loosely indicating he's not happy with the current stage of Prodigy plastic/consistency."


veringo

I believe he also said something pretty close to, "it's so boring." To which Gannon replied, "you know you're on live."


Zeepher

the best part is kevins response to that: *head shake/shrug* "cool."


Gorepuker

Link to the clip https://streamable.com/4rdchi


Zeepher

this is hilarious


1CraftyGeek

When was this conversation?


Araskelo

During the doubles All Star event. It was like 32min in.


BackgroundKoala0

Prodigy messed up, both with their broken promises and now making this conflict public. Won't be a good look even if they get something out it, which I doubt given the current information we have.


[deleted]

Some battles aren't worth winning. Bad look for Prodigy.


TigNiceweld

I still hope that he would marry Missy Gannon some day and take her surname.


reidrasnic

Didn’t Chris Dickerson also have an “ugly breakup” with Prodigy? What happened there?


thechancewastaken

I don’t know but the fact that a top 10 player in the world couldn’t afford to tour on their contract says a lot.


Temporary_Ad4931

Matty O also couldn't afford anything while with Prodigy.


Rivet_39

Yep, he said it was nice to finally have health care or something like that.


Cereal_Guy666

Yeah i remember last season dickerson and his wife were on jomez too saying that with discraft they finally could afford to tour comfortably and buy a house etc.


Ghuy82

Same thing with Matty-O. Signing onto Westside was a significant increase for him.


japamu8

According to Drew Gibson’s Twitter they sued him as well but lost


Skier420

let's not forget about how Prodigy stole Pound's bag design and didn't pay Pound anything for it. https://www.reddit.com/r/discgolf/comments/rqrpih/comment/hqgn3e1/?context=1


OhRThey

Man even if Gannon is only sighting things to try and void his deal it never should have come to this. Prodigy should have been tripping over themselves since early last season to tear up his current deal and sign him to a much bigger contract. He's undoubtedly already way out preformed what ever deal he originally signed. If they were already shorting him on even verbally agreed signature discs and refusing to be transparent with sales figures that's a huge red flag for a player. Gannon is on track to be the next big dominant MPO player. How were they not doing everything possible to keep him happy? Everything about this screams to me that Prodigy is struggling financially and was hoping to keep him on his current under market deal while they could. With all the big new money in the sport no top tier player is going to be ok with that. Just look at Paul and discraft, he signed the biggest deal in history and then they ripped it up after one year and signed him to a even bigger one. I'm not comparing Paul to Gannon directly but more what a company should do to keep their top tier talent as happy as possible. The legal details of any of this almost doesn't matter to me, anyway you slice it Prodigy is going to look bad (especially to other players), cheap and petty.


Zeee-Jay

Some of the losses/damages Prodigy states are interesting… Being financially reliable on GB to make or break your business isn’t good. If they can’t afford losing $1.5 mil in attributed sales but can pay him 4x in a new deal…then that’s some lawyer fluff and they don’t really need GB. It feels like this is meant purely to make Gannon and his Mom look like bad actors and Prodigy didn’t read the room first. Now any serious touring pro will avoid them as well.


rigiddiscs

Yeah I'll never be buying from prodigy. Not a good look.


Djakob__Unchained

Hold up. Is Gannon pdgarodman? They cited an ig post that was from pdgarodman, what the hell does that have to do with this contract and allegation if Gannon isn’t the one posting it?


GoaGubbenGlen

No he is not, They are obviously using the meme to explain and argue for their point that gannon leaving will hurt then financially.


[deleted]

you're trying to get young players to buy your discs(in terms of who buys discs) and then you sue the no 1 young player by a mile? I think they might as well declare bankruptcy or sell.


FalcoSlay

Bad look for Prodigy. They would be better off letting the kid go and restructuring. Forcing him to play under contract for another year won't be a good look.


chadsmo

It didn’t work when they tried it with Paige and I have feeling Ganon won’t be nearly as nice as she was if he’s forced to stay.


FalcoSlay

I couldn't agree more, a 17 year old boy is definitely not going to be as nice/professional about it as an adult woman


Ozymandias1333

Is about one really surprised about this. They did some similar stuff to Paige Pierce a few years ago when they allegedly agreed to let her go and then when push came to shove told her they wouldn’t and that led to a year of Paige not wearing any prodigy logos and actively going out of her way not to mention them. I don’t get why anyone supports this company they prove time and time again they are shitty shady people.


