For eight dollars and a bar of wax!
Did you see this coming? Was it always in the works? (Of course it was! If you visit BeachGrit you’ll remember we broke this very story 4 months ago!) The WSL announced today that it is buying the Kelly Slater Pools biz! Here is the entire press release. Commentary and analysis up next!
– WSL Holdings, the parent company of the World Surf League (WSL), today announced an agreement in principle to acquire a majority stake in the Kelly Slater Wave Company (KSWC). The partnership between the WSL and KSWC will be dedicated to promoting the growth of high-performance surfing around the world. KSWC’s revolutionary technology creates a number of possibilities for the future of the sport. The WSL and the KSWC envision the build-out of a global network of WSL-branded high-performance training centers utilizing this wave technology.
For Kelly Slater, the 11-time world champion, the creation of this wave technology is the realization of a lifelong dream and a 10-year project, and today’s announcement brings his two worlds together. “While surfing for me will always be about adventure, travel and the ocean, this wave brings a new opportunity to the sport without taking away the soulfulness that attracted many of us to surfing in first place,” said Slater. “Surfing great waves in a controlled environment adds a new dimension, as there is no hassling for waves, no stress over who got the best wave – they are all good. Everyone can relax, have fun and focus on improving their surfing.”
“It’s beyond my dreams that this wave will be a canvas for the global advancement of this great sport in partnership with the WSL,” he added. “It will democratize surfing and provide incredible training opportunities for athletes as well as aspirational surfers in areas with no ocean waves.”
The WSL sanctions and organizes the highest-level professional surfing competitions for men, women, big wave, longboarders and juniors.
“The WSL proudly represents the best in men’s and women’s competitive surfing globally, and the amazing man-made wave technology developed by Kelly Slater and his team is a revolutionary innovation that has the power to dramatically enhance every aspect of our sport,” said Paul Speaker, CEO of the WSL. “We share the same vision and passion for growing high-performance surfing, and are beyond excited to work together under one roof to bring the sport to levels and places never before possible.”
KSWC technology creates an opportunity for surfers to practice and develop ever-higher levels of performance in a repeating environment, with unprecedented opportunities for surrounding camera and sensor arrays providing immediate and perfectly accurate feedback on their progress. This is the first repeatable man-made wave that convincingly delivers the power and shape of ocean waves most sought after by accomplished surfers, including a hollow barrel allowing for long tube rides. While high-performance surfing is the core mission of both the WSL and the KSWC, the wave technology is flexible and can also create variable waves for beginner and intermediate surfers.
WSL Commissioner Kieren Perrow recently visited the first KSWC site, and said the wave surpassed his expectations. “Up until a few weeks ago, I had never ridden Kelly’s Wave, and when I did, I was blown away by the experience,” Perrow said. “It is incredible to see this wave in action – it has more energy and power than I expected and this technology holds a lot of potential for the future development of surfers just starting out and those already competing on our Championship Tour.”
While competition in a man-made environment will offer previously impossible opportunities such as the creation of surrounding spectator environments, as well as certainty of scheduling, WSL CEO Speaker emphasized that nothing could ever replace the magic and mystery of world-class competition in the ocean. “We do believe that all stakeholders – athletes, fans, broadcast and corporate partners – will be super energized by the advent of Championship Tour-level competition with man-made waves,” he said, “but the ocean will always be our home, and the great waves on our tour will always remain the backbone of our competitive schedule.”
Speaker added: “No firm plans have been made for the inclusion of a man-made wave-based competition. We will be evaluating all the possibilities in the coming months with the Commissioners’ Office and the WSL athletes.” WSL Holdings is the parent company of the World Surf League (WSL). The transaction is subject to the negotiation of mutually agreeable definitive documentation, among other customary conditions. Both WSL and KSWC will continue to operate independently as separate entities following the closing of a transaction. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.
“We’ve been waiting for the right partner to take REAL to the next level for a while… someone who could add more than just money to our program. Partnering with Kelly is a no-brainer, but when you see what’s in our combined futures, it’s a jaw dropper.” – Matt Nuzzo REAL Co-Founder
http://www.realwatersports….
