2024 Is Make Or Break For The WSL
“There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.” - Oscar Wilde
Sparing them from a worse fate, the time feels right to talk about the WSL. After all, few people are. Four-and-a-half months, 138 days, or more than a third of a year, has elapsed since the last day of CT competition and we’ve heard nought but silence from Woz HQ. Despite everything, they’ve given us little to talk about - a pair of retirements notwithstanding.
Regardless, it feels like 2024 may be a defining year for the WSL. That may be an odd statement considering their lack of action, so allow me to explain.
Pipeline looking in need of a business intiative (WSL/Bielmann)
Context helps so let’s travel back to the heady days of 2017 when Sophie Goldschmidt was parachuted into the role of CEO. Up to that point, the Woz were largely focussed on their tours and contests, however keen-eyed watchers may have noticed a tactic applied by the WSL’s social media account.
To wit: they were taking everything to do with surfing, not just contests but freesurfing, board design, wipeouts, history…anything that happened on or near a wave, and then reposting it. Giving it the WSL’s stamp of Instagram approval, throwing the net far beyond the contest sites they administrate, burying the League’s tentacles into Surfing - capital S.
When Sophie came on board this idea moved beyond social media to a fully-fledged business strategy. At her last workplace, Sophie Goldschmidt “drove new business initiatives and commercial growth” and she had plans for contest surfing to “transcend into the lifestyle factor.” In short, she wanted the WSL to dive deeper into surf culture.
If an Austrian energy drink can do it across many sports then the WSL can succed in just one.
To that end Goldschmidt hired Chad and JT Parr to create Get Sent, the WSL’s first foray into original content. Sometimes funny, mostly perplexing, Goldschmidt wasn’t perturbed by Get Sent’s lukewarm response with her next move going a long way to establishing the WSL as a legitimate Red Bull-styled media house.
Goldschmidt created WSL Studios at Santa Monica, hired Erik Logan as President of Content who with an open chequebook drafted a raft of new non-contest programming. The first tranche of franchises included:
The Kelly Slater Documentary
Make or Break (made with Box to Box Productions)
The WSL Podcast Network
Deep Blue: The Mark Visser Project
Transformed
The Surf Ranch Sessions
Brilliant Corners
All In
Sound Waves
Those series - some which were realised, some which weren’t - were shortly followed by:
The Lost Tapes
Billy
Nuggets
Unboxing Things With Koa Smith
The Wellness Weekly
WSL Surf Breaks
Good Vibes Of The Week
Board Story
#Tournotes
Caught Inside with Joe Turpel
Lawn Patrol
Life Of Kai
WSL Surfing 101
Lay Days
The WSL Vault
Coco
(De)Tour
Rising Tides
Trip of a Lifetime
With a multitude of programs, all of which were released as a series, the WSL could run a full time content channel where there’d be no such thing as dead air between contests. Also, the programs would provide ample billboard space for sponsors which would in turn repay the WSL’s vast investment in WSL studios.
Yet for whatever reason the studio and its programs were a bust and the project was shuttered in 2022. Curiously, the best received series - Life Of Kai and Billy - featured surfers who are fringe athletes in the WSL stable. They’re two of the best big wave surfers in the world, sure, but the WSL has just two big wave contests a year. In fact, they just had one and Billy Kemper wasn’t there.
Last year, in what felt like a culmination to a mad financial misadventure, Erik Logan - who'd since risen to CEO - was himself disappeared from the WSL stable. Stage-hooked mid-contest, never to be heard from again. No explanation has yet been given.
Logan’s departure occurred around the time they were looking for a Chief Financial Officer - Jason Eckert left in May 2023 - and a Chief Marketing Officer after Sarah Swanson left in November 2023.
Now down a CEO, CMO, and CFO, the WSL have a vacuum at the executive level. But that’s not a problem, the League pays well and Southern California is filled with enthusiastic, creative people. The positions will soon be taken, but it’s what the new employees do - specifically the CEO - that will shape what the WSL chooses to be in the coming years: mere tour administrator, independent media house, or something else entirely.
