WSL Getting Beaten In The Battle For Eyeballs
It seems almost unfair having a crack at the WSL right now, so woebegone and embattled is the league after a fifth consecutive layday with another lame forecast at a wobbly, weird, backwashy wave that no-one in the world, especially the surfers, seems to GAF about.
So far, the post-cut tour has been an umitigated disaster on every level, but most importantly, at the level of providing anything worth tuning in to watch live. Yes, it's free, and yes, it's magnificently produced, but among other drawbacks the viewers have to endure carpet bombing ads run during live action and tedious/beige/incomprehensible commentary which offers little in the way of a direct relationship to reality.
It's been a slog at best, consuming this substanceless gruel. Watching the world's premier power surfer Jordy Smith bog turns repeatedly in weak, gurgly, backwashy lefts for example, while in response, commentator Mitchell Salazar repeatedly intones what a world-class beachbreak Itauna is, make you want to run to the kitchen and stab your ears with a fork. When even the best surfers in the world - who usually guard their professional opnions - are openly indifferent, disinterested, and admit to mentally struggling you can't expect surf fans to remain engaged.
Like us, they can simply observe how their free-surfing brethren and sistren are collecting a pay cheque by tuning into YouTube. The comparison is stark and it's not in favour of the WSL.
Before Brazil, I made the mistake of 'consuming' - although 'fantasising' is a better term - Mark Healey's four-part boat trip vlog around Fiji's outer islands. There was nothing revolutionary about the content or the way it was presented, just Healey doing his watermanly thing subduing slob-sized yellowfin tuna, dodging white squalls, liming reef cuts and revelling in perfect and not-so-perfect reefbreak surf with no-one out except his grinning travel companions. They were clearly loving life. It was compelling and the whole time I couldn't help but think, 'Man, imagine what JJF or Jack Robbo or Medina could do in these waves.'
Mark Healey gets barrelled on the inside while the next wave draws off the reef for the only other person in the lineup
There's one key concept all live sports and entertainment has in common. Anticipation. The desire, desperate at times, to see what happens next. I couldn't wait to click on Part 4 of Healey's Fiji trip to see him thread an unknown left reefbreak on his carbon twinny. My desire to watch the Tub, a dreary crossed-up finals day at Punta Roca (that followed four laydays), or another sausage grind day at Itauna, is close to nil.
In the contest for our attention, anticipation trumps all.
The competition for eyeballs from free-surfing content is another facet which stands surfing apart from other regular sports. No-one watches rugby league or AFL stars throwing the footy around in exotic places, we don't click on videos of Serena Williams or Rory McIlroy fooling around on a backyard court or a par three course. We watch elite competition to see the best of the best do their thing. It's an anomaly of the current incarnation of pro surfing that will be explained by future historians when a bunch of non-competition surfers can make the elite tour seem so lame and irrelevant.
The competition for eyeballs translates into value for sponsors. The surf industry, apart from Rip Curl, has largely vacated the pro surf realm. After nine years, Vans has pulled out of the 2023 US Open, which has been mainland America's premier competition/festival, and it was held right there in surf central Huntington Beach. The new sponsor is a finance company specialising in crypto.
Surfers themselves, apart from a rarefied few who can attract non-endemic sponsors, are struggling to prove their value in the current triple-tiered tour structure: Qualifying Series, Challenger Series, then Championship Tour. Meanwhile, making the CT is no longer the golden ticket it once was. With a mid-year cut, rookies are only a couple of bad heats (or 50/50 judging calls) away from being sent back to the undercard and practical invisibility - moreorless worthless to sponsors.
Whose body of work are you more familiar with right now, Nate Florence or Morgan Cibilic?
You see the problem facing professional surfers on the tour. They are getting slaughtered at both ends by the free surfing vlogs and the tour structure. Is there a meaningful audience that give a shit about the four-man heats they will surf at two-foot high-tide Huntington Beach?
The father of a well-known former CT surfer from the Northern Rivers told me sponsors saw more value in him chasing slabs and clips rather than grinding to get back on tour. This is a guy with an insane record in Hawaii. Imagine being told as an aspirant that the elite level of competition is now of lesser value to sponsors than working what is essentially a side hustle?
There's no-one to blame. Elo is a symptom, an emergent property of pro surfing being made a billionaire plaything with a bunch of yes men and woman too scared to refute the suits and create something contra their bizarre little greed fantasies. Pro surfing has followed the easiest money trail available: tourism and now crypto money offering itself as a convenient vehicle to promote, greenwash, or sportswash anyone who can pay up. They long ago lost sight of what makes the sport unique and compelling and as a result they are getting royally flogged in the digital marketplace of ideas by anyone with a camera and a heartbeat.
// STEVE SHEARER
Comments
pro surfing was doomed since the corporate dickheads took over, doesn't benefit anyone who surfs anyway, the opposite in fact, fuck em
Time for Kelly’s break away tour ??
No waves pools
Great read SS.
Yes, WSL has lost the plot due somewhat to a revolving executive who possess scant genuine surf wisdom, prepared only to restructure the tour for the sake of the resume and the next career move. Paul Speaker and Terry Harding of ZoSea Media Holdings that own WSL have a lot to answer for.
Simplify the tour: remove the challenger series, cut out poor performing locations, and increase the wait time at peak wave locations (ie how it used to be). Bugs was the exemplar, had the wisdom without the executive career motive; he founded the magic tour. Surfers and sundry waited in anticipation for the next leg, studying the leader board, speculating the possible success of country reps. It had become a religion. Sadly no more; Speaker and Harding have betrayed the surfing world.
