CEO Paul Speaker was right! Pro surfing becoming bigger than God!
And it is time, once again, to take stock of professional surfing’s place in our sporting landscape. How our favorite pastime stacks up against other passions. Don’t you recall when our proud leader WSL CEO Paul Speaker blasted onto the scene and promised to smash the very popular National Football League?
I do!
So I looked today through the various social medias (Facebook and Instagram) and, if you dare believe, the World Surf League is 1/3 as big as the 74 billion dollar NFL making it worth, roughly, 25 billion dollars.
Wow!
What a wonderful investment for the Ziff family who put up 0 dollars and now have 25 billion jingle-jangling in their pockets!
Even more surprising, though, I discovered that the WSL is bigger than both Nascar AND Formula 1 almost combined! The World Surf League boasts 5, 622, 834 Facebook followers and 2.2 million Instagram followers. Nascar swings in with 4,656,531 on Facebook and 634,000 on Instagram. Formula 1 has 2,897,961 and 1.9 million on Instagram.
Children across the globe used to dream of zipping through foreign cities, or around oval tracks, in souped up machines. Now they dream in barrels and airs. Of Filipe Toledo and Glen “Micro” Hall.
It might be a bit strange, maybe, that Formula 1 has 3000% more views on Youtube than professional surfing and that 30000% more people go watch Nascar live than professional surfing but… oh never mind.
You’re almost there Herr CEO Paul Speaker! Almost the biggest sport in the entire world!
The Ziffs original agreement was to give Speaker (the WSL) 30 million a year for 3 years–time may be running out and he feels he needs to hype the numbers…
Bet all you watch it. Some every heat. Don’t be a doos Chas.
None of those other sports are available online for free internationally. Not saying he isn’t full of shit, but it’s rare that a sport is free. I can’t think of any other one, then again I haven’t looked very hard!
delivery, mr speaker. https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
The WSL will get even bigger if they immediately sign up the legend who was attacked by shark yesterday – apparently he is already shopping for a new board from his hospital bed!!!.
Maybe WSL get him on firewire with fcs and get him surfing in Kelly’s pool – then they will be bigger than Soccer for sure!!!!
It’s cos every nerd from the guy in your office to Ben Stiller wants chicks to think he surfs. I’m surprised so many closet homos publicly adore the PGA.
https://uploads.disquscdn.c… World Surf Leauge @wsl has more #socialmedia fans than any other sports league!
Look at Speaker sitting there so confidently rose in the lapel – the only way they get those figures is to times every viewer by 50-100!!!
the bots are working overtime over there
Well bugger me wallaby. And here I was thinking there were 24 million surfers in the world. Are we suggesting 19 million surfers aren’t “liking” pro surfing? what in God’s name are they doing with their time?
Clearly commenting here at the Grit.
i dont have time to surf anymore because ive been liking it so much