FLW Outdoors History

1979: Operation Bass founded
FLW Outdoors was founded in 1979 as Operation Bass when Mike Whitaker of Gilbertsville, Ky., a former high school teacher and football coach turned electronics salesman, started conducting one-day, weekend bass tournaments. Unlike most tournaments of the day, Whitaker geared his events toward anglers who were unable to take time off from work and travel long distances to participate in high-entry-fee tournaments.

The first FLW Outdoors tournament season followed in 1980 when the company held 12 events in two states and awarded $20,000 in prize money. The company's first tournament was held on Barren River Lake near Glasgow, Ky., in March 1980.

1983: Red Man Tournament Trail is born
A turning point for Whitaker and his company came in 1983 when he signed a long-term sponsorship agreement with Red Man Chewing Tobacco, a brand of Richmond, Va.-based Pinkerton Tobacco Company. His first Red Man event was held Feb. 20, 1983, on Florida's Lake Okeechobee. The event attracted a field of 237 anglers. That year, 9,500 anglers participated in Red Man tournaments, which culminated with the year-end Red Man All-American on Kentucky Lake. The first All-American winner, Dean Starkey of Peru, Ind., received a check for $50,000.

1984-1996: Red Man Tournament Trail expands
In 1984, the Red Man program was expanded to 94 events in 22 states, and with the support of Pinkerton Tobacco, Whitaker introduced the first six-figure payout in tournament angling: a $100,000 cash prize awarded at the 1984 Red Man All-American in Kissimmee, Fla.

A westward expansion in 1986 increased the total number of Red Man tournaments to 125 events spanning the continental United States. Then in 1988, FLW Outdoors added the Red Man Tournament of Champions event to its schedule for divisional points leaders. The first event was held on the Wahiawa Reservoir in Hawaii. The 1989 event was again held in Hawaii. And in late 1989, the third Tournament of Champions was moved to San Diego's San Vincente Reservoir. Lake Osborne in southern Florida hosted the 1990 Tournament of Champions.

At the beginning of 1989, FLW Outdoors launched two major projects in conjunction with the Red Man Tournament Trail. In January, FLW Outdoors kicked off its new Red Man Golden Blend Diamond Invitationals. Designed for more serious bass-fishing competitors, the six tournaments held under this banner carried higher entry fees and featured larger cash purses than Red Man tournaments. The second major initiative of the year was the January introduction of Headline Fishing, America's first news program covering competitive angling. The 26-week series combined tournament results and upcoming events with magazine-style features on people, places and events that helped shape the sport.

The 1990 tournament season saw the Golden Blend Diamond Invitational program expand to 10 tournaments with a year-end championship featuring a first place prize of $50,000.

FLW Outdoors again made changes to its fishing programs in 1991 by adding two new divisions - Arkie and Choo Choo - to the Red Man tournament schedule. A fifth regional championship also was introduced to better serve fishermen. The expansion elevated the Red Man Tournament Trail to 138 events that awarded anglers a total of up to $3.2 million in cash and prizes.

The 1991 Golden Blend program featured larger payouts with participants having a chance to win $1.3 million in cash and merchandise. The 1991 Golden Blend Championship held in Tuscaloosa, Ala., featured the largest cash prize ever awarded in fishing: $150,000. The winner, Zell Rowland of Montgomery, Texas, also received a Chevy truck valued at $15,000. With FLW Outdoors supplying $100,000 of the prize package, the event marked the first time fishermen did not compete solely for a return of entry fees.

FLW Outdoors discontinued the Golden Blend series in 1992 and introduced a new series of tournaments called Red Man Opens. The new series consisted of six tournaments and a bonus event.

Innovation continued in 1995 when a new, six-venue pro/am series of tournaments was added to the mix. In addition to the new series, the company added a seventh regional championship to the Red Man Tournament Trail to cut down on travel and better accommodate a growing membership base of working anglers.

The Red Man Tournament Trail experienced record participation in 1995 with more than 24,000 anglers fishing in the weekend events. It was the trail's sixth consecutive year of record participation.

