Pittwater Life February 2017 Issue

Surfing Life
Surfing Life
Is it now surfing’s turn
for a Brave New World?
As the Australian
leg of the World Surf
League championship
tour draws closer, it
masks strange times
ahead for professional
surfing, writes Nick…
Who’s ever made real
money out of surfing?
The answer is: not
many people. A handful
have made fortunes out of
supplying raw materials to the
surfboard industry. Several
handfuls are sitting on piles
thanks to the big surf industry
brands and their various
boom times, now mostly past.
Who else? That’s it, as far
as real money goes. Heaps of
people make a living out of
various aspects of the sport:
the better pro surfers and
their agents, board makers,
surf shop owners, surf school
owners, travel agents, resort
owners, moviemakers, small
label crew, even a couple of
journalists.
But very little profit has ever
been made out of running
surf contests. They’re cultural
events. They’re rock concerts
without any ticket sales.
They’ve only ever cost people
money, not made it.
This cold fact seems now to
have dawned on pro surfing’s
owners, the World Surf League.
NICK’S FEBRUARY SURF FORECAST
We were a bit off with January, not in the basic structure of
the weather but in its insane scorching hotness. What did that
month think it was up to? I think early February will follow the
pattern, hot still days followed by cooler south easterlies, but
later in the month might see some changes, notably a shift to
more cloud and perhaps rain from the tropical north-east and
less mood-swing-style variation. Very warm surface waters
deep into the Tasman Sea will help encourage this trend,
and systemic onshores will usher away those pools of hot air
from inland, at least to some extent. Surf-wise it’s the least
predictable month for a while but there is a chance of something
big and heavy from the east or north-east at some point as that
surface water pushes moisture up into the path of the easterly
tradewind band and provides fuel for a possible off-season east
coast low or Coral Sea cyclone.
Nick Carroll
This little-known group
of private investors, led by
New York-based billionaire
Dirk Ziff, took control of
international pro surfing in
2013, and began running the
world championship tour at
the start of 2014.
Now, after three years
of intensive effort and an
estimated $100-millionplus
spent underwriting the
tour’s losses, the WSL’s CEO,
Paul Speaker (pictured), has
announced his resignation.
And while quite a few surf
addicts immediately posed
the obvious question – “Did he
jump or was he pushed?” – a
less obvious question remains:
“What are they gonna do now?”
Speaker was the face of
the organisation. An ex-NFL
marketing executive and
with Nick Carroll
movie producer, he spent a
year behind the scenes on
tour in 2012, talking surfers
and board members of the
then-Association of Surfing
Professionals around to the
idea underpinning the WSL.
Their idea was simple:
test pro surfing’s value in
the sports entertainment
marketplace.
The business plan called
for a tour that earned more
than its keep. Championship
Tour events would demand a
million dollars per event for
naming rights, while lucrative
tour partnerships with a range
of non-surf companies would
be sold across a range of
categories. Cars, electronics,
cosmetics, travel and airline,
beverage, and several other
categories were targeted. This
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FEBRUARY 2017