In stunning rebuke, left-leaning international newspaper questions veracity of World Surf League final’s day viewership numbers!

The George Santos of sport.

These days are absolutely chockablock with untruths and misrepresentations all across the various spectrums. Fake bodies on social media, fake politicians elected to public office, maybe fake viewership numbers for the World Surf League’s Final’s Day there on Lower Trestles’ cobbled stone.

In the moments following Filipe Toledo’s historic win, WSL CEO took to various luncheons to proclaim it the “most watched day in surfing history.” Seven-million some viewers and counting.

At the time, leading correspondent J.P. Currie became extremely, and rightly, indignant, penning:

Are you really telling us, Mr Erik Logan, that the WSL Finals were more popular than last year’s NBA conference finals, watched by an average of 7 million viewers (East) and 6.7 million (West)?

The 2022 Champions’ League Final between Liverpool and Real Madrid averaged just 2.76 million viewers in the US. Granted, soccer is still a growing sport in North America, but it’s significantly more popular than surfing.

Plain and simple: the WSL’s numbers are ludicrous. It’s a campaign of such deliberate misinformation and manipulation of statistics that it amounts to sheer lies.

The quest for data is a goldrush. It’s the mark of Erik Logan’s media savvy, if you could call it that. Whilst new for surfing, it’s hardly an original tactic. In fact, internet culture is predicated on it.

Well, left-leaning newspaper The Guardian directly challenged Santa Monica in a piece exploring the rising use of technology in professional surfing. After describing how the season used to end at Pipeline, a “fearsome wave of consequence fitting arena for the world’s best,” as opposed to Filipe Toledo and Lower Trestles, before pivoting to declare:

Although it is early to gauge a Make or Break effect, the early signs are promising. Last year’s WSL finals, won by Australia’s Stephanie Gilmore and Brazilian Filipe Toledo respectively, was reportedly the most-watched surfing competition in history, with a reported 8.3 million views across WSL digital channels. Not everyone is so positive, though, and the veracity of WSL’s numbers has been questioned.

Veracity questioned.

Hammer.

At time of writing, the World Surf League has yet to respond but do you think the crisis team is on it? Mr. Logan setting up another conference in which to spin and weave?

Make or break.