In 1996, the Red Man Tournament Trial featured 132 regular-season events, six regional championships, a wild card regional and the Red Man All-American with its $100,000 first-place prize. FLW Outdoors continued to lead the industry by announcing the all-new, seven-event FLW Pro/Am Tour, which featured unprecedented cash payouts and national television coverage on ESPN 2.

1996: Irwin L. Jacobs purchases company and Wal-Mart FLW Tour debuts
An important turning point in FLW Outdoors history occurred July 24, 1996, when Minneapolis businessman Irwin L. Jacobs purchased the company. Jacobs later signed Wal-Mart as the tour's title sponsor. It was the first sponsorship for the world's largest retailer, and corporate America quickly followed suit. Supporters of the 1997 season included such nonendemic sponsors as Coca-Cola, Land O'Lakes, Northwest Airlines and Fujifilm in addition to established sponsors such as Chevy trucks, CITGO Petroleum and Evinrude.

1998: FLW Tour sets payout record
The 1998 Wal-Mart FLW Tour set several bass-fishing records: $3.65 million in cash purses over seven tournaments; paybacks to fully half of the tournament fields; and the largest first place prize in sport-fishing history - $250,000 in the Wal-Mart FLW Tour Championship. Each tour stop was taped for the Wal-Mart FLW Tour television series on ESPN and ESPN 2.

In 1998, the Red Man Tournament Trial experienced unprecedented growth. More than 26,000 anglers participated in tournaments throughout the year, setting a record for the trail. 1998 also saw the introduction of the EverStart Batteries Series as a gateway to the FLW Tour. The series, along with the FLW Tour, helped bolster interest in serious competitive angling.

1999: FLW Outdoors makes history with first live broadcast on FOX
Competitive fishing made tremendous strides in 1999 with the Red Man Tournament Trail, EverStart Series and Wal-Mart FLW Tour all setting records for participation and cash awards to participating anglers. National awareness of fishing also reached an all-time high.

FLW Outdoors partnered with USA Today Sports to conduct the paper's first nationwide fishing hotline in February 1999. The hotline generated over 9,500 phone calls from anglers throughout the country resulting in several pages of editorial coverage in USA Today.

The Wal-Mart FLW Tour made fishing history when it was featured on World News Tonight with Peter Jennings the evening of October 4, 1999. More than 8 million households were exposed to the fast-growing sport during the 30-minute broadcast. A quantum leap in national awareness of competitive fishing came just a month later on Nov. 7, 1999, when FOX Sports aired the first live network broadcast of a bass-fishing tournament. More than 2 million households tuned in to watch the Sunday afternoon broadcast as Darrel Robertson of Jay, Okla., won $600,000 in the Ranger M1 Millennium. The one-of-a-kind event administered by FLW Outdoors remains the richest freshwater tournament in sport-fishing history.

FLW Outdoors' EverStart Series enjoyed tremendous growth in 1999, becoming one of the nation's most popular bass-tournament series. The tour, which began in 1998 as "the pathway to the Wal-Mart FLW Tour," awarded anglers $1.7 million in 1999.

FLW Outdoors continued to garner unprecedented media exposure in 2000, the highlight of which was a front-page story in the Wall Street Journal on Aug. 9. The company was also featured in the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, Advertising Age and Fortune that year as well as on CNN.

2000: Wal-Mart RLC Walleye Championship introduced
FLW Outdoors extended its reach into walleye fishing with the world's richest walleye tournament - the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Championship - Oct. 3-7, 2000, in Green Bay, Wis. The RCL Championship featured 400 of the world's best walleye anglers. Scott Glorvigen of Grand Rapids, Minn., won the history-making event and $300,000. Following the event, Operation Walleye announced the $2.9 million Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Circuit for 2001. The circuit - which is named after Ranger, Crestliner and Lund - features four qualifying tournaments and a year-end championship. It is the most lucrative walleye tournament circuit in history.

The 2000 Wal-Mart FLW Tour set new records for cash purses. As the most lucrative fishing series in the world, the FLW Tour awarded a record $4.45 million during its seven-event season. The 2000 tour featured four qualifying tournaments with $500,000 purses, two $1 million events - the Wal-Mart Open and the Forrest Wood Open - and the $450,000 Wal-Mart FLW Tour Championship. The season opener on Florida's Lake Okeechobee featured the introduction of NASCAR-style Chevy tow vehicles. Styled with vivid colors and graphics to match the Ranger Comanche fishing machines used on the final days of FLW Tour competition, each Chevy Silverado was designed to feature a specific Wal-Mart FLW Tour sponsor.