If we get to September of this year and nothing has fundamentally changed, the new roles are filled by identikit caricatures of big-on-LinkedIn executives, then the die is as good as cast. They’ll talk about being the “premier voice of youth culture” but they’ll run a severely depleted package. Maybe they’ll produce some in-house programs, but the public face of the WSL will be reduced to overseeing tour comps, which the core will tune into when they’re on and then forget about them when they’re not.
The WSL will become surfing administrator and nothing more. Which is fine. The ASP stayed in that lane for decades - though of course they were non-profit.
The other route, however, is a visionary hiring. Someone with the creativity to see pro surfing in a new light. Meaning, not a hiring from the NBA, or the WTA, or any other global sport where they’ll pitch surfing into a template that’s worked elsewhere. Someone who sees surfing as the unique thing that it is and builds a template for it.
I can point out a hundred false steps that the WSL have taken over the last decade but struggle to offer any real solutions, and so I won’t (except for keeping J’Bay and Cloudbreak on the tour at all times!). However, I don’t doubt that there are people out there who can see how this sport and its haphazard tours can fit together in a just and easy to follow way, and let’s not forget the billionaire’s budget to make it happen.
So what does the WSL want to be? By the end of this season we’ll know.
// STU NETTLE
Comments
Does the new CEO have to hold a hose?
Asking for an out of work ex-PM.
Interesting Stu.
I wonder if that visionary has already been interviewed ?
I'd throw Sam McIntosh's name in that hat.
Rich Americans dont do things by halves hey.
Who owns the WSL? I can see the right environment developing for a break away surf league.
Dirk Ziff owns it, a well-heeled waterman from the US.
Effectively, this is the breakaway tour. If a cash-splashing billionaire can't get it up - pro surfing that is - then no-one can.
So WSL is suffering erectile disfunction?
its been soft for a long time now!
Bring on the De Fib!
"Now down a CEO, CMO, and CFO"....
Fair to say having good people in all those gigs is fairly important in terms of a business being successful. Amazing to think they have nobody in any of them.
That said, my overall view if the Wozzle eventually dies, (and who knows, losing Kelly might contribute to that), is that I'll shrug, check the surf forecast, and look forward to my next surf as I always do. Maybe watch a free surfing movie that evening.
Shame. One more season of "Unboxing Things w Koa Smith" and they would defs have broken through.
yeah nah mate!
depends what/who he was unboxing
Says he tongue firmly planted in cheek.
In my opinion, very little has been done in the WSL since the departure of Erik Logan, including any explanation of his departure (?) as Dirk Ziff is putting in just enough money to sustain the organization, but no more - no new CEO, no new initiatives, nada
Not spending any more money then necessary or hiring a new CEO as Ziff is shopping the organization for a sale - most likely to a Middle Eastern interest, so they can utilise the new Abu Dhabi wave pool for the showcase Final Five showdown.
Technically, Red Bull is not an Austrian invention at all - it was licensed from the original Thai formula for Europe and the rest of the world. Austrian Red Bull is sold alongside the original Thai version in Singapore and many other Asian markets.
On another article, someone provided very solid reasoning behind why middle eastern interests wouldn't give a shit about pro-surfing. I don't have time to find it and paste it here, but maybe someone else will.
Thanks Stu, another aspect is that the ubiquitousness of thrusters, general similarity of boards, and multi-decadal development of pro-surfing, in its many forms (not just contests), has created a huge number (thousands) of 'excellent' surfers with time on their hands (no need for a 'real' job), most of whom surf the same, or at least without much obvious difference in maneuvers and 'style'. The number of clips on swellnet by young crew that rip tells that tale. Judging surfing is usually controversial and waves not always good. All these things mean that surf 'punters' are more likely to watch pro 'free-surfers' (that's a non-sequitur if ever there was one) in great waves than WSL contests that often have dubious results, as someone (maybe you) wrote up on swellnet a while ago. I kinda lost interest in WSL a long while back when judges gave the nod to Medina over Parko at Snapper, but do still tune if when WSL contest scores epic waves (usually a day or two at J Bay and Chopes, Cloudbreak if included, Bells ...), and not for the contest as much as the wave quality. As Greg Noll said 'surfing ain't a sport, but you can try and make it one'. No doubt lots of readers will disagree.
