Netflix Foiled In Attempt To Buy WSL
It's no secret that in 2012 Dirk Ziff and the WSL bought the old ASP for a song. It's been reported to be as low as a $1, but whatever the price, it was a fire sale.
There was no bargain for Netflix when they reportedly tried to buy the World Surf League last year.
Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal broke the news in a story titled Netflix Explores Investing in Sports Leagues, Bidding on Streaming Rights, the gist of which is Netflix diversifying its catalogue by streaming sports.
For major sports such as tennis and cycling, Netflix planned to stream select competitions, or to stream in some countries. They'd recently bid on ATP rights and, as per the WSJ, "also discussed bidding for a series of other events including U.K. rights to the Women’s Tennis Association and cycling competitions."
For "lesser known" sports - the WSJ's quote marks - Netflix planned to buy the league outright.
"The company late last year was in talks to buy the World Surf League, but negotiations fell apart because the two organizations couldn’t reach an agreement on a price, people familiar with the potential deal said."
Since it acquired professional surfing just over ten years ago, the WSL watched the surf industry wither and largely pull away from pro surfing. The result was the WSL was left to carry the can as the infrastructure expanded through a third tour (CT, CS, and QS), plus additional longboard and big wave tours.
The WSJ article continues by stating that Netflix could turn pro surfing into a big franchise "and create new sporting tournaments or events."
We'd have to assume that would be funded via a succesful pay-to-view listing on Netflix. Which, aside from the news about the almost-sale, sees a return to the old chestnut about surfing contests as pay-per-view.
Comments
If its PPV per contest would be interesting to see the performance of Pipe, Chopes and J bay versus Brazil, Portugal & Trestles.
And the pool! Bah ha ha ha.
Tech Bro vs Elo.
Who you rooting for?
Interesting. I vote for Netflix. No particular reason. I didn't watch a single comp this last season which tells something. Maybe a new owner can spark some interest in people like me and grow the market.
Who benefits from "grow the market" - in a crowded world, not 99% of surfers.
I vote Netflix too. I can't stand the current tour and only watch a bit of Pipe, Tahiti, G-Land and Fifi when it's on. I don't think anyone could do worse than a final at Tresles. Even my mum would do better.
Tech bro.
Anything to change it up and break the back of the tourism-funding model.
Yes.
I wonder what assets are included in the sale. Point being: would a new owner also take on the cost of running WSL Pure, and continuing to develop KSWC?
How about the smaller tours (Longboard, Junior), and the speciality events, plus the complexity of the WQS and Challenger series? Would a generic streaming network (or any other non-endemic buyer) understand the structure of professional surfing relative to the CT events? Or are they only interested in the small percentage of events that attracts the necessary eyeballs to a webcast?
To wit: the HIC Sunset Pro last week didn't have a webcast. Good thing too, as the surf barely cracked 2-3ft.. it wouldn't have made good viewing. And thus could be an easy line item for the accounting team to put a red line through. But, it's an important part of the schedule.
"The company late last year was in talks to buy the World Surf League, but negotiations fell apart because the two organizations couldn’t reach an agreement on a price, people familiar with the potential deal said."
I'd love to know how big the gap was in numbers.
At least we now know the WSL is actively courting buyers, confirming the rumours that the numbers are being juiced to produce a saleable item.
PPV I don't think that the average Joe would take any interest in paying to watch a far less than mainstream sport. If surfing was included in your general subscription maybe a casual look see at a contest like Pipe, Teahupoo or pumping J-bay!
In Australia, JBay would be about the only contest I would be interested in PPV due to being able to watch it in the evening.
Ziff is trying to sell a used, barely driveable car for the cost of a new one.
Ownership of the WSL platform by a streaming company like Netflix would put the emphasis on the visuals - not the competition, as has been the case with the current administration.
Which opens up all sorts of possibilities - big waves, which have always provided spectacular visuals and a concluding event at a far more photogenic location than Trestles - like Teahupo'o or Pipeline.
Trestles is a good competitive arena but other locations are far more visual.
Perhaps with the success of "Make or Break", Apple+ would see value in owning the WSL and make a bid?
More as the story develops -
I am surprised Netflix considered buying the whole circus. I suspect they saw enough from Make or Break to want no part of the headaches and losses of running the tour. Send camera crew, leave hassles to Ziff makes more sense.
They need content.
Drama series are incredibly expensive to produce.
Pro surfing would be relatively cheap content.
Hard to imagine people 'paying' to watch competition surfing with it being free since the inception of the ASP / WSL webcast and the plethora of free surfing content out there.
As a surfing tragic I love when I have the time to sit and get engrossed in the nuance of a 'CT event and I think as a free product the WSL do a pretty good job. PPV though - not sure.
Pretty sure the PPV, as Netflix envisaged it, would be both the contests and an 'augmented drama' series in the vein of 'Drive to Survive' or 'Make or Break'.
No doubt. Never got through the make or break, or the Kelly lost tapes. Not sure why, they seem ok. Better than Laura Enever on holidays with Haviana.
My understanding is that it's a different kind of PPV though.