The 2000 season marked the end an era for title sponsor Red Man. During the Red Man All-American in Hot Springs, Ark., Wal-Mart announced that it would be the title sponsor of the tournament trail beginning in 2001. Along with the change in title sponsorship, the Red Man Tournament Trail was renamed the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League. Wal-Mart's sponsorship promised to open new marketing avenues for the popular tournament series.

2001: EverStart Series expands & Texas Tournament Trail launched
Following another year of record participation in 2000, FLW Outdoors announced the addition of a four-event Northern Division to the 2001 EverStart Series schedule. The new division complemented the circuit's Eastern and Central divisions and offered anglers more opportunity to win than ever before. The series now included 12 qualifying events featuring modest entry fees and $185,000 purses. Additionally, the 2001 EverStart Series culminated with a $325,000, no-entry-fee championship. Overall, the series offered anglers more than $2.5 million.

In 2001, FLW Outdoors also introduced a new high-profile tournament series in Texas aimed at hooking a sizable share of the state's 1.3 million bass anglers. Known as the Texas Tournament Trail, the new circuit featured four one-day weekend qualifiers and a two-day, no-entry-fee championship. Each qualifying event featured a $205,000 purse with the top pro receiving up to $65,000. The championship featured a $195,000 purse with up to $70,000 going to the winner. All told, the highly successful circuit offered more than $1 million to Texas anglers.

FLW Outdoors changed its longstanding scoring system based on points and pounds for the 2001 season. Each tournament series now features a straight points system in which 200 points are awarded to the winner, 199 points are awarded to the second-place finisher, and so forth. Every angler who receives weight credit for a fish receives points, and overall weight is no longer a factor in determining championship qualification.

Sixteen new sponsors were added for 2001. Mercury Marine, Yamaha Outboards, Minn Kota, Alpo pet food, Frito Lay, Pepsi, Snickers Cruncher Bar, Plano Tackle Systems and Conseco each signed on as full sponsors of the FLW Tour and EverStart Series. Act II microwave popcorn, David sunflower seeds, ACDelco spark plugs and oil filters, Excalibur, Strike King, Eagle Claw, Flambeau and Daiwa joined as the first associate sponsors of FLW Outdoors events.

Exposure for women fishing FLW Outdoors events reached an all-time high in 2001 with articles about women appearing in the April 10 USA Today and the Sept. 11 New York Times. EverStart Series co-angler champion Renee (Flesh) Hensley of Edwardsburg, Mich., landed in the national spotlight, appearing in the Nov. 23 Los Angeles Times and Dec. 18 National Examiner after becoming the first women to win a national bass-fishing championship. Irwin L. Jacobs was also in the spotlight in 2001 with a feature article in the Sept. 3 issue of TIME magazine touting his pioneering work in the realm of competitive fishing.

Due to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, the Wal-Mart FLW Tour Championship scheduled for Sept. 12-15 on Lake Champlain in New York was cancelled. It marked the first time in the tour's history that its championship event was cancelled. The event's purse was split equally among the 100 qualifiers with each pro receiving $7,700 and each co-angler receiving $1,300.

On Dec. 19, 2001, FLW Outdoors was officially announced as the new name for Operation Bass. The name change positioned the organization for continued growth in the walleye-tournament market and for expansion into new markets.

2002: BFL expands
Wal-Mart FLW Tour anglers received a boost in 2002 as $350,000 was added to the championship purse, bringing the total cash awarded during the tournament to $800,000. An additional $300,000 was also added to regular-season purses, boosting the total cash awards for the 2002 season to an unprecedented $5.1 million. For the 2002 season, 20 anglers in each division advanced to the semifinal round at each-regular season FLW Tour event, and 10 pro anglers advanced to the final round. This was double the number of semifinal- and final-round competitors from prior years.

