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It’s a strange old anomaly, that the WSL in it’s current incarnation has done so much for the sport of surfing over a relatively short period of time, yet still the default is to always bag on them, and to find fault, and to highlight their failings and their shortcomings.
They’ve got them all right – failings and shortcomings. They’re a big corp with many employees and there are so many variables within a surf contest operational system that not everything can be expected to run smoothly all day every day.
Their recent upheavals have been the sudden superannuation of Commander-In-Chief Paul Speaker, followed quickly by the unsuccessful signing of Samsung, at the last minute, for the 2017 season.
There has been a wave of outcries, a literal tumult of dissonance, as a result of these elements affecting our professional sport. Without Speaker the machine is as an unguided missile, wobbling along an unknown trajectory, getting pulled in certain directions by warmth and energy and getting pushed from certain directions by the cold hard forces of evil.
On top of this, Samsung has obviously recognized that a flailing sport like Pro Surfing (with their ahead-of-trajectory webcast tech) is an uncool fit for their funky brand, albeit a brand that is under partial recall for fiery explosions.
Therefore it is a time of woe. It is a time for angst and anger and flagellation and the freedom to shout out ‘I told you so,’ and ‘I knew it all along’ without fear of ridicule or retribution.
There are a few factors, however, that might help our understanding of the apparent pickle we’re in, and how we’re going to extricate ourselves out of this current mess we’re apparently besmirched by.
1. Dirk Edward Ziff is the man in charge, who is fulfilling CEO duties until such time as a hero puts his hand up to save the day. Forbes puts his net wealth at US$4,6Billion, but a little bit of deeper research will show that he allegedly has some sort of operational value closer to US$15 Billion.
2. Dirk has the ear of the surfers, and has warmed himself to the crew at the WSL juggernaut, despite being a very private person. He’s totally into this thing called pro surfing.
3. Dirk’s wife, Natasha Bacigalupo, is a billionaire’s wife who is also really into this thing called pro surfing, in particular women’s surfing. It is unlikely that she’s going to drop the sport anytime soon, as she loves it.
(Did you know? Bacigalupo was once a young Forbes reporter who met billionaire future husband while on the job in the 1990s?)
4. Then finally, I was once at a surf party, possibly a year or two ago, and there were a couple of the WSL hierarchy present, sipping on bubbles and nibbling on prawns. I probably shouldn't have been there, but I knew someone who knew someone and I managed to slip through the entrance with nary a fuss, on condition that I try my utmost to behave around the free bar.
Luckily no one of importance knew who I was, and after a few too many Johnny Walkers I started chatting to someone. Lo and behold, this person had insight into WSL matters, and he (or she) told me in mutters and mutes that the WSL was set to turn around, and go straight into profit around July 2017. Falteringly as opposed to soaringly, but most definitely profit nonetheless.
When the checks and balances have been done after the Corona JBay Open, it’s Profitsville for the WSL.
There has been many a slip twixt cup and lip since that fateful night at the party, one being the demise of the Samsung to the rumoured tune of US$3Million.
But when your business value is rumoured to be in the vicinity of double figure Billions, $3M does become beer money, don't you agree? Even at the certified net worth of $4800000000, three million is chump change. It’s less than one percent.
If the business model and the profit post-JBay story is based on truth, and If Ziff and his lovely wife have seriously got the best interests of our sport at heart, as is becoming more and more feasible as time goes on, then we all need to relax, as we’re on pretty steady ground.