To answer your question, yes it does matter to some folks that fish the Federation. The impact on local Federation anglers could be pretty important. I'm not sure how much you know about the Federation, but for one thing, you can fish your way through the ranks to the Classic (if aligned with BASS) or the FLW Championship (if aligned with FLW).

From what I've read the FLW is offering a lot more to the Fed than BASS ever has. This could result in the Federation going in a completely new and diferent direction with bigger Federated State, Regional and National tournaments. So yes it does matter to the guys that currently fish the Federation and anglers like myself who left and are considering going back to the Federation. The moves they make right now could launch the Federation to new heights or it could be its death knoll. I for one hope they get it right and remember its the little guys that make the grassroots of that organization.

The State Federations are really who got the BASS ball rolling in the first place. Ray would not have been able to make BASS what it became without the diehard state guys. I know, I was a member in the Fed from the early 80's to the mid 90's. I wathced the ranks grow in the Mass BAss Federation from like 75 - 100 anglers to over a thousand in a span of less than 5 years. In my opinion that is what really drove BASS and whoever the Federation aligns with should give more back to the guys at the local levels. Like Ray said, who really buys the sponsors products, the few hundred pros or the 40,000+ members of the State Feds? Simple question with a simple answer, however I think BASS/Scott/ESPN forgot that answer a long time ago and may now be in for a very rude awakening.