The idea is that by having WSL events on the Netflix platform, it will encourage surfers to choose them over Stan, Disney, Kayo, Binge and the others.
So yeah, you're having to part with cash - but only to get Netflix, of which you'll also get everything else they offer - which is a huge catalog of movies and TV shows.
As of April last year, Netflix reportedly had six million subscribers in Australia - so there's a fair chance that you may already have a subscription anyway. So accessing WSL content would come at no cost to existing subscribers (anecdotally, I'd say 75% of my friends have a Netflix sub).
And although it's unwise to compare production costs between the WSL and any of their shows, it's worth mentioning that each episode of Stranger Things (Season 4) reportedly cost US$30 million (up from US$6 million in Season 1). With nine episodes in the season, that's $270m in production costs (of course, most other shows cost far less).
So.. with the WSL's entire annual running costs reportedly in the $100m range, the strategy doesn't seem to be so far fetched.
Would be interesting if Netflix looked into buying the boogie world tour comps that are held in slabs. It's a spectacle.
Interesting idea. Think the trouble is that stand up surfers charge pretty much all the boogie waves now anyway so probably wouldn't pick up a heap of viewers, and the production probably wouldn't be much cheaper than a surfing contest.
What would be cool is a dedicated 24/7 contest channel. If there was nothing on TV in the evening and there was some random heavy boogie contest on the other side of the world I'd turn it on for an hour.
I don't mind who owns it, just want to see the best surfers riding in great waves, not "contestable" or "we ran out of time so it's in this shit" waves, but pumping, challenging waves. And the big wave tour getting a proper go. They can nix the mals and the reality shows.
Theres' plenty of venting along the lines that Ziff and Elo are out of touch wth what their (small) core audience likes and wants. Mostly on target I'm sure. But...
...imagine how disconnected Netfix will be to the 'essence' of surfing. Imagine the commentators they will put in the booth. Imagine the inane questions and commentary they will overlay over competetive surfing and surfers - I'm eye rolling and exhaling at the first thought of it. It reminds me of how Nike rolled in, and then pretty quickly out, of surfing some years ago.
I think the most hopeful outcome is that pro surfing stays in the hands of people who at least like or admire our sport/pastime/passion... perhaps Ziff et al or someone who follows them can take a haircut on the always overblown 'growth' ambitions and find a way to run a sustainable tour/show that serves the competitors and the small veiwing audience with an enduring interest - it's actually the only outcome I can see being possible in the long run (I suppose it could collapse and vanishes altogether for an exteded period in the interim too - which would be a shame I reckon).
The worst outcome is that it ends up in the hands of people who don't care to understand it - but it survives for eons as part of a PPV bundle with cringey production as it is effectively cross subsidised by more commercially viable elemtns of the bundle
Even with the best outcome being realised, my prediciton is continuing complaints and vitriol aplenty - probably mainly about the likely smaller scale, lower quality product/experience that generally follows lower investment; neither generous benefactors nor delusional corporations/despots last long as a rule far as I can see
I have barely watched a contest since the start of covid. Not watching at all due to PPV is an easy choice to make. They should be paying us to watch some of the shit waves they have put on this year.
bloody great idea
maybe they could pair it with love island and other real TV shows
coz that's what the seppo's done, destroyed WSL
Steph summed it up - who's good on the day does not make a season
bah humbug
Perhaps Netflix could start a break away series? They would have learned quite a bit when evaluating WSL and it has the money, the production resources, and established distribution to make WSL redundant. It just needs to put SwellNet on retainer, buy/employ the additional necessary expertise to run and administer the series (or three), and then all they need to do is sign up a select group of pro type surfers to compete on a big retainer. Simply having a breakaway series would make a great story, top that off with good surfing in good locations in competitions that are done and dusted in a few days rather than weeks and it might just work. I don’t think a pro surfer’s sponsors would be to upset at the possibility of the added exposure on Netflix.
Yes I dream a lot :)
Anyone watched the Alone reality survival series?
I find it totally gripping even though half the time nothing much is happening - i.e. fishing but failing to catch anything, searching for food, sitting in their shelters talking quietly to camera etc.
It just shows how "stillness" and visual story telling and quiet suspense can be captivating. And it thankfully has no endless commentary trying to describe every moment and analyse every move.
WSL, Ziff, Turps ??? are you out there listening?? Tennis and cricket mostly get that less is more to many audiences. Why not surfing?
Best series. You know they've got an Australian series coming up?
I know a guy who auditioned. He wasn't even told where it would be held; could be tropical north, could be Tassie west coast, could be the desert.
Anyway, yeah, stop torkin' Joe.
I'd love to see 'em go tropical or arid.
Getting a bit sick of cold/temperate environments.
Some absolutely amazing characters on there though.
https://weareexplorers.co/alone-australia-tasmania/
Yeah I thought they would go Tassie- it's the only cold/temperate environment with plenty of water we have.
I wonder what protocols there will be around hunting/eating native wildlife?
Nowhere near as much macropod fauna in Tas as the mainland so maybe that is another reason they chose it.
Not to mention, no koalas.
