how were the crowds at the classic ? Trip Weldon back ?

[Tom Tallman]

It was great to see Trip do the weighin ! Any reason why the lady who has been doing the trail didn't do the weigh in or maybe this was part of Trip's 2020 contract since it was for last year's season ?

Regarding the crowds/attendance..... It just didn't seem to me that they had the crowds they used to get years back.... at least no where near the WWF level of crowds and audiences they had back in the late 80s and early 90s with loud applauses.
When the entire arena is dark except for the spotlight on Mercer and trip it makes me wonder

[Jeff Hahn]

From what I heard, Trip was doing the Classic weigh-in as a kind of “farewell” event.

[rb]

It was great to see Trip do the weighin ! Any reason why the lady who has been doing the trail didn't do the weigh in or maybe this was part of Trip's 2020 contract since it was for last year's season ?

Regarding the crowds/attendance..... It just didn't seem to me that they had the crowds they used to get years back.... at least no where near the WWF level of crowds and audiences they had back in the late 80s and early 90s with loud applauses.
When the entire arena is dark except for the spotlight on Mercer and trip it makes me wonder

I've been to 27 Classic's so I think I can give you a pretty good take on this. When BASS started going to the drive in weigh ins around the mid 80's, it was small arenas with no seats. By the late 80's as crowds got bigger and the Expo started they moved into bigger places. But these only had 13,000 to 20,000 seats. So it was definitely louder in those buildings. Then the moved to big arenas, ball stadiums and it seems like the crowds are smaller but there is still a lot of people there. Then came carrying the live on media. There are screens all through the Expo with it on, most folks have it on their phones, they know what's going on so that has taken away some of the weigh in crowd, BUT at times its hard to even walk in the EXpo because of the crowd. Wait until the numbers are announced and you'll see. I didn't go to this one but I have seen pictures and talked to people that had booths and they said it was killer and they were sure BASS will go back. On a side note, I still try and go to the Saturday weigh in. I like to acknowledge those guys, and their families for all the hard work it took to get where everyone of us who has ever made a cast dreamed about being. See everyone in Greenville next year.

[tcesni]

Attending 27 Classis is impressive, I haven't attended one since Hank Parker won on the James River and I am definitely looking at next years as it is close by.

[Mark Perry]

It was very well attended. Busiest Sunday at an Expo I have seen and I have been to a bunch. Each day had big turnouts. Weigh in was well attended to packed depending on day. For one of the largest outdoor events in the country since COVID I think crowds were as close to a normal year as we could expect. The Expo stayed busy and packed.

[stratos273v]

The expo was down just a little IMO, but it was still awesome and worth the 800 mile or so drive to Texas for me.

Crowds were big from what I could tell, the expo for sure had a lot of people.

[Mark Perry]

The expo was down just a little IMO, but it was still awesome and worth the 800 mile or so drive to Texas for me.

Crowds were big from what I could tell, the expo for sure had a lot of people.

Some companies decided to not have a booth due to not enough product to bring and a couple had to bail out due to COVID restrictions in their home states or countries. The fans however turned out in a big way. There was no lack of attendance. One of the busiest Expos I have worked. I was there about an hour before opening each day till after closing and rarely had time to take a break. It also was a buying crowd. If you had product to sell they were buying.

[Ranchhand02]

I thought it was pretty well attended also. We went to the expo and weigh in on Friday. Weigh in was not very crowded, but that is typical for a Friday. Expo on Sunday was very busy. We had a great time, and I would definitely go again. Only downside was that it was hot and several of the expo buildings did not have good AC in them so it got hot. There were still tons of people in them though even though it was hot.

[Big Eazy E]

This was Classic number 5 for me and I was there all 3 days. To me, the crowds were slightly smaller than the past Classics I've been to. The main indoor expo setup was nice. However, most of the smaller tackle companies and vendors were set up in the stock show barns and it was H-O-T in there. The attendance at the weigh ins was down. There were lots of empty seats. Dickie's Arena though is first class and as nice as you'll find for any arena in the country. I felt like since most of the anglers are "newer" anglers they don't have the following that the "old guard" has had for years and years. It was still very nice and I can't wait to attend my next one!

[Coke]

I am definitely looking at next years as it is close by.

We'll have to make it a road trip, I'm sure we can get a few others to go.

[Mark Perry]

This was Classic number 5 for me and I was there all 3 days. To me, the crowds were slightly smaller than the past Classics I've been to. The main indoor expo setup was nice. However, most of the smaller tackle companies and vendors were set up in the stock show barns and it was H-O-T in there. The attendance at the weigh ins was down. There were lots of empty seats. Dickie's Arena though is first class and as nice as you'll find for any arena in the country. I felt like since most of the anglers are "newer" anglers they don't have the following that the "old guard" has had for years and years. It was still very nice and I can't wait to attend my next one!

BASS released numbers today. It was the 2nd most attended Classic in BASS history. Pretty cool deal.