I remember that heat with parko VS gabby
Feel it was an "out with the old " type statement.
Yeah I'm usually watching some of the contests. Can't say I watch every heat nowdays.
I've been watching pro surfing contests for 40 years.
Still exciting.
I reckon I've watched every day of CT competition for the last three years yet I haven't seen a single episode of any of those shows.
We all be lost without the wozzle
Long live the woz !
the media wsl has delivered is a tad Playschool - living the dream. the tour has lost so much culture and relevance. that said I’m still interested in watching pro surfing, esp now that the women have stepped up heaps. maybe Derek Hynd will save the tour ….. or JJF.
(except for keeping J’Bay and Cloudbreak on the tour at all times!).
Yes definitely, no brainer really.
Bring back Dream Tour, simple.
Unless someone surfs, I cannot really see how someone could get too engaged with surfing competition. Yeah stating the obvious there I know!!
nobody can save the tour, they still can't even judge a wave correctly.
Is that the most forgettable slew of programming of all-time?
I'd completely forgotten about the get sent stuff.
Make or Break was high quality programming- wonder why they couldn't make that work?
They had Kelly at 50 winning Pipe, almost every possible advantage.
WSl is up against a world full of content makers. Nate Florence, Who is JOB, The Raglan Surf report... ELO brought old media hubris which was quickly exposed.
And they really are where surfing is at, not a F1 polished super moneyed sport. They are low key, home made stuff which surfers can relate to - frothing about waves and how good and ballsy is Nate.
I think the WSL should definitely avoid looking at ex Oprah Network people this time around.
Hopefully this shit show will get turned on its head next season.
I'm not holding my breath though.
Why did they change what they had in the 'Dream Tour'.............jeez i remember when snapper was coming up and could'nt wait to watch it ,same with most of the events and finishing with the Pipe masters was all time ......so why change something that worked.?.......
agree. the dream tour was the best days of pro surfing. not sure about the economics - maybe it is unaffordable these days? but yeah, the best surfers in the best surf is the mantra that should pervade WSL. probably dreaming but i generally only watch heats from the good wave spots. and then only surfers who's style i like. i have never watched a heat in brazil. i did however watch a couple of heats at huntington a while back. it was a laugh.
Agree i liked those two book ends.
Honestly, other than the WSL, who doesn't?
The old ASP dream tour was paid for by Quik bong rip when they were all flush with cash. Since they’ve all gone to shit no one else has stepped in to foot the bill.
it's hard for me to enjoy competition when it's been scrubbed clean with corporate sanitiser, where is the fierce competitors? where is the arena? I think I'll need a lobotomy to understand the "I'm just happy to be here" interviews after a heat surfed in a fuckin swimming pool
you didn't see the fierce competitors getting called in to the arena by Chris Cote?
GM and Charlie in wanker mode was pretty good. "Now you can burn him!"
yep, that was entertaining, focus more on the competition and the narratives, not selling us a lifestyle that nobody asked for
What lifestyle? Surviving on the bones of your arse so you can surf everyday is pretty miserable unless it is pumping.
I dunno I don't get it either, whatever this bullshit means
https://www.worldsurfleague.com/pages/about
"The WSL is dedicated to changing the world through the inspirational power of surfing by creating authentic events, experiences, and storytelling to inspire a growing, global community to live with purpose, originality, and stoke."
Ha, ha I nearly pissed myself are they serious?
yeah, virtuous wank is the priority, the surfing comp is secondary
For all their crapness I very much appreciate and look forward to their free to air web viewing and replays of the meaningful contests like Pipe.
Agree, when there are prime waves, it's an excellent product. Ultimately meaningless but what's not to like about watching great surfers in great waves?
When it's overlaid with vacuous hype and drivel from low quality commentators.
Bingo!
Reckon it goes deeper than the commentators though,
To me if shows that producers and execs don’t have the imagination, creativity or deeper understanding of surfing to fill minutes and minutes of non-action.