John Sappington of Wyandotte, Okla., claimed the 2002 Wal-Mart FLW Tour Championship's $260,000 cash prize, leading the championship field with a final-round catch of four bass weighing 9 pounds, 12 ounces. Held on Cross Lake near Shreveport, La., the tournament featured an innovative, bracket-style competition that ultimately led to a nail-biting standoff between Sappington and runner-up Gerald Swindle of Hayden, Ala.

For 2002 the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League added five new divisions - Gulf Coast, Louisiana, Music City, Savannah River and Shenandoah - to accommodate more anglers and bring the total number of BFL divisions up to 26. The circuit hosted 139 events nationwide in 2002. Louisiana's Cross Lake was also the site of the 2002 All-American, where boater Eddie Waits of Pine Bluff, Ark., earned $100,000 cash as the winner of one of bass fishing's most prestigious events.

The Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail and the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Circuit enjoyed promising seasons in 2002, and the second Ranger M1 tournament was held Feb. 27-March 2 on the Mobile Delta in Alabama. With $700,000 going to the winner, David Dudley of Manteo, N.C., the 2002 Ranger M1 was the most lucrative bass tournament in history. The 2002 Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Championship was held on the Mississippi River near Red Wing, Minn., in early October, and Dr. Bruce Samson of Minnetrista, Minn., took top honors and $300,000 cash after spending a year preparing for the event.

EverStart Series anglers earned even more money in 2002 thanks to a $300,000 boost to its tournament purse. The increase, which came one year after a major expansion of the popular tournament series, raised the total payout for the 13-event 2002 season to more than $2.8 million. Along with more money came more opportunity to win, as 20 additional positions were paid at qualifying events. That meant the top 50 pros and co-anglers finished in the money. More anglers also competed in the last two rounds of the EverStart Series Championship, as the top 20 pros and co-anglers advanced to the semifinal round with the top 10 pros moving on to the final day of competition. In 2001, the top 10 pros and co-anglers advanced to the semifinal round with the top five pros going to the final round. The total payout for each regular season EverStart Series tournament stood at $210,000, up from $185,000 in 2001.

Koby Kreiger of Osceola, Ind., emerged as the 2002 EverStart Series champion with a final-round catch of five bass weighing 7 pounds, 12 ounces, trumping runner-up Jason Quinn of Lake Wylie, S.C., who led days one and two on Alabama's Lake Martin, by nearly a pound.

On June 14, 2002, FLW Outdoors announced a landmark broadcasting agreement with the Outdoor Life Network to bring prime-time coverage of the Wal-Mart FLW Tour to television for the first time. The program, "FLW Outdoors," brings angler profiles, tournament coverage and more to OLN's 55 million subscribers through cable television, DIRECTV and the Dish Network. In addition to regular-season Wal-Mart FLW Tour coverage, "FLW Outdoors" also features footage from the All-American, the EverStart Series Championship and the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Championship.

The 2002 off-season was rife with changes, proving that competitive fishing is indeed a rapidly growing sport. Following the final regular-season event of the 2002 Wal-Mart FLW Tour, the 2003 schedule and purse was announced, revealing the most lucrative payouts ever seen in competitive bass fishing.

2003: EverStart Series expands & RCL Walleye League introduced
The road to Richmond, Va., in 2003 was paved with gold, as the Wal-Mart FLW Tour featured three tournaments with purses of $1 million or more, including the $1.26 million Wal-Mart Open and the $1 million Forrest Wood Open. The total payout for 2003 increased from $5.1 to $5.76 million and culminated in the $1.5 million Wal-Mart FLW Tour Championship, held Sept. 10-13 on the James River in Richmond, Va. Pro David Dudley of Manteo, N.C., scored the prestigious, historic victory and won an unprecedented cash award of $500,000. The big win came on the heels of a runner-up performance in 2003 FLW Tour standings and occurred a year and a half after Dudley won $700,000 cash at the Ranger M1 tournament in Mobile, Ala. Pat Fisher, Paul Elias, Chris Elliott, Dan Morehead, Steve Kennedy and Aaron Martens all earned victories in a season that was good for the veteran and the rookie. Morehead, $200,000 winner of the Wal-Mart Open on Beaver Lake, scored 2003 Land O'Lakes Angler of the Year honors and landed a spot on Kellogg's Corn Flakes boxes.