Couldn't see a TV show with contestants tucking into a freshly killed koala.
The USA alone series is the best - the Euro ones are sort of less hard core and with no big prize people so give up too easily.
The USA has such strong slice of skilled outdoor live off the land survivalist culture. Nice to see an insight on this in contrast to the rap, maga, Hollywood, celebrity, political spin side of the country's culture.
Could imagine an Aussie series going the softer path.
Ha! Ppv is for suckers. Plenty of ways to get that content for free, with basically no consequences here in Australia.
Bring it on. I’ll watch jbay, pipe, margs and chopes. Happy to get the rest as replays somewhere.
The finals format and finals venue of the past few years is a total dud . How many watch the wave pool as well ? A sign something is not right with the current owners . At a guess money over viewers pleasure
Oct 2022 WSL / Netflix demographics
Revenue $15-$25m / yr
Employees 200-500
www : Men 58% > Women 42%
Insta : Men 82% > Women 18% (Nov 2021)
WSL Age = Gromz 17% > 25+ 28% > 35+ 21% > 45+ 16% > 55+ 12% > 65+ 7%
#1 US / Netflix in House (re: 50% own/share) = 18+ 75% > 35+ 72% > 45+ 56% > 65+ 44%
Netflix Nations #1 US 64.5% > #7 Oz 42.7% (Note: No other Surf Nation in Top 10) or less than 30%
US Top Stream Corps #1 Netflix 25% #2 Youtube n/a #3 Prime 19% #4 Disney 13% #5 Hulu
Netflix Viewers Media : TV 70% > Lap Top 15% > Mobile 10% > Tablet 5%
...................................................................................................
Global Surf Market $US (2022 $4b > 2026 $4.6b)
US Stats
2009 US Surfers 90% Men / 10% Women
2022 US Surfers 65% Men / 35% Women
Avg US Surfer is Male 34yr > Fully educated/employed $75,000 yr
Spends $650 entry level > Travels 15km > Surfs 2x week/ends > 8:15am - 10:45am
45% of injuries are by Surfboard or another surfer.
....................................................................................................
2022 WSL Stats (Continued)
Nation = *US 30% > Brazil 20% > *Oz 11% > Portugal 7% > France 6% > Others 26%
*Netflix Nations (See above)
Water Sport Site Rank = (Aug 2.4m #8) > [Finals] > Sept 1.1m #16 > Oct 730k #18
Note the traffic builds to final then drops 54% then by 33% again
Massive 70% WSL visitor drop since finals leading into peak Xmas marketing period. (Wow!)
Companion Surf traffic monthly...#1 Beach Grit 8.4m > #2 Magic Seaweed 5.2m > #3 Surfline 3.7m
Social Networking
( re: Netflix position ) Youtube 80% > Twitter 10% > Facebook 6% > Insta '3% > Others 1+%
Crew can see Netflix would Boss 80% of WSL Media...
All here now watch WSL live on YouTube ( via swellnet)
Note that Brazil are #2 WSL but not in Netflix Top 10? ( So! That seems like a backward step?)
Be worth checking if Netflix acquire whole WSL Youtube back catalogue. (Packed with Brazil surfers)
Recall above...70% Netflix watch TV...we could be looking at exclusive repackaging of past Seasons.
Crew can still freely access any heat or year thru WSL / Youtube...(This may well change with Netflix!)
Just as news sites gradually back wipe all pre subscription date News archives.
Essentially locking up Brazil's finest Surf / Sporting Era...this would bait a huge patriotic Brazilian crew.
Owning the archives affords exclusive cross promotion to boost sport by 40%.
* We read only of "Netflix WSL Live Stream"...this is not what Netflix first sought off WSL.
Box to Box was what they wanted ( Archives for Docos ) but Apple got in with Make or Break!
These Docos are fluff pieces that bore surfers but have way further reach beyond boring Surf Tour.
Jan 2022 tip off...(Netflix lost out as Box to Box switched to Apple for WSL (Archives Doco!)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2022-01-16/netflix-outlines-t...
April (Apple) Make or Break > June 2022 WSL lock in 2nd season
(re: Unprecedented opportunity to mine 5 decades of Surfing archives!)
tbb thinks WSL may own rights to exclusive Surf History & this is what Netflix was after from the start.
The archives fuel cross market Docos that Fuel the Tour uptake by 40% (Netflix proved this formula!)
So yes! Netflix want WSL tour but also the archives to empower their investment's future!
https://www.worldsurfleague.com/posts/503212/world-surf-league-and-box-t...
Handing out Mills & Boon Surf Stickers to wow the Housewives!
https://www.worldsurfleague.com/posts/498638/apple-tv-shares-first-look-....
These Vids are made by the ex Netflix crew that crossed over!
Box to Box vids example how Netflix drama queen docos reel 'em in & hook them onto the tour!
https://www.apple.com/au/tv-pr/originals/make-or-break/trailers-videos/
Box to Box Vid is only via Apple TV Subscription (Basically stealing the Netflix Doco Drama Package)
https://tv.apple.com/au/show/make-or-break/umc.cmc.6oubrn858v7d76sut4mx5...