2025 SFC LEAGUE MEETINGS PREVIEW
Team Owners & League Stakeholders to Meet in Fort Worth, Texas, December 2-4
SFC Insider
FORT WORTH – Sport Fishing Championship’s (SFC) 2025 League Meetings will be hosted December 2-4, at the Omni Fort Worth Hotel. As a new group of team owners and league officials descend on Cowtown, SFC Insider has the scoop and will be providing live updates throughout the three-day event as SFC heads into its fourth season.
A new chapter in SFC’s history book is about to be written, following the league’s September announcement that its Billfish Championship – which has operated as an amateur, open format since launching in 2022 – will shift to a traditional “team and league” model in 2025.
League officials announced in September the shift to the new model with 16 pro teams - each tabbed with the “Angling Club” moniker – set to debut in Spring 2025. The 16 pro teams will represent 16 regions throughout the Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic Seaboard and an International Angling Club.
In the initial September announcement, high profile team owners included Scottie Scheffler (PGA), Randy Moss (NFL), Brian Kelley (Entertainer), Grant Williams (NBA), Alvin Kamara (NFL), and since the first announcement, Miami Dolphins Pro Bowl running back Raheem Mostert has also joined the list. The roster of team owners also includes world-class anglers with on-the-water success, including Kenny Hernandez and Captain JC Cleare of Remix Sportfishing (Miami), and 2024 Zane Grey Championship winners Dino McDowell and Captain Blake Bridges of Lifeline Sportfishing (Panama City Beach).
This is the first time the League Meetings will be held in Fort Worth, and SFC Insider will be following the top items that are on the docket:
HOW MANY TEAMS WILL COMPETE ON BEHALF OF THE 16 PRO ANGLING CLUBS IN 2025?
Here’s what we know: SFC’s Initial Team Offering originally set out to sell 16 “team charter” rights, in a model similar to NASCAR’s Cup Series. According to our sources, SFC “significantly” outperformed its revenue target for team sales after selling 12 of the teams. The league and team owners will discuss a proposed plan for the league to operate the four remaining team charters/Angling Clubs, with the four teams to be sold off in the coming years.
Each of the team charters carries the “Angling Club” moniker – designed to create additional opportunities for the teams within their exclusive rights territory. It’s unknown at this time how many boats will fish for each Angling Club week-to-week during the 2025 Regular Season.
Chesapeake Chessies AC (Angling Club) team owner Drew Dolben tells SFC Insider “it’s most likely that each Angling Club will have one or two boats fishing each week in the first year of the new competitive format.” Based on our conversation with Dolben, the league will continue to have a Gulf Division and Atlantic Division, which would mean fans could see 8 to 16 boats competing at each Regular Season Tournament. But Dolben reiterated, “…everything is on the table…” as the League looks to build superstars for the sport over the coming years.
2x SFC Champion Justin Drummond announced in October Team Quantified’s long-awaited return to competitive fishing. Drummond is rumored to be fishing for the West Florida Battle Flags AC, but neither the club nor league would confirm that rumor.
The mill is stirring, with names like Jaselyn Berthelot (Rising Sons), Capt. Chase Lake (Team Supreme), Capt. Landon Bell (Southern Charm All In), Capt. Brian Dressler (Sails Pitch), Capt. Rob Carmichael (Lights Out) all rumored to be in negotiations to fish for one of the Angling Clubs in ’25.
LEAGUE SPONSORSHIP & MEDIA RIGHTS REVENUE SHARING
Over SFC’s first three seasons, its apparent that the league has proven the ability to attract blue chip corporate partners and has broadcasted hundreds of hours of live tournament coverage on CBS Sports Network, CBS and YouTube.
According to Kenny Hernandez, Team President of East Coast Remix AC, in this next chapter at SFC the league is “highly incentivized” to support the teams and help build profitable businesses for their Angling Club as all stakeholders plan on sending team valuations into the “eight figures.”
The league and team owners have already agreed to a revenue share model, where teams will have access to the league’s corporate sponsorship, merchandising, licensing and media rights revenues, in addition to the league continuing to underwrite over $1MM in prize money.
At the SFC League Meetings, the team owners will elect up to five representatives on the newly-formed SFC Sponsorship & Marketing Committee, which will address the team rate cards – including assets that are wholly-owned by the teams, with revenues being 100% collected by the teams.
According to Hernandez, “SFC team jerseys, boat wraps & decals, and other highly visible areas on the boats will be available for branding by corporate partners.”
…. and yes. SFC Insider can confirm, team uniforms will debut in 2025.
WILL TUNA BE COUNTED TOWARDS “QUALIFIED CATCH” POINTS NEXT SEASON?