Either that, or they take a leaf out of the test cricket commentator’s book and not be terrified of a few seconds of silence on a regular basis.
Even Tennis, which everybody loves to mock. They never yap away during a rally, just let the action speak for itself.
Paid for Sky Sport for a month last year and binged on Tour de France and Wimbledon, and both were excellent viewing. Always were, but very happy to see and hear that they hadn't gone downhill.
Somehow surfing has been infantilised.
No one infantilises like Americans
I usually watch with the sound off, just the pictures for me. :)
Until it's run by surfers for surfers, it's always going to be a trainwreck, that most surfers enjoy watching run off the rails into a fiery crash.
Chop the head off the snake...Ziff. Who the fuck let him run surfing?
Go back to grass roots...lower prize money if need be.
Let surfing take the reins of its own path again and let the real surfing culture shine and thrive.
Completely agree.
Lowest interest rates in 5000 years let all sorts of weird things happen.
why they haven't replaced the CEO, CMO, and CFO is very curious. i can appreciate why the CEO position caught them on the hop if the previous incumbent's departure was unplanned due to some sort of impropriety (theft, staff party mis-hap or showing too much "interest" in an athlete) but the other two positions must have had some sort of planning.
what's happening (or not happening) with these positions suggests to me either Ziff doesn't care too much or is still working out what his plan is for the future. but even if a sale was on the cards you'd slot in caretakers. or have they done this on the quiet?
in summary.... i care less about leadership changes for companies i have shares in or even other sporting authorities than i do the WSL. loves me some top tier surf comps!
Its all a ruse by ruling organisations like ITF, IGF WBSC to turn punters OFF surfing , not engage them , derr!
Only problem , by utilizing social media it has pumped millions of kooks into the ocean .
Ironically in regards to the world title the investment from the viewer is not about the surfing.
It’s about the quality of the waves and the struggle for individuals to adapt to conditions which don’t suit them to ultimately piece together an overall superior points total by the end of the year.
That includes the mental game and tactical nous to eke out a heat win here or there.
They’re all great surfers, it’s just that the tour destinations and contest format has to test everyone in a variety of conditions throughout the year in order to adequately award a world champ.
Formula 1 have got that right but the WSL finals day is the antithesis.
And the contest format doesn’t do the WSL any favours either.
“Pritamos” expression session style format was a step in the right direction but not quite enough. A live-streamed contest from the Mentawis, with say 4x8 man heats would be a killer for the WSL.
First step though is quality waves. 2nd step is variety without compromising quality.
It can be done…where Luke Egan when you need him??
I just can't get into a ments style tour idea
I think it would be pretty much a snooze fest
Just feel it's a long barrel tour.
What happens if someone gets critically injured ...then what?
Good point re the injury liability, never really considered it.
Ments has variety though, not all barrels.
Last mobile comp they had there was a novelty event with Occy, Dorian and maybe AI plus a few others and was held at Nokandui’s and Macaronis.
Can be done, would probably be highly viewed. Swell is very predictable from a week out over there. So even though they’d have to allocate a 2 week window at the start of the year I’d guess they’d get the comp done in a few consecutive days very efficiently during that period
The QS has been to Lance's Right - Chris Zaffis won it - and they also have comps at Nias, Krui, and Dylan's at Simeulue. All fairly isolated spots.
New hospital and airport at Tua Pajet brings everything much closer.
Pro surf contests are the test cricket of the sea.
Yep except with shitty commentary. Cricket commentary is good.
Get rid of the Ranch contest because it is dead boring and make Pipe the last contest of the year again, a wave of consequence to end the year. The trestles end of year comp is a joke, don't treat surfing like the NBA, Baseball and NHL with the best of 63 finals! Surfing is unique, keep it that way. There is nothing unique about a wave pool wave, it's the same wave every time, it's boring.
If WSL want to persist with the CT finals day concept perhaps they could just move it to Nazare. That would make some interesting viewing and journalism LOL. There is a couple of guys who can do airs and gouges out there so it can be done there . . . . but a couple of the CT finalists would probably have to withdraw due to blister or broken toe nail
Agree I reckon breaks of consequence like Pipe Chopes and Nazare should be worth more contest points for a win than closing out bullshit onshore garbage that gets thrown up on the Sth American leg ....That way it evens the playing field. Being the best surfer in all conditions rather than the just being over scored for being the best at flappy bullshit airs on 3 ft closeouts.
