"The fees have become part of the furniture..."
Nick Carroll brought up a very interesting point yesterday on the tanned heels of Joel Parkinson’s win at Haleiwa. He wrote, “The WSL makes a lot of money out of the QS. All the entry fees, all the licensing fees. Millions of dollars.” And the statement could be dismissed but Nick Carroll is the only living surf journalist so we must take it seriously.
Nick then went on to add:
The fees have become part of the furniture, something all the associations and leagues etc etc have come to depend on to some degree, and something the surfers just assume has to be paid. The fees have expanded in all manner of odd directions. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the CT seeded pros actually had to loan back money to the ASP as a special fee, so the organisation could manage to pay its bills. Today the WSL has centralised its entry fee collection, so everyone pays directly into a competitors’ portal which aggregates everything; this gives the WSL full control over every QS entry fee, which runs as high as $350 per competitor in a QS10,000. This money, which in the past was split 50/50 between the organisation and the event, is now held solely by the WSL; a portion of it is sometimes handed back to the event if the WSL deems it necessary. Which is not very often.
And yes, I am repurposing here, an ugly bald-faced grab, but the points raised are just so juicy, just so delectable and beg the overall question. Is the World Surf League, as Nick Carroll suggests, a fabulous international slum lord?
Or similar, a bedazzled international pimp?
Promising glory while charging for a dank room in Warsaw, Poland and/or passage to France on a dank vessel?
That’s what I’m picking up here and all of a sudden the whole dog and pony show snaps directly into place. What happens at the top with the Jeep Leaderboard and Yellow Jersey etc. is pure sleight of hand in order to get mama and papa to cough up those very first entry fees which continue to get coughed up until junior is 22 and the dream is officially dead.
Of course it’s all a victimless crime. Mama and papa get to be involved in junior’s life. Junior gets to dream. And Erik Logan gets to go to Fiji.
Speaking of, Elo update coming soon!
Shit that’s a hell of a salary. I guess I shoulda played soccer.
Agreed on the parenting sentiment, it has to be one of the most embarrassing things to see a parent clearly more intent on greatness than their child.
are there really that many kids playing soccer in Hawaii?
I never see it, is that on Oahu?
that photo with the story…more than racist: why not a photo of Denis Hof..a pimp so popular he won an election in Nevada after he died. https://www.wcpo.com/news/n…
You’re welcome ma’am. Sometimes I think I am doing the WSL a series of almost completely unacknowledged good turns, it’s a shame they can’t stand surf culture or I wouldn’t have to do them.
Why pay for staff when the staff is silly enough to work for free?
They ain’t dumb in this regard, I’m sure.
They’ll keep leaving their dirty dishes, and you (and people like you) will keep washing them.
1. Buy a surfing contest
2. Hire Beths and ELOs.
3.?!?!?!?
4. PROFIT!!!!
Well the WSL and its events (remember most of the QS events, unlike the CT, are not owned by the WSL) give away a lot more in prize money than they take in entry fees. And they are a very long way from profit.
And I’m not washing anyone’s dishes.
I didn’t know the QS wasn’t a WSL product.
Good to know. Thanks.
You do good work for ‘the community’, I’m not slagging you off for it.
Ha ha I am gonna have one last crack at helping everyone understand pro surfing, then I’m over it. Stand by for the epic forthcoming volume.
I think ballet scorches the field in this area. Tiny girls are seduced by tutus. Mothers wig out. $700,000 and 12 years later the older yet still tiny girl is teaching dance at Ms Novotna’s Junior Ballet School for $9.50 an hour.
Oh now captain crunch! I am not at all suggesting that the WSL is some fabulous international slum lord! Just pointing out one way in which they are pulling in more cash than people think or even notice.
Think of it as a tiny tax on Griffin Colapinto’s dreams.
Kind of like the $500 MLM’s typically charge as a sign up fee. “With this one-time payment of $500 you’ll become your own boss and put your family on the path to financial freedom!” Probably have a better shot at making millions selling Herbalife powders than becoming a world champion pro surfer. Someone email Wilko, I’d love to get him on my downline.
Yes if the decade is the 1920s.
…still intrigued about the machinations of your daughter’s tennis “Banquet” as mentioned in a previous post. Very medieval sounding. Was there a roast pig with an apple in it’s mouth? Jellied eels?
Worse, overzealous parents and plastic-tasting finger food.
Marasias rumour mill has it that KS is not John Johns dad but actually
o pae do Gabriel.
Makes sense cause JJ looks as Syrian as a poodle.
Yeah my parents did the same for me with water polo, I played all through my high school years at various tourneys around California. It cost them lots of money, sure. But really there is a lot to learn from playing team sports, having a healthy outlet during that time in your life, etc.
I still credit those years with teaching me many life skills.
Also no coach told me I had what it take. I didn’t. I enjoyed it.
I have yet to see a guy driving around in a Mercedes and someone says “yeah man he’s the little league coach”
I’m also offended that the Beachwaver signature rotating hair iron will be featured at the Beachwaver Co. Maui Pro.
I wonder if any surf coaches are guilty of same.
“Wow… I didn’t think I would win. Man, what an honor… Haha I wanna give a couple quick ‘thank yous,’… to my agent, Ricky *camera shows Mr. Schroder, waving*, a real pro; to my girlfriend for supporting me by ignoring me and not caring enough that I waste countless hours on the site to develop my craft and indulge in/cultivate my own genius, also for being too embarrassed to show up tonight with me, allowing me to paarrr-taaay; *shoo music (Smashmouth’s ‘All-Star’) starts to play* and, most importantly, I want to thank my sponsors: Pepperidge Farm, Dr. Pepper, Grönköpings Veckoblad… mom… thank you for making this possible, taking care of all my entry fees and sending me promo, after I purchase them… you’re all beautiful…”
Let’s not forget SG’s annual trip to Wimbledon… no doubt she flies first class.
“Lack of Money Is The Root of All Evil” – George Bernard Shaw
Money is the root of all good and evil ? None of us can agree on whether a short board is better than a retro hipster thingy ma jig but we all agree on the worth of dollars , yen and euros ? ( even if they are not distributed in a fair manner )