World Surf League CEO Erik “Elo” Logan breaks self-imposed silence in bombshell interview as he prepares surfers for unprecedented VAL invasion: “There are 380 million people interested in surfing globally… We’re in the growth phase of our sport”

"Once we actually get the Olympics up and going that amplification will continue."

Oprah Winfrey’s former righthand gal turned CEO of the World Surf League, Erik “Logan”, has broken a three-month silence to reveal his terrifying vision, to turn almost half-a-billion people into pro surfing fans.

Speaking to Sports Section on “growing the sport, Olympic participation,” Logan says,

(On Growth)

There are some 380 million-odd people interested in surfing globally. My job is to find those people, introduce them to competitive surfing, and get them to watch our content.

An average event for us in terms of our digital and also linear distributions is about 10 million.

It’s truly global (and) the consumption continues to go up year over year. We’re seeing the sport really grow in terms of its youth. We’re one of the youngest sports on the planet, and we’re probably one of the most global sports. Surfing really is a global sport.

What we’re finding is that instead of always making people come to us, which is a heavy lift, we’re actually going to where they are. So we’re getting a lot more mainstream adoption. Because of that, and also because of surfing being in the Olympics for the first time, we’re getting mainstream press on a level we’ve never had before.

It’s already had a massive impact, and once we actually get the Olympics up and going that amplification will continue.

We’re in the growth phase of our sport. And we feel like we’re really well-positioned. We perform all around the world at different hours, so no matter where you are in the world, you’re going to have an event in your time zone.

(On the title decider at Lowers)

We’re taking the Top 5 points for men and women over the course of this year, and they’re going to actually compete in a one-day ladder tournament. What that assures us is a massive media moment  — we’re going to have that world championship moment that our sport has never had in its history.

(On shark deaths)

What’s so different about surfing than every other sport is that the golf courses aren’t moving, and the tennis courts aren’t moving. There’s nothing that’s going to eat you. 

Logan finishes, as is his form, with a little schmaltz,

When I think about how I’d like to see the company evolve, it’s in finding a way to harmonize this large contingency of avid surf fans and lovers and the professional side of our sport with these elite world-class athletes doing these super-human things.

Read entire interview here.