March 25, 2022 by Charlie Eisenhood in Livewire, News with 0 comments
After writing about Dynamic Discs’ success amidst the pandemic back in 2020, the Wall Street Journal is featuring disc golf again, this time focusing on MVP Disc Sports’ explosion since James Conrad’s Worlds throw-in and the supply chain challenges the sport has faced, from shipping snarls to rising plastic costs.
From Valerie Bauerlein’s insightful story:
Disc-golf companies are paying more than $20,000 for shipping containers that formerly cost $5,000 to haul branded metal baskets from China, only to have them stuck for months at the Port of Los Angeles. They are adding overnight and weekend shifts but struggling to staff them, especially during the outbreak of the Omicron variant.
The latest worry is the continued availability of crude oil, the key ingredient in polyurethane. The war in Ukraine has caused an increase in the cost of crude oil over concerns about sanctions, as Russia is one of the world’s dominant suppliers.
The average retail cost of a disc has risen to roughly $20 to $25 from $10 to $15, according to Infinite Discs, a leading online disc-golf retailer and publisher of a trade blog.
Plastic prices reached all-time highs last fall and have remained at elevated levels. The combination of increased raw materials costs, shipping backups, and intense demand for discs have pushed prices up substantially.
For more insight into the disc golf industry, sign up for an Ultiworld Disc Golf subscription to get the Cash Line newsletter about the business of disc golf.
