For those wondering how the ASP World Tour may appear in 2014 when ZoSea assume media rights the early indicators are coming in with Margaret River being upgraded to WT status.

Yesterday the ASP announced that the Drug Aware Margaret River Pro, a long-running Qualifying Series and Prime contest, would be upgraded to World Tour status in 2014. Located in one of the world's most wave rich coastlines the Margaret River Pro should prove to be a boon to the World Tour that has recently run competitions in New York, Rio De Janeiro and Ocean Beach, San Francisco.

Beside the move towards quality there are a few interesting points that should be noted.

The first is that there are now three WT competitions in Australia: the Quiksilver Pro at Snapper, the Rip Curl Pro at Bells and the Margaret River Pro. This is contrary to Article 4.01 in the ASP rule book which states: "World Title Events are limited to 13 per year with no more than 2 Events in any one country."

The rule was created to stop clustering of events in any one region and ensure a fair spread. It was widely thought that the reason Hurley and Billabong joined forces this year for the Australian Open of Surfing – a 6-Star event – was due to them being locked out of the Australian leg of the World Tour. This rumour was given further credence by the scheduling of the AOS which was held before the Quiksilver or Rip Curl events.

According to Dave Prodan, the ASP's International Media Director, the article hasn't been altered but was overruled by the ASP Board. "The Board," said Dave, "decided that the long-term commitment from the WA licensee, the quality of the wave venue and their commitment to the surfers made it a worthy WCT venue."

It's true that the licensee has made a long-term commitment; the competition has been run in various forms since 1985 when Mark Occhilupo won and they've made an assurance to the ASP to hold the competition as a WT event 'till 2017.

The second point that Dave makes - the quality of the wave venue - is the most telling. In that statement the ASP has laid down its cards. Not only have they demonstrated they'll make exceptions for better venues, an allowance surf fans should celebrate, they've also shown us the required criteria for new contests. If, by chance, three licensees came forth with generous offers of WT comps in Brazil then on the above grounds it won't be allowed.

The other point of interest is the event sponsor. It's the first time since 2006 that a non-surfing company is the event sponsor. In that case it was the Nova Schin Festival at Imbituba, Brazil. It's also the first time since 2002 at the Figueira Pro at Portugal that a government body is footing the bill for the competition.

In recent times Rip Curl has partnered with various domestic tourism organisations willing to host their Search events but in this instance the government organisation is both funding and running the competition. As the surf industry wrangles with post-GFC fallout and internal debacles the Drug Aware Margaret River Pro may be seen as a portent of things to come.

In Australia surfing is a mainstream sport perceived as being healthy and fun, an ideal vehicle for government money. Australia is unique in that regard, yet in many countries, particularly developing nations, surfing is a gateway to tourist dollars.

Already the rumours are swirling of a new World Tour event at Keramas, Bali. If they prove true then the obvious sponsor is Oakley who have held the World Junior contest there. However, it would be no surprise to see Indonesia, the most wave rich nation on Earth, with a burgeoning economy almost equalling Australia's GDP output, follow a similar path as the Margaret River Pro with a further World Tour event.

At any rate the newly minted Drug Aware Margaret River Pro stands as signifier to a new arrangement in professional surfing, one with less influence from surfing companies who've been the traditional supporters of professional surfing.