Big changes hit the EverStart Series in 2003, as a Western Division was added with great success to complement the existing Eastern, Central and Northern divisions. Anglers in the West could now enjoy the lucrative excitement of the EverStart Series, and they answered the call with impressive participation numbers. Two EverStart Series anglers enjoyed incredible streaks in 2003 - Brent Ehrler from the Western Division scored three third-place finishes, and the Northern Division's Mark Zone finished second in three tournaments. Both anglers finished the year ranked first in their respective divisions. Northern Division pro Dick Shaffer of Celina, Ohio, scored his first-ever EverStart Series victory by winning the EverStart Series Championship on Old Hickory Lake near Gallatin, Tenn. He claimed $25,000 cash plus a fully rigged Ranger for the win.

2003 was also a good year for walleye anglers, as a brand-new, grassroots walleye series, the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye League, made its debut. The $350,000 Wal-Mart RCL Walleye League comprises four divisions - Michigan, Minnesota, South Dakota and Wisconsin - and brought the thrill of competitive fishing to weekend walleye anglers. The league promises to be a feeder system for tomorrow's walleye stars. South Dakota Division angler Darold Swank of Pierre, S.D., won the first-ever Wal-Mart RCL League Finals, taking home a fully rigged Ranger, Crestliner or Lund boat.

The Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour received a significant boost to its total payout, moving from $2.9 million in 2002 to $3.07 million in 2003. The tour also boasted a new $181,000 Angler of the Year program that rewarded the top 30 points-getters with lucrative cash prizes. Pro Jason Przekurat of Stevens Point, Wis., emerged as the first RCL Tour Angler of the Year thanks to a consistent season that brought three top-20 finishes. It was a good year for pros from Wisconsin - Przekurat's fellow Wisconsinite Tom Keenan of Hatley won $300,000 cash as winner of the 2003 Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Championship, which he won by more than 3 pounds.

Anglers nationwide continued to take advantage of the best in grassroots bass-fishing action via the $6 million Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, which staged tournaments in 24 divisions across the country.

The $1 million Wal-Mart Texas Tournament trail again waged battle on the finest Texas and Louisiana fisheries, and Tommy Durham of Waxahachie, Texas, took the 2003 championship crown on Lake Ray Hubbard. He also won a regular-season event on Lake Lewisville. Keith Combs of Nolanville, Texas, took the points championship in 2003.

2004: BFL celebrates 25th anniversary
In 2004, FLW Outdoors maintained its place in the fishing community as the world's leading marketer of competitive fishing and the purveyor of America's largest and most prestigious fishing tournaments. Purses increased to record levels and more anglers participated in FLW Outdoors events than at any time in history. The season was filled with incredible performances and fascinating headlines.

Wal-Mart FLW Tour rookie pro Luke Clausen defied the odds to win the $500,000 first-place award at the FLW Tour Championship in Birmingham, Ala., in August, and fellow rookie pro, Japanese bass angler of the year Shinichi Fukae, made his way to America and won the tour's coveted Land 'O Lakes Angler of the Year title. Considering his Angler of the Year and Ranger Cup winnings, Fukae earned more than $200,000 in 2004 on the FLW Tour without winning a tournament. That is a significant statement as to how far the sport as come.

In the EverStart Series, Western Division pro Brent Ehrler of Redlands, Calif., qualified for the EverStart Series Championship for the second time in as many years and defeated local pro H.C. Sumpter on Lake Cumberland in Somerset, Ky., to claim his first EverStart Series title.

Allen Hayes of Moody, Ala., qualified through the Choo Choo Division to win one of the sport's oldest and most prestigious championships, the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League All-American. As a tribute to its place as the most popular tournament trail in the nation, the BFL offered a record $6.3 million to anglers nationwide in 2004, including $100,000 to Hayes as the winner of the All-American. The BFL also celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2004.

In 2004 the Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail continued its reign as the most lucrative state circuit in the country. David Curtis of Trinity, Texas, earned $70,000 in cash and prizes as the winner of TTT Championship on Lake of the Pines in Longview, Texas, and Keith Combs of Temple, Texas, finished in the top 25 in every event to win the TTT points title for the second year in a row.

