Is a huge media package right around the corner?
I read Sam George’s poetry last night and was so excited to write a rebuttal until this morning when I read each and every one of your comments and laughed until my sides hurt. There is nothing else to say on the matter except to wonder who BeachGrit’s “resident critic” is. A great and grand mystery that only Sam George truly knows. Sam? Will you ever reveal or will you take it to your grave?
Speaking of, what sort of “grave” do you think Sam George will choose when that time comes? Something rococo or understated? A plot in a historically important cemetery, like next to Jim Morrison in Paris, or will his ashes be taken to Sunset, on a big day, and windmilled in to a bomb?
While you are pondering, can we quickly discuss our World Surf League? Oh what a week it has been with sizzling rumors, sizzling rumors half-punctured then sizzling rumors resurrecting again. Santa Monica rarely reaches out directly, but when they did following the first sizzling rumor of a Kelly Slater’s Surf Ranch-less future and my phone exploded I thought, “Something must be up.”
Could that something be a robust media deal worth tens and tens of millions of dollars that is currently being negotiated, pitting Facebook against Fox against ESPN for the grand prize?
Maybe.
And let us turn to Front Office Sports for more:
The sport of surfing will be part of the Olympic Games for the first time in Tokyo in 2020. The timing couldn’t be better for the World Surf League (WSL) to commence negotiations for future media deals, with an eye toward richer rights fees and greater visibility.
The surfing governing body currently has a linear TV deal with Fox Sports and a digital deal with Facebook. As the exclusive U.S. broadcaster for the WSL’s Men’s and Women’s Championship Tours as well as the Big Wave Tour, Fox and FS1 are expected to televise more than 500 hours of WSL programming this year.
But those deals expire after this year. WSL and Fox announced a one-year deal in February. Previously, WSL and Facebook announced a two-year deal in January, 2018. The league is expected to reap $30 million from that deal, according to Forbes.
Pri Shumate, the former Nike marketer who joined WSL as chief marketing officer earlier this year, confirmed the governing body has begun negotiating its future media deals.
“We can’t disclose a whole lot of what’s happening because we are having media rights conversations at the moment. But we have had incredible success with both Facebook and Fox,” Shumate said. “Facebook has expanded our audience in the digital universe in a huge way. Obviously, our linear audience has grown as well through Fox. Both of those have been incredible partnerships for us. We are in the process of figuring out how do we move forward for 2020 and beyond.”
Given ESPN’s global reach, they would seem to be a natural contender for WSL rights. But Shumate declined to name possible bidders outside the incumbents.
Etc.
On the piece goes with extremely bullish talk regarding the size and engagement of professional surfing’s audience and much business-speak from WSL CEO Sophie Goldschmidt but a sentence, near the end, caught my eye. Let’s read together.
With a young, funky and opinionated audience, sports insiders view WSL as a league with plenty of financial upside.
A young, funky and opinionated audience? That sounds a lot like us doesn’t it? And is Santa Monica selling itself to media partners based on the biggest little surf website in the world? I haven’t read or seen anything even close to “opinionated” anywhere but right here. Well before we pat ourselves on the back and head out to our mailboxes, awaiting royalty checks from that future financial upside let us read nouveau Backward Fin Beth Pri Shumate’s final quote:
“We’re expanding from competition to community. If before our goal was to have this amazing home for core surf fans, we’re expanding into creating a community through surfing. Those people don’t have to necessarily be surfers. They need to love what it is we represent.”
It’s a VAL world, baby. We’re just living in it.
Get a board you can dominate on, giant longboard whatever, fat wide fish even?) then just sit outside, wait for sets, pick a safe path, get things going, slalom around, mow them down, shame them.
Might have to wear a wetsuit as shinguard. Thats how the rules are taught. how I learned,
I’m a skinny old stick figure now, but once I get that tanker swinging up into the lip…watch out!! People go scrambling! Hes out of control, no its a cutback!!
I kinda like scaring VALS now I cant paddle a shortboard very well!
YMMV
Selling out is the new keeping it Real.
The transition from plank to proper shortboard (even one with wide point front of center) must be a long grueling journey for the adult learner, one that for most, is probably not wise to make and few do I think. That said, you would hope that at least they would be attempting turns and progressively reducing board size but many don’t and are happy not. It’s odd.
Well, if surfing is considered “funky” then call me mutha fuckin George Clinton!
Hope they factor in middle aged, post mitsi munching, overly opinionated grumpy local with no financial upside to the model.
You surf Cardiff reef?
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I think the WSL’s future lies more in entertainment factor than legitimate sport. Future world titles will be more of a formality than the main event, and the whole show will be more about exhibition-style formats.
Controversial judging and more flexible competition formats (see: surf ranch, RB Airborne, overlapping heats, seeding round) are all phase one, and once they leverage the attention of the Olympics to attract the first big sponsor, the whole tour will pivot even more towards “entertainment” formats. Patriotic storylines. Big airs that the general public are impressed by. Wavepools and novelty locations. Bigger personalities. Cooked scores and favoritism. But all with a slick sheen and child-friendly presentation and rulebook.
In five years our current tour will be unrecognisable, but the reach will be beyond what any of the previous generation could have imagined.
Drugs and crime are the answer.
Unfortunately we are now being watched so we be fuked, so fuked.
Good luck with that
Did you see me out there too LGR ?
https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
Hear hear
https://www.nytimes.com/201…
Ha.. an article in the NYT’s about the WSL!!
those kinds of bitches always flagged me for dress codes. down with them.
I think I love you Katherine. Whattya say we ditch this weenie party and go get us a turkey on rye ?
packing a bag!
HAHA exactly
I suggest that Sam’s grave # would be the large hole his been digging for himself over a number of years/articles/blogs.
It would only than require filling in.
Quite a cheap burial.
# note I wish Sam a long and happy life .
I almost vaped my latte.
So opinionated, so edgy.
Can’t wait for my next tatt.
The lunatics have taken over the asylum …..take away my point of view.
You’re new here so I’ll let you in on the secret REAL crest of the WSL.
Ssssshhhh:
https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
Do you have the new World Longbean Tour logo too?
Ooooh, you’re good.
Never thought of that.
But to be fair… I never think of longboards much anyhows.
Know what they should call the SUP tour?
…call it off.
Ive never scrolled through an article that fast before
the wsl is not the ”global home of surfing.’
no one has its sticker/logo on their cars, backs, fronts, or laptops.
all pretty good indicators generally…
tho it may be big with the hollisiter crowd.
+quiksilver.
+’ life is good’ mall store followers.
+whens the last time you wore your ‘athlete’s jersey’ with pride, or in front of anyone?
kinda sold surfing down the river. or the pool. or the whatever. O indeed.
“sold surfing down the river. “
yeah but… who’s buying?
Yesterday in traffic I saw a shiny black new Jeep Torquay tractor with a sole glaring white 5″ WSL logo sticker on the rear side window. My reflex thought was wtf. I punched the accelerator to try catch a glimpse of the perpetrator of this crime against humanity hiding behind illegally-tinted windows but alas, traffic blocked my attempted primary research on behalf of the commentariat.
I then toyed with the idea that the wsl is giving away new Jeeps with high contrast stickers in densely populated surf centres as part of a grass roots marketing campaign. This wouldn’t be the biggest waste of money in surf industry history, not even top 10.
Now David, if the brass had chosen one of your 21,976 doodles as masthead for the dictatorship, would this make them “the global home of surfing”? Would they appear on cars (not paid) backs or laptops? And would surfing not be sold down the Lemoore drain?