Corporate surfing from days of yore- https://www.swellnet.com/news/rearview-mirror/2013/11/25/birth-bronzed-a...
Why would you even bother surfing when you know toledo is going to win the lot at small trestles every year.
great read stu
i try to be less harsh on the woz than a lot of others are - and like you indicated- what’s the answer???
by the by, i get a lot of enjoyment out of the woz, and while it’s far from perfect, to me it is daylight to the next most enjoyable sport to watch and i feel all things considered they do a good job
as all surfers know, it’s not ‘all time’ every day so having an expectation that it will be is setting oneself up for disappointment
i would be devastated if the woz folded and there was no broadcast tour
Trouble is the finals are awful and held in sub par surf. I don't care at the moment if it did disappear as I get bored of watching these guys in crappy 3 foot waves and I Toledo is so far from the best surfer in the world it is a complete joke. Watch the latest Stab in the Dark and Kolohe's comments on the waves in Bali for what it could be.
yep - agree that the finals thing is not their finest moment and would be glad to see the back of it
who’s the best is totally subjective- i have been fortunate enough to see toledo live several times in big waves at bells and he’s no slouch - that said, give me jjf, ee, gabe any day
Move the commentary team up the ladder. Turpel's golden larynx can address the board meetings, we've seen Kaipo's skills selling ladders could handle the marketing, Richie would bring his calm no nonsense approach to the finances.
Follow them around if you need content, why they need a movie studio to run a championship tour I don't know, pump up the 'narrative' yawn, just get the best Surfers in the best waves, please
My boring comment is simply; excellent journalism Stu. I imagine many Swellnet readers will agree that Swellnet has emerged as possibly the most intelligent perspective on surfing ever. The problem, writ large for the WSL and its doldrum's "product"; is the WSL can't find the mainstream commercial niche it craves, whatever that may be.
But hey, the only films I ever found that I liked at the old video store were filled under "festival" - so I'm no judge of what mainstream commercial success looks like.
The yin of superb and incisive surf journalism, and the yang of seven second elephant farts in the forums - it is perfect and complete.
(Perhaps that yin and yang should be the other way around).
And that gap is widening, sadly.
There's this footage of a hippo in a zoo out there but no way am I linking that in, that would be too much...
Is yang stab then?
Beach grot is the two dots.
Yeah, that's astute, yang is stab. I like that.
Surfing is fun, in the same way as doing coke and wacking off is (not at the same time!). But no one wants to watch someone else doing it, people just want to do it. The watchable stuff taps into the fun element(The stab SURF series, ben gravy/JOB if that's your thing).
Also, correct me if I'm wrong but surfing isn't "youth culture" when the median age of surfers is 45.
Surfing will never die, pro surfing probably will and soon. If you think otherwise go buy shares in the brands, they're trading at a big discount from the glory days!
If it’s a live broadcast and the waves are cooking, I’ll watch it all day long
I have ordered some machine parts and am waiting for them to Get Sent.
Professional surfing is stupid.
You can’t take a subjectively judged sport, subject to the vagaries of nature, where competitors often sit for minutes at a time doing literally nothing and contests are completely reliant on unpredictable swells and winds and hope to package and sell it to non-surfing consumers (which is what you have to do if it’s ever going to make real money).
We love it, of course, but we’re weirdoes and we don’t have enough collective capital to prop it up long-term. The fact that it’s actually lasted this long is a miracle.
How will we manage without it? Perfectly fine, I suspect.
Not only that, but you can barely differentiate a score most days between the top surfers. There are quite a few surf comp diehards on this site, but the reality is a video of someone free surfing pumping waves is a much more enjoyable spectacle.
Exactly. With videos we get to watch a succession of good rides rather than being bored to death with slow-mo replays and over enthusiastic gibberish commentary. Life’s too short to sit around for days on end watching a comp that could be videoed and nicely edited into an entertaining one hour highlight (or something).