Nick Johnson of Elmwood, Wis., earned $300,000 as the winner of the 2004 Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Championship on the Mississippi River near Moline, Ill., while Dennis Jeffrey of Garrison, N.D., won the points title for the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour. 2004 was also a good year for Keith Daniels of Fond Du Lac, Wis., who won the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye League Finals at Bays de Noc in Escanaba, Mich.

2005: FLW Tour celebrates 10th anniversary, EverStart Series & BFL expand, Saltwater trails introduced & TV show moves to Fox Sports Net
FLW Outdoors introduced major changes in nearly all of its tournament trails in 2005. The Wal-Mart FLW Tour is celebrating its 10th anniversary by increasing paybacks to $10,000 through 50th place in all qualifying events, and boosting the tour's overall purse to $7.6 million.

A fifth division was added to the EverStart Series along with increased purses at all qualifying events and increasing the EverStart Series Championship purse to $1 million for a total purse of $6.24 million.

The Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League added four new divisions, increased payouts in all qualifying and regional events and the All-American purse was increased substantially to $1 million, thus boosting the total BFL purse for 2005 to $8.4 million.

The RCL Walleye Tour changed its name to the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour and added larger, all-cash purses in qualifying events plus a no-entry-fee championship. The RCL Walleye League also underwent a name change to the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League.

Perhaps the most groundbreaking news to come from FLW Outdoors for 2005, however, was the introduction of the world's most lucrative kingfish and redfish tournament trials. The Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour features a total purse of $1.7 million over five events - including a no-entry-fee championship where the winning team can earn as much as $150,000 - and the $1.9 million Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series features two divisions, each holding four events, and a no-entry-fee championship where the winning team can earn as much as $100,000.

FLW Outdoors also broke new ground in television programming for 2005 through a partnership with Fox Sports Net that that includes 52 weeks of programming packed with tournament coverage, guest appearances by fishing legends and celebrities, angler profiles, and the most up-to-date news from the professional-fishing world. Each hour-long episode of "Wal-Mart FLW Outdoors" will air Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time to huge audience of outdoor enthusiasts. FSN reaches more than 82 million homes through its network of 20 regional sports channels

In its 27-year history, FLW Outdoors has become the only tournament organization to serve bass, walleye, kingfish and redfish anglers of all skill levels from coast to coast. Today, the company is the world's leader in tournament promotion, operating 214 events through the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, EverStart Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour and the Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series. The company is offering anglers more than $30 million in cash and prizes in 2005.

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Profile: Irwin L. Jacobs, Chairman of FLW Outdoors

Irwin L. Jacobs has served as Chairman and a director of Genmar and its predecessor entities since 1982. Under his direction, Minstar as a public company grew internally and through acquisition from $24 million in revenues in 1982 to approximately $1 billion in 1987 before certain non-boating businesses were sold. Minstar has evolved into Genmar Holdings, Inc.

Mr. Jacobs has owned or controlled large, small and start-up companies, and has spent the majority of his energies focused on developing his businesses and creating opportunities for the shareholders and employees. Through his organization and diversified investments, Mr. Jacobs has been involved with such industries as television shopping, professional football, various sports product companies, banking, oil and gas. He currently owns businesses involved with boating, direct marketing, closeout and return merchandising, professional fishing tournaments, and state of the art, proprietary manufacturing operating systems which develop, manage and mold composite parts (VEC™).

In many ways, Mr. Jacobs is doing for competitive angling what Mark McCormick did for professional golf. In three short years, Jacobs has greatly diversified and extended the range of FLW Outdoors to make it the world’s largest bass fishing tournament organization. He secured television distribution that exposes tournament fishing to millions on PAX TV and attracted the attention of corporate sports marketers wanting to tap into the fishing market – which has 60 million participants and is the most popular activity of the nation’s participatory sports. In addition, he invested millions in tournament prize purses to make the sport lucrative enough to enable the top players in the sport to make a substantial income.

Among his personal accomplishments, Mr. Jacobs underwrote the 1991 International Summer Special Olympic Games that were held in Minneapolis/St. Paul. He also served as chairman of that event. Jacobs also personally funded the building and furnishing of Dells Place, a group home for developmentally challenged individuals, and is a major contributor to Sharing & Caring Hands, a Minneapolis-based, non-profit organization that provides food, clothing and shelter to the homeless.