With SFC tournaments stretching from the Gulf to the Caribbean and up the Atlantic Seaboard, there’s an ongoing debate amongst team owners and captains on whether to add harvested tuna towards a team’s ‘Qualified Catch’ tournament points. According to Ethan Rigel, team owner of the New Jersey Sea Birds AC, “…the team owners are in ongoing discussions on whether or not to add (all species of) tuna to the scoring system next season.”
Capt. Justin Drummond has been on the record against the idea of adding harvested tuna into the points system, and other anglers agree.
“I’d like to see the league remain a traditional billfishing series,” said Capt. Chase Lake (Team Supreme). “I think (the Competition Committee) should remain true to SFC’s roots and consider increasing blue marlin release points from 450 to 500, or even 550.”
The league has held qualifying events in iconic “tuna towns” in years’ past, with Northern Atlantic tournaments being hosted in Montauk, Block Island and as far north as Falmouth (Cape Cod). Billfish release numbers prior to the 2024 Season had been strong, but this past year the Atlantic Division’s billfish release numbers took a nosedive with an uncharacteristically slow July fishing season. While poor weather might’ve played a role in the low billfish release counts, the league is considering different options.
“It's in the best interest of the league to continue to host tournaments and serve our fans in the Northern Atlantic,” said SFC Commissioner, Mark Neifeld. “We’ve built a tremendous fan base and loyal supporters in the Northeast Atlantic since 2022, and the league will continue to have a significant presence in some of the top media markets in the country.”
The league owners will vote in its first Competition Committee on Tuesday, December 3rd, and the Committee is set to vote on the 2025 points system on Wednesday the 4th.
ZANE GREY CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYOFFS FORMAT
The Inaugural Zane Grey Championship Playoffs were held in Cabo San Lucas in October, and by all accounts the new format and location were an incredible success for the League. Four teams raised nearly 200 fish, with over 80 releases over two days.
“The teams are working with the league on a schedule that will allow for us to bring our boats to Cabo,” said Jordon Benefield, General Manager of the 2024 ZGCP Champions, Team Lifeline. “The plan is to complete the Regular Season before or shortly after Labor Day. We hope to have the boats shipped to Mexico with plenty of time to pre fish, prior to the Zane Grey Championship Playoffs.”
In addition to returning to the fighting chair, Benefield will serve as the first GM of the Gulf Coast Cowboys AC, a team co-owned by Lori McDowell, Dino McDowell and country music superstar Brian Kelley.
With 16 pro teams competing in SFC in 2025, team owners all agree that it’s likely the Zane Grey Championship Playoffs field will be comprised of either six or eight teams’ next season. With an eight-team playoff, half of the pro teams fishing during the season would advance to the ZGCP. A six-team playoff format would make it more difficult to lock in an invitation to the championship, while also potentially rewarding the top team in the Gulf and Atlantic Divisions with a BYE in the playoff bracket.
The Competition Committee will vote on the new Zane Grey Championship Playoff Committee on Wednesday, December 4th, as well.
2025 SEASON SCHEDULE & OTHER LEAGUE MEETING ITEMS
New teams. New revenue opportunities. New competition format. The slogan for the 2025 SFC League Meetings might as well be “what’s new?”
In addition to the 2025 SFC Regular Season Schedule, the league will also finalize its year-round calendar immediately following the SFC League Meetings.
SFC Insider can confirm a few of the higher visibility league events, prior to League Meetings.
SFC Media Days will bring the League’s top competitors to South Florida and will be hosted at the Discover Boating Miami International Boat Show, February 12-14, 2025.
The “SFC+ House” will debut March 21-24, 2025, in West Palm Beach in conjunction with the Palm Beach International Boat Show. “Science of Fishing” podcast host and SFC’s Head of Content, Mark Farag, tells SFC Insider “…the SFC+ House will be a one-of-a-kind hospitality and content creator event, designed to showcase the top creators in saltwater fishing.”
The Catch powered by Verizon, SFC’s annual exhibition pro-am showcasing the top NFL superstars, will return to Fort Lauderdale, April 11-13, 2025, and will once again benefit the Coast Guard Foundation. More information about The Catch will be released in the coming days, per league officials.
The 2025 Zane Grey Championship Playoffs will return to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, October 18-21, 2025.
SFC AWARDS will culminate the 2025 Season, making its highly anticipated debut live from the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. SFC AWARDS tickets will be available to fans who wish to celebrate the ’25 Season at this “blue carpet” event, recognizing the league’s top contributors with awards like “Captain of the Year,” “Mate of the Year,” and “Sportsman of the Year.”
The 2025 SFC Regular Season Schedule will once again run from mid-April and into the late summer. The SFC Competition Committee will review the 2025 Schedule at the League Meetings, with a final schedule anticipated to be published before the end of the year.