But why even bother with the comp part. Why not just a nicely edited video in nice waves? Pro surfing is like a chicken that has it head cut off, the body just hasn't realised it yet. The second dirk pulls his dollars, pro surfing is gone. Unless there is another billionaire out there that is happy to throw money away i guess?
Fair points @simsurf.
But judging by the comments that this well written article has brought up, there's a hell of alot of interest in it.
Seems we're all invested, just have no where to go.
The WSL. The pub with no beer!
Yep. A la the SBS coverage of the Tour de France. You can stay up and watch the whole stage if you're a die hard, or you can just watch the ~50 minute highlight package the following day. And of course their website and app let you do that without seeing who won - something that pisses me off about trying to find / watch replays on the woz website...
Gotta say I enjoy the Woz free to net content. Love the lineup overviews, the explanations of places and how they work, eg Sunset I found fascinating. Pete Mel and Rosie (amongst others I'm sure) break down design and how it's riding in real time, really well. Make or break heats in excellent waves are probably the apex of it, no matter what else, this would surely be the core product with the ability to inspire millions of surfers around the world. Tilt it at a 'Dream Tour' setup?
Postcript: I've enjoyed the alternate craft, like the G Land classics comp, the JBay twin fins and the longboard contests (me and 3 others watching...)
As much as I shit-can the wsl at times, I totally agree with you on this vj.
I reckon the long boarding was really well done this year great commentators with a wealth of knowledge and the most deserving surfer won the World Title and some controversy with Kai Ellis Flint not being rewarded for the best surfing to the new criteria.
I really enjoyed the Backdoor shoot out that was a great comp as well.
I think the Olympics will overshadow the WSL this year and thats why the Billionaire Owner is holding his cards next to his Chest. Obviously something going on if the Carissa and Stef have pulled out.
Great read and perspective Stu.
Except dunno about this bit "and we’ve heard nought but silence from Woz HQ"
The pricks bombard my inbox with emails nearly daily, sick of it, three or more a day sometimes.
I know I can nix them, easier to just delete them when they come in and do want the "it's on" ones, the rest get binned without even looking. Fluff.
Reckon they were all naval gazing and missed the boat/obvious trend. Should have/still should buy up Nathan Florence, Mason Ho, Koa Rothman etc and own the weekly vlog space on Youtube IMO. Who says the athletes have to be full time on tour, plenty to mine outside that bubble. Give the champ retirees something to keep the iron in the fire too.
Also should pinch the Backdoor Shootout format (and commentators)(and calendar slot...fuck it, buy the whole thing, even Fast Eddie), have a few "national" teams going and sell the others off to sponsors. Maybe not every comp. but it's my favorite to watch, works like a charm and would watch that anytime rather than slop beachies, or twenty minutes a comp of a surfer I really like watching who disappears if they have a bad heat, or rather than Kaipo up a step ladder selling eskies or whatever shit they dribble out now.
Should also pinch a bit of the Eddie philosophy, if it ain't "on" don't run, split the points and prize money and move on, no viewers would bitch too much, most wouldn't watch that crap anyway, slop surfing just demeans the athletes and the sport. Give the sponsors another slot to compensate, and the Aust. State Govt. one's, work something else out to keep them happy if you cancel.
And the new guy needs to make a big statement to the core and fuck off the Trestles final/format, hold it at Pipe or have them all on hold ready to jump on a plane to wherever on a pre approved list has the best forey and do it that way. Cut off some of the fat on the circus that you don't need and get the champs like that. If you can't go live then just film it, put a cone of silence around it, and leave us all in suspense until they release the video, build some extra interest.
My 2 cents.
Something to consider. The three of the most successful youtubers, Jamie Obrien, Nate Florence and Mason Ho, have never had what it takes to make it on the world tour. Their talent is undeniable, hence the huge audience they attract.
Pretty much speaks as to why the woz is a failure. If the most famous surfers on the planet right now(and for the last 5-10years) can't find a place on your dream tour, you're obviously....very obviously...doing it back to front.
Disagree. Winning contests and goofing around on your youtube channel are two very different things.