In all fairness I’d throw a tantrum too i
If that happened to me
What I learned from this article is that I hate Paul Speaker more then Gabriel Medina. You learn something new every day
No worries although, to be honest, I may have made an unremarkable comment or two along the way but it was probably in relation to Fresno. My only objection to the wave is in terms of a WSL contest venue because I think that it will be boring. And I agree…there may be a new army of idiots who show up at Pipe in December who have never seen the ocean let alone surfed in it. I used to yell at the tourists who let their kids play in raging Beaver Creek but I certainly won’t be yelling at the bros paddling out when it’s feathering on second reef. Wassell and the boys should be asking the City and County for a raise now to avoid the rush in a few years.
A wave pool with variable waves…. So basically it’s just like the ocean, except we feel the need to create an artificial version instead of enjoying nature
I think we would get to see Medina’s mum run up to the judges tower and take a shit right on the desk while fondling her hallelujah beads. Charlie would be spewing we all saw her twat.
Did you notice how the statement only said an agreement in “principle”. They haven’t inked anything yet.
Kelly Slater is smart enough to never move on something that would decimate his legacy, i.e. the agreement in principle is majority stakeholder. What if Slater now thinks it better that he retain majority stakeholder control.
Jelly Slater: Surfing’s own money grabbing PR spinning real estate Trump (sans comb over bouffant).
Sounds very scriptable!
Every surfer would get the same wave though, no? I mean if they just adjusted it at random then Gabs would cry because he thought Andino got a better section etc etc…
i would take the japan pool everyday
I don’t think I’ve used this argument before. In fact…I don’t even think I’ve commented on any of the wave pool articles.
Anyway…I think this is a great thing for practice and for people to learn and will eventually push the performance levels higher.
But the thing about contests that I enjoy (especially at reef breaks like Pipe, Cloudbreak and Chopes) is the wave selection and variability of the conditions.
A perfect wave created by nature is still the pinnacle of the sport, is it not? And that’s what makes it different from skateboarding, snowboarding, etc.
YES!! I BELIEVE TOO!! PRAISE REVEREND SLATER!! HALLELUJAH!!
This is good from you Nega. I hate it when you stop trolling.
Watching people get barreled in the ocean is fun because it’s a rare treat. You bent the ocean to your will for a few seconds and that’s a special and unique experience that never will be exactly the same again. You can’t buy it. Using a machine to get barreled is like getting a blowjob from a robot. Where’s the joy in that? You didn’t earn it. And it’s uncomfortable to watch. You just bought a blowjob robot, WSL.
…and yet the blowup doll market continues to grow…..
God I can’t wait for the Fiji event
it’s inflating rapidly in fact
Earning a Blowjob? your missus has you by the balls my friend….
Buying a blowjob from a whore and getting one for free from the missus is different, right? All I’m saying. I’ll take my call off the air now.
Good point. But this blow-job robot you speak of? do they ship internationally?
There’s a blowjob robot? I’m telling my girl to pack her bags….
Negs, what’s your preferred verb for how to “come up on” a blowjob? The quick alternatives to “earn” that come to mind are: take a blowjob, buy a blowjob, pontificate [into] a blowjob, downward dog a blowjob, etc.
Great! Now we can all stop pretending to care about the ocean.
“The wave technology is flexible and can also create variable waves for beginner and intermediate surfers.” Funny, as they haven’t really shown it capable of producing any variety, only the same hobbit “barrel.”
We have only seen 10 waves ridden… Knowing Slater his secret footage of the pool turned to “Chopes” will be released the day after the World Title winner is announced.
Possibly… I wonder, though, if ADS wins Fiji AND J-Bay, would he really be able to wait that long?
Only if a Brazzo wins
WSL pays an undisclosed amount with what? Not currency..since they lack a serious amount of that. I dont understand how this is not a conflict of interest considering this is has a CT surfers name on it regardless of it being kelly.
This thing would give an ethics professor a stroke.
Anybody else cringe when they read a quote from Speaker talking about “Our sport”?
I always cringe when they refer to professional surfers as “athletes” – is Wilko really an athlete?
Chas is on airport bar duty from now going forward
Holy fuck chops.