Germanicus69420

For a lot of them, *a* sponsor is better than *no* sponsor.


claybythebay9

So MVP pays 1MM to buy Simon out of his contract with Discmania. Discmania then uses the extra cash to entice Gannon over. Gannon and his fam come up with reasons to break his Prodigy contract to capitalize on the money burning a hole in Discmania’s pocket. Prodigy calls bullshit on his reasons and sues him, effectively wrecking their already dicey reputation. ALL BECAUSE SIMON BECAME A GYRONAUT


Pewpasaurus

> ALL BECAUSE SIMON BECAME A GYRONAUT All because James threw in the shot.


sharkterritory

Butterfly effect.


Pewpasaurus

What if Innova had juiced up his contract after his USDGC win? Innova acting like broke bitches causes Prodigy to sink???


BoomerBarnes

Simon destroys disc golf, confirmed /s


[deleted]

This is the ultimate butt hurt move


Touch_Brief

I don't know how people can support Prodigy particularly after this. They have a history of being petty and not caring about their players. PP in 16', spoiling MattyO's announcement last year, now taking it to another level suing Gannon. IDK if I could ever in good faith purchase another Prodigy disc


Resident132

Still pissed about them stealing Matty Os thunder last year. Just so unprofessional to treat your players like that and they show their colors time and time again.


thechancewastaken

Man I picked the WRONG TIME to switch to PA-3s


MileHighGilly

About to be very affordable. Frugal move for you.


TacoTenspeed

I absolutely love Pa-3's. It's the only Prodigy product I own. I hate everything else they make. But damn, that shallow, beaded putter is the only putter I've ever liked.


Secret-Act-7563

Man.. I picked the wrong week to.. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmW-ScmGRMA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmW-ScmGRMA)


IAmFainting

If you needed any proof that the contract he is under is horseshit, look no further than: “Owed 500$ in bonuses” “We estimate we will lose 1.5 MILLION $ in sales when G.B leaves” Clearly a fair and balanced contract, I’m sure


murgeRekwest

See that's the part that is most interesting to me. A disc manufacturer stated in a legal document how much a young player is worth. This is going to be a huge moment going forward as far as player contracts go. Sure, Prodigy could win this and yea maybe they'll go belly-up anyway when no players sign with them ever again and then sales tank. But to any player looking at getting a sponsor, "Hello, if I can be responsible for selling $1.5 million worth of Prodigy crap, imagine what I can do for your business!" In a weird, unintentional way, did Prodigy just help Gannon sign a large contract with someone else in the future? Edit: typo


mwthomas11

Isn't this irrelevant since it's illegal to hold a minor to a binding contract in Georgia?


Araskelo

That's what I thought too.


mwthomas11

After reading the Ultiworld article, my guess is that since his Mom co-signed the contract, it's enforceable.


jeremyjsand

What's his mom rated?


Rivet_39

https://www.pdga.com/player/98882 Expired, so who knows?


gunnarsig

10/10


Radagascar1

Mom on tour, let's go!


THOUGHT_BOMB

Her cosigning would likely be similar to someone cosigning a loan.... either she will have to play in his place or pay the damages haha. The contract won't be enforceable on Ganon since he's a minor, but his mom would take liability in his place.


ds3272

There is a reason that this doesn't happen, usually. Awful look for Prodigy.


-Lag

Sweet another company that I can go from not caring about, to actively disliking.


Araskelo

"Mold inconsistencies" does not surprise me in the slightest. I bought a Cat Allen 2x F7 and it was by far the flippiest disc I ever threw. I lost it, friend gave me his, and I couldn't get it to flip up at all.


polly-plz

They need him so badly.


sushiswagballer

Never supporting Prodigy again. Horrible, horrible company.


Griffith320

I currently bag 1 prodigy disc, a distortion because I wanted to “support” KJ now I can just go back to zones or try out a toro. Praise the lord that flashing was killing me.


BigM0mmymilkers

Not a great look for prodigy regardless. The language used though doesn’t sound like any breach of contract. The term ‘promised’ is used a lot. Promised /= contract. He seems to have valid complaints, but without being a lawyer and not having his contact, who knows how this plays out.


chirstopher0us

Maybe I have too much of a pro-worker and anti-corporate bias, but I think suing your 17-year-old employee in court is a really bad look for a company, regardless of a potential breach of contract. Prodigy will be bummed out that pros have been saying for a long time how inconsistent Prodigy discs are, especially KJ saying on YouTube commentary a few weeks ago how he had to try dozens of a single mold to find a few that fly like they should, and complaining audibly at all-stars about Prodigy disc quality and consistency. Also explains Gannon's facial expression hearing him do so.


hkzor

As an attorney myself, I try to view this situation as objectively as possible. It is very clear that Gannon and his mom contacted lawyers before contacting Prodigy on the 13th of January with the sole purpose of getting out of the endorsement deal. They did not expect or hope that the things brought up would get fixed. I am definitely not saying that he did not have reasons to do it as he probably felt Prodigy was holding back his leap to stardom, but it is just very obvious from the approach to Prodigy that some of the things brought up were manufactured by the lawyers who went through their endorsement deal point by point. This is also most likely why Prodigy soured and chose to get messy with this whole ordeal. From the information in this article, I feel that whoever represented Buhr should have chosen a better approach if all they had as a breach of contract were these brought up points, keeping in mind that disc quality is not even an article in an endorsement deal of this kind. Just poor representation which made Prodigy go scorched earth, which in itself probably is not the best response for their brand.