I.B. With all due respect..
You disagree that they're not highly talented surfers that should be performing on the world stage(a platform that the WSL doesn't currently provide for them in any meaningful way with financial security)?
And what goofing around? Most of it is purely surfing(surfing of the highest quality)..or the lead up or post surf discussions...maybe Jamie Obrien has a bit more of a goofy element to his clips to attract groms, but far out, you can't deny his surfing...can you? Even now his rail turns and crispness in the pocket is up there with the very best on the tour imo.
I'm a little confused cos talent wise, i reckon all three of them should be on a world stage before a qs warrior that can do a reverse 360 on a 2 foot beachie. (that nobody is watching anyway)
Would you rather watch a Nate Florence, Mason Ho, Jamie Obrien heat at 10 foot cloudbreak, or a Michael Rodrigues, Kolohe Andino, Freddie Morais heat at the same location. Do you see the problem here?
The structure is putting the wrong surfers on the biggest stage in the world.
The Clay Marzo's, Noa Deanes, etc etc of the surfing world. Missing out on their rightful place on the largest stage in the world.
In fact, i'd take it one step further and say we retire too many of our champs too early. Adam12 mentioned something similar above.
Why aren't we giving the Luke Egans, Rob machados, Tom Carrolls, Tom Currens, Occys, Parkos, etc, wildcards into events that are their specialty. If it's because it affects the structure of the tour, change it.
This is a culture first, a sport second. That should be our non negotiable.
Anyway, that is just my 2c worth. I'm sure it would be easy to find flaws in it.
Edit: btw i could rattle off 10 names of surfers in WA alone that you would probably never have heard of that would be worthy of a place on the tour well above and beyond some of the current calibre of surfers on there. Can go big in the junk surf and the big stuff.
It takes more than talent to win.
You mention Noa and Clay. They happen to be two of my favourite surfers, and both unbelievably talented, but they are never going to win world titles no matter what the structure is. They are just not competitive enough.
haha sick one I.B.
And yep, exactly. Which is why, it's probably time to change the whole structure of what it means to be the best surfer in the world and how it's judged.
The current system clearly isn't the right way. In fact it's regressed backwards from something that was working and could have been built on to get those surfers on the big stage.
Dunno what the answer is but i reckon finding a way to get these surfers on tour is the way to go.
Not having a challenger series that finishes at Saquarema is probably a good start..
Cheers IB.
Whoops just read your post @adam12. Must have been same time. Yep...what you said! haha. Nailed it.
Finals day woke I up to watch, fell asleep after about 10 minutes. Says it all.
Now if they had finals day with a top 10 and a flexible schedule to hold at say Cloudbreak or Rifles on a minimum a 10 foot day, imagine the spectacle! Chargers going hard. Toledo forced to take off.
Pay some water camera guys danger money to go over the falls or swim in the impact zone to show the whites of their eyes.
Maybe have mixed sex heats to give diversity and equality a nod and show the average punter contrast in approach?
Gladiator stuff.
Every finals day would be a must watch.
Mate, a mixed heat at 10 foot won't show equality. It will have everyone scratching their heads as to why there is equal pay.
Fark, some of you carnts write the write the funniest shit
“Rip a Quick Bong”
Classic
Never heard it before lol
Quick Rip a Bong
Quick Curl Along
Should be a surf game, you have one minute to make as many as you can.
new format......4 man/women heats ...drop ins tolerated......ufc cage on the beach if contestants have a problem with each other.......2 minute round with gloves .........
Bring back the priority boy paddle battles
Strider gave the wozzle a bit of grief in the commentary booth a couple times last year.
Be nice to see a bit more of that.
Waaay too much space between contests and not enough of them. They’re getting payed to surf for a living. At least make them earn it. They should be completely rooted by the end of the year to live that dream. Last surfer standing. Oh yeah.. that’s the WQS that no one watches. I think I’ll just watch soulful free surfer clips and some big wave slab action as it unfolds and die happy. Competitive surfing is lost and may never be found .
As soon as surfers become 'athletes', we're doomed.
Think about it.