The WSL has the comparative advantage of an arsenal of high performance surfers and access to and control over epic wave locations. Combine the two and the viewers might just return. This is the WSL advantage over the you tube stars of surf pawn. Whether Speaker and Harding understand this is yet to be proven.
Spot on you are, again. For me, what was anticipation to watch, has now become reluctance. Much of which is by the WSL's own choosing... example, Box pumping, yet they opt to run at Mains. As much as the commentary might try to convince me, the dangerous end section suck at Mains Right just doesn't bring the excitement of the Box. Similar feeling with soft Brazil beachies
Hey FR reckon you could nail an interview with Rabbit and try to pull apart this conundra that you so eloquently capture in your tomes. He busted down doors and was a big part of the dream tour which is such an anomaly to his current ‘rabbiting’ on. Even the inevitable rejection response would be giggle worthy.
Big compare with music fans they’ll accept deviation if it’s quality but kick to the curb if it’s shit. Ditto on enjoying quality internet surf clips rather than corporate surf turd polishers. This is a fascinating curveball
so good.. “corporate surf turd polishers” i’m still laughing .. some of these comments are such gold..
One of the major excuses given for not holding contests in more remote locations eg Ments is the cost and unreliability of the internet infrastructure.
Surely now with mobile starlink this is a thing of the past?
All you really need to run these events is a high speed internet and plenty of cameras. Fuck the red bull athletes zones and VIP areas right off.
how will we know where our favourite commentators are commentating from without seeing them in their sponsored gear sitting around on lounges in "the booth"
Great article and hard to really argue with any of it. But, I think you've done your dash for the WSL Ball invite with this one.
I have always loved pro-surfing but it just doesn't capture me anymore and I was an easy sell. I think they're trying to package it as a lifestyle (which it is to a degree) but the people who enjoy watching surfing don't necessarily give a damn about what people do in their downtime. I like Nate Florence vids too but I find myself skipping straight to the surfing and usually cut out the idle chit-chat.
As long as Elo 'thinks' he's doing a good job it could be a long wait until we see any improvements from the WSL.
A fish rots from the head down.
He gone
Bet Soli is happier too…and getting waaaaay better waves.
Spot on Steve, I enjoy reading your work.
Further more regarding 'anticipation'.
Since the cut was brought into a season, I've missed the anticipation of being witnesses to performance ebbs and flows over a complete season.
And without a world champ being crowned good and proper In Hawaii, like it should be, the whole competition will continue to excite, like ..... /biege/.
Well I just went straight to Healey's Fiji vlog, wow, how was that right they scored. Even with the fishing at the start it was much engrossing than the waves at the tub, El Salvador, Brazil etc.
Haha just read this , on the road ATM will look at Healy ASP thanks Steve....
Watched it a coupla days ago. Replayed the photo from top of article several times just to watch that empty second wave form
Devastating critique.
Elo after reading it.
Great read Steve, as always. I genuinely enjoy your writing on pro surfing more than any other part of it.
Though I think you are wrong about one thing: I absolutely know my sport tragic mates would watch "RAW Footage Serena Hitting Tennis Balls for Practice at Home" for hours on end, or "Footballers of Melbourne: Essendon Bombers Training on Rainy Day in July". We're all as dumb as each other these days.
I was thinking the same. It's not that people wouldn't watch, it's that they don't need to do it because tennis and golf stars aren't struggling for money like pro surfers.
"It seems almost unfair having a crack at the WSL right now" fuck the ctns, death ride em to the very end especially the head kooks logan and that jmd nuffy who should know better
Great article, Steve. With the greatest competitive entertainer of all time on the way out (Ke11y) and with a complete loss of roll, pitch and yaw, I'm afraid that we may be looking at the darkest of times for the WSL. They will need some kind of miracle swell at Chopes to invoke any kind of fire and passion from fans.
Homogenised media feeding consumers watered down soup is bland , so people go elsewhere for entertainment & the spice of life.
Talent & effort use to be rewarded.
Brian Wilson from the Beachboys did more to publicise the surfing lifestyle in 3 minutes than WSL has done in 3 years... and he never surfed. He recorded in 3 different studios to get these sounds
Thanks for another insightful article Steve; have a warm holiday in the sun.
Rabbs dream tour has turned into a wet dream!The wozzle has lost its way! Remember this "only a surfer knows the feeling", not some corporate wankers who know nothing about what surfing really means! Looking fwd to watching the elite in real waves of consequence @ the end of the road & J-Bay, they can have Kelly's TUB & the Brazzo's shitty beachies!
Thoughtfully written Mr Shearer.
Im sure there is a niche for a break away tour in high quality waves half a dozen comps, finish it with the Vans pipe masters.
Mostly mobile type comps, the tech to stream and film etc in real time or slight delay is completely there now.
I mean over 20 years ago they held the OP in the Mentawais
There'll never, ever be a rebel tour. Not a snowflake's chance in hell.
One off comps like Red Bull Cape Fear, yeah. But then even Red Bull, who are far more cashed up than most surf cos, haven't run it for about five years.
If you want to know the real rebel tour, it's happening on YouTube right now. Healey, Rothman, Florence, JOB, Carmichael etc etc.
Hawaiians owning the YouTube’s at the moment.
I’m assuming Carmichael is Wade? Has he got his own series?
Yeah, Wade's World, bankrolled by Rusty I think. Viewership is waaay down on the Hawaiians.
Hey Stu.
I made a comment on here a year or a couple of years ago to this effect. You could probably find it if you know how to search by name. Anyways...
...I think the