Mission: pivot hard into wave pools.
(Update: this is a fast-moving story. Read Bombshell Twist in appointment of ex-UFC exec as CEO of World Surf League.)
After an eight-month search, the World Surf League has chosen a former UFC exec Joe Carr to lead the beleaguered organisation back into the light after the sudden disappearance of whacky frontman Erik Logan.
Chas Smith, you’ll remember, covered Logan’s sacking from all angles.
Idiotic silence from the World Surf League (WSL) ensued, and hovers to this day, but intrepid surf journalists have uncovered Logan making surfers “feel uncomfortable” and, today, his wild rage exploding all over them.
We, of course, recall when the Oklahoman with a wetsuit of armor savaged a young woman named Taylor Swift, penning, “For someone who draws such power from being the ‘voice’ and against all the things you talk about, I’m watching you violate what you allegedly stand for. You’re the real bully.”
It should come as no surprise, then, that Logan brutalized the entirely lovable Conner Coffin, who had the unfortunate task of being the surfers’ representative ahead of the pre-season cut. According to fresh information, Logan would berate Coffin on phone calls after the near-perfect Santa Barbran shared discomfort amongst the ranks, telling him to get the surfers in line, telling him he’d “ruin him” in rage-filled tirades that have, allegedly, been recorded.
Joe Carr has got a few miles under the belt.
He helped steer Dana and co into a four-billon dollar buyout for the UFC and, lately, was the founder and CEO of Nitro Circus parent company Thrill One.
He was also Chief Strategy Officer for the WSL under Logan for eighteen months in 2017-18 and president of the WSL for seven months in 2019.
No doubt UFC is the business and business model the WSL seeks to emulate. No secrets there, they bought on former UFC exec Joe Carr in 2017 to drive business development.
Carr was best known for driving the sale of UFC to WME-IMG for $4.2 billion. Yep, billion. A tasty prospect for Ziff, who got the ASP for nix.
Are there parallels?
Can the wozzle crib the UFC playbook and fatten for sale?
Joe Carr said in a 2017 interview he sees a “ton of parallels between both companies”. It took him two years to get there but he foresaw back in 2017 that the Kelly Tub would offer content creation opportunities like “reality programming and social media possibilities”.
(Editor’s note: this story has been sliced and diced ’cause your ol pal DR, in a bit of a rush before a dinner engagement last night, grabbed what I thought was the CEO press release, didn’t read real close, and posted. Thanks to the readers for the gentle explanations below the line.)
Couldn’t really pay attention to Derek’s dribble so I clicked on douche bag Chas’ article to catch up on why ELo was canned. After Chas claiming that Brazilian food is terrible and the Kemper documentary was boring I couldn’t take the rest seriously. Anytime I have the misfortune of finding myself on beachhrit these days I just want to slap somebody. Hey, if you or Chas are ever coming to Big Island write about it in an article so I can keep an eye out for you. I would like to slap some taste into either of you kooks. Thanks
Part of the popularity of the UFC is that they aint woke.
Woke runs in the DNA of the WSL.
Johnny Boy is like, shit, why didn’t they turn pro surfing into the UFC when I was competing?
He has a ton of shaka pics on Insta to get under his if he’s going to catch up to Elo’s surf-adjacent level of pathetic.
cool, i’m sure this will end well.
1st mistake is comparing surfing to any other sport 😂
I tapped out years ago.
I so fucked up.
Which is worse, watching Pip dodge sets at Pipe or Koa Rothman surf small waves?
Douchebag beget DouchebagII
All Joe has to do is cancel finals at Trestles as his 1st priority and he gets a golden pass for a year or two.
well , if that aint the nail in the coffin
Carr comes from a background of ‘full-contact’ body sports. Isn’t that why they fired ELO? Great fit if the elimination rounds occur on the sand before and after the contest heat. Bring the blood.
I can’t find a single image on the Interwebs of him surfing. So you’ll have to settle with a pic of him sharing a beer with Graham Stapelberg. Joe Rogaine sharing the booth with Turpel can’t be far behind.
https://www.boardsportsourc…
Does this mean hes a local at Blackrock?
The only way wave pool contests work is by making absolute freak waves that don’t exist in real life. Let us see what Medina can do with a perfectly timed sidewave and backwash coming right at him.
Would be nice to see john surf sunset then quit the tour and join Nathan’s slab tour. Be done with this nonsense
Still desperately trying to get rich off the pool. If they could make it break 10 foot+ it might have worked.
Shoulder high dream waves might be fun to surf but shit to watch.
Would be insane to see Kelly’s wave at 10’+. But I bet after a few heats I’d be over that too because the unpredictability of the ocean and watching the masters of our sport navigate that is the real draw to watching the contests
the US became a world power when pervs with this guys pedigree were in charge.
feel dumb for even reading those articles suggesting people like Patty O … so obvious it would go this direction. Whatever. If the tour goes to pools will just have some extra free time on my hands, since won’t be wasting my time watching that useless shit.
“Prior to Thrill One, Joe was the President of the World Surf League and was responsible for the organization’s media distribution, live events, athlete management, digital product, international business, and legal affairs. Carr was responsible for the WSL’s groundbreaking digital rights agreement with Facebook, the largest deal in the organization’s history.
Under his guidance the WSL’s live events were similarly transformed. Carr spearheaded the first ticketed events at its innovative Surf Ranch wave facility. He also revised WSL’s Championship Tour format to make it more fan-friendly and launched the WSL’s Airborne Series — an aerial-only competition – to appeal to a younger, non-core audience.”
“younger, non-core” — the golden chalice.
i.e., Pro Pipeline Aerial Show