It has seemed that in history, surfing has pathed it's own path..but all of a sudden, some entity(ziffsea/mileydyer) came along and decided upon what (brands) we could call ourselves, where we could categorise ourselves(ladders), and what direction the sport should take itself (sell lots of shit to Brazil and be damned). Seeya Steph, greatest surfer of ever, and Carissa, greatest womens world champ surfer of ever.
So the question is. How do we, as a surfing community, that is wholly in opposition to the evil empire of Jessie Miley Dyer and the rest of her followers on the woz....how do we blow them to smithereens and retain our culture of queens/kings/groms/stars/sun/surf/salt/stoke/yew!
I have an idea. Ask the surfers! Ask the audience. Has this ever been done? is this a groundbreaking movement to break away from the corpo vision of analysing what's right for the corporation?
Yeah
But Southey
We are not the audience they want.
They won’t ask surfers
Im happy just watching the average person surfing decent waves on cams. I dont need to watch the models advertising their bosses merchandise to enjoy watching surfing . Its realllyy just advertising disguised as a competition .
Unless there are pumping waves at a wave of consequence then I’m out.
The format fails for a number of reasons:
1. Poor waves at dull locations
2. Not enough waves ridden so lots of downtime
3. Anodyne commentary (not Joes fault he’s a ‘space filler’)
4. So much better competing content (as mentioned NF, JOB etc)
5. The WSL’s total disconnect from core surfers
6. My own short attention span
7. Cookie cutter surfing styles (are they all coached by the same person?)
8. Corporatised/vanilla/sanitised interviews
9. I’d rather go surfing myself than watch others( read hedonism)
10. Only a surfer knows the feeling…
11. Lots of surfers on tour who are only marginally better than the shredder at your local
Nailed it
Another 100 post wsl thread...
As disinterested as I am in competitive surfing I'd still like to read an article about this billionaire budget thingy I keep hearing reference to.
https://www.thekomisarscoop.com/2020/02/on-fault-lines-the-corruption-of...
'On June 4, 2017, Russian general prosecutor Yuri Chaika said on national television that his agency “has presented serious evidence of violations of the law by Browder and the Ziff brothers” to U.S. officials. The prosecutor appealed to the United States for international legal assistance requesting that the U.S. verify [their] transactions for compliance with U.S. financial and tax legislation and provide the necessary information on the scheme for the withdrawal of Russian assets to complete the investigation in Russia and transfer the case to court.'
The Ziff brothers also appear on a list published by Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in February 2023 of 'U.S. citizens under personal sanctions, including a ban on entry into the Russian Federation'.
Just wondering what other sports do? Not the big football codes and globals such as golf and tennis but more the snowboard skateboard realms.
Are there successful “tours” in sports such as snowboarding? Sports which whilst popular for participation do not necessarily hold the interest of the mainstream public in terms of viewing competitions but rather appeal to the more committed and “core” members of that sporting community. And also, are there any of these tours profitable or at least sustainable without a wealthy benefactor? The idea of a sustainable WSL style competition which remains “pure” may be pretty hard to create. Thoughts?
Not to distract you from your current viewing… but if you want to see a truly impressive subjective sport switch on viceland now… woman’s floor gymnastics
Amazing
Only a rythmic gymnast knows the feeling
JJF and Nate off on a secret trip at the moment. Hopefully that turns into a Nate video and a sign of things to come, being JJF flicking the tour for freesurf content.
I liked the early 80s before the dream tour. 100 or so people in the trials meant that anyone could win. (Simon at Bells, Pete Harris at Burleigh). The comps would be on no matter what the surf was like. I feel like the lunatics took over the asylum with the Dream Tour and it's never got back to glory.
skiiing has their big mountain events...but they look so lame and contrived...compared to freeskiiing / freesurfing when the stars align and conditoins are perfect...but a good way for free skiiers to fund their lifestyles i guess
you'd think there is heaps more money in skiing / snowboarding cause of the snob value
Couldn't care less about any of this. And no I didn't read the article.
It’s broke
It is most epic to be able to watch and follow the WSL, they do a great job, well other than I have no idea what was going on last year.