The newly branded WSL is in the process of dramatically modifying the functioning of professional surfing and the way in which we consume it. CEO of the WSL, Paul Speaker, promises that what we once knew as the ASP will move to a system of “centralised broadcast, centralised management [and] centralised sponsorship”. Throughout the 2014 season these changes were beginning to take place. Come the end of this month the broadcast of the Quiksilver Pro will undoubtedly unveil more modifications. These impressive shifts in the broadcasting and structure of professional surfing involve big money and will greatly benefit fans, but they might end up costing you.
In an article on Surfer Magazine’s website Paul Speaker outlined how professional surfing is starting to change in order to benefit the fans.
“The ASP will be more fan-centric,” said Speaker. “The structure of the tours, the production of broadcasts and everything in between will be geared towards enhancing the fans’ experience.”
The WSL are hoping to renew the faith of sponsors who were looking to pull off the wave of contest surfing (like Quiksilver and Billabong) and encourage them to frantically pump down the line to hit the money section. This is being achieved by reducing the cost of licensing a WCT event from $3 million to $1 million. In an attempt to further legitimize surfing as a professional sport, the competitors are now also getting paid more in prize money. Essentially, professional surfing is becoming and will continue to become a more serious business involving big money and a more mainstream focus.
The early indication is that ZoSea is aiming to spruce up surfing’s broadcast system by moving away from the sport’s pre-2014 ‘bro-cast’ arrangement (Occy’s dream of commentating may be over). While there has been significant criticism of the ‘Americanization’ of the broadcast throughout 2014, the WSL managed to achieve a reasonably high standard of consistency and professionalism in their webcasts. Although there is still a long way to go, the money appears to be well spent thus far.
Many surf journalists and commentators are concerned that these shifting broadcast and administration arrangements will result in massively increased costs for the WSL. This could mean that the consumers will be the ones who end up floating this expensive, restructured broadcast model.
“As I watched the surreal spectacle of huge, perfect Teahupo’o beamed live into my computer… I was struck by a thought. Someone has to pay for this,” said Australian surf journalist Tim Baker.
Baker’s concern stems from the fact that most surf fans have been professional surfing ‘freeloaders’ for their entire lives.
“I barely contribute a nickel, rarely buy a surf branded product or act upon the urgings of its advertisers.”
ZoSea (the new owner of the WSL) has, however, remained adamant that they will not introduce a pay-per-view system for watching live broadcasts… yet.
“[ZoSea has] no plans for that at present … we feel it would be a stop sign for people who might otherwise be interested”, said Speaker in an article on Australia’s Surfing Life’s website.
Despite this, former CEO of the ASP Brodie Carr estimates that ZoSea’s desire to take over all licensing agreements, event ownership and operations will cost the company upwards of $25 million per annum. In order to profit after spending this huge amount of money, ZoSea hopes that brands outside of surfing will jump on board.
“The plan will be to see some outside of industry players move into the sponsorship chairs and fill the money jar,” said Carr in his editorial on Magic Seaweed in 2013, right around the time that the WSL was changing ownership.
The funding for WSL also relies heavily on the generous bestowing of money from US billionaire Dirk Ziff. Unfortunately, Ziff’s pockets aren’t bottomless. If the WSL doesn’t make a profit and corporate sponsors don’t get on board, who is most likely to pay? Probably the people who care about the survival of the sport: You and I.
There has been further speculation that failed sponsorship deals have already put the WSL into a significant amount of debt after their first year. In November 2014, Stab Magazine controversially detailed the fallout of a sponsorship deal between Red Bull and the WSL. The result of this alleged failed dealing between the two companies had put ZoSea in $30 million worth of debt for the year.
The big question remains: If the WSL is already in the red, is it actually possible to provide great broadcasting while allowing consumers access to it for free?
“There will be some free-view but the top-notch stuff is going to be pay-per-view,” said Carr, who is adamant in his belief that pay-per-view is imminent. “We will see [the] blogosphere blow-up, but if you are getting gold then you should hand over a little silver.”
It is seemingly inevitable that at some point we are going to have to hand over our hard-earned in order to access the surf content that we know and love. But how much is surfing actually worth to you? We are currently seeing paid viewing take shape in both mainstream and surf media. After years of relentlessly refusing to charge for online content, Fairfax media were obliged to enforce a pay-wall system in March of 2013. Cricket Australia charge $5 for every day of streaming cricket and $30 for a full season pass. In the surf world we have also seen the introduction of systems such as Surfline Premium and CoastalWatch Plus.
The way in which we consume surf media is going through systematic overhaul and it is time that we start to think about what professional surfing is really worth to us. I bet we are all pretty pleased that we got to watch Kelly’s career for free.