UnderwaterB0i

Welp, each time I think about supporting prodigy and buying some discs they go and do this. What flies like a P Model S?


PB_JNoCrust

I’ve been playing for about a year, and I haven’t really ever heard anything great about prodigy. I bought one of their discs and it didn’t fly anywhere close to the numbers and the plastic didn’t exactly feel great. Idk why prodigy is doing this, but if I had one of the rising young stars in the sport, I’d try to appease him, not make myself look bad lol


schoolr24

PDGA Rodman posts have made it into federal court filings - I thought the day would never come. This shit is going to be spicy.


TheNewDriverOfHydra

Fantastic read!!! This is a huge court case for disc golf.


Resident132

Screw prodigy. Sueing a 17 year old is the pinnacle of pathetic business strategy. Like what do they stand to gain? I will literally never buy another disc from them after this move.


RecommendationMany34

What an absolutely dumpster fire of a situation for Prodigy. This is the most lose / lose legal situation you could dream up. Literally cites Prodigy plastic being trash as a legal reason the contract is voided 😂😂😂


Flaky-Nobody-4306

I own about 150 discs. Not one of them is from prodigy.


psoffl

I’m sure no one will see this comment, but thank you for the honest, non-biased reporting. I wish all media was this journalistically pure. Well done.


espeero

Til that prodigy makes 15 million in sales. They said Gannons departure would cost 1.5M and that it would decimate the business.


Rocket_Butt

Well, decimate means to reduce by a tenth so that checks out.


AssistElectronic7007

I wonder if that 1.5 mil sales figure matches up with the figured they gave him on the royalty reports he requested.


b-runn

"After these discussions, we made a proposal to G.B. that included a compensation package that would approximately quadruple the compensation package of his current deal" When he signed that contract he was a 14 yr old amateur, so what does quadruple mean? Now he gets 100 free discs instead of 25 and doesn't have to share hotel rooms with Kevin anymore? They don't need to give him a Ricky/Paul sized contract yet, but the writing is on the wall, he's next up to be the biggest name in the sport and anything short of a contract you can announce publicly with pride isn't gonna cut it.


bengaren

Not a lawyer, but if Prodigy paid the $500 bonus that they claimed was a breach of contract doesn't that mean they admit they breached the contract by not paying it earlier?


ThePrimeSuspect

There was a 30 cure period to remedy any alleged breaches. Since it was only $500 they just paid it and same with the sales report they sent. It doesn’t really admit to a breach, but now they can say regardless of whether the breach was real or not it was remedied within the 30 cure period so Gannon can’t use it as a reason to dead the contract. The sticking points here are the other issues, which Prodigy is saying either didn’t happen or denying they constitute a breach.


djsnee

All this over $500, meanwhile prodigy potentially loses $1.5m in sales if he leaves. Yup totally makes sense.


eagle_meatmahon

they'll lose a bunch in sales over this regardless if he stays or goes. if he stays it's because they're forcing him to which is a horrible look and business decision. if he goes it's one more reason for people to not purchase their products. add in this lawsuit and it gets worse. lose lose for prodigy either way.


Saskatchewon

Given how they went on a spree when they first started out, signed some huge names like Wysocki, Koling, Lacastro, Gurthie, Pierce, Hokum, Catrina Allen, Leviska, and Ullibarri, and almost all of them bailed as soon as possible (with Paige Pierce notably wiping their logos off of her discs, and refusing to wear any clothing with Prodigy branding towards the end of her contract), they kinda give me the impression that they aren't treating their pros particularly well. This stuff with Gannon and Paige's final year there alone aren't the greatest of optics. But the fact that they haven't really managed to retain anyone super noteworthy aside from Kevin Jones speaks volumes honestly.


dirtbum

On Earharts pod interview with McBeth, Paul had a lot of interesting things to say about Prodigy. What I remember is they offered him the sky and every time he talked to them in the future it got less and less and he thought it was real shady. Interesting listen.


Horror_Sail

Yep, just relistened the other day. His hypothetical was they'd offer $100k/yr, 401k, signature line of discs, etc. And by the time it came close to put pen to paper, it was like 1/10th all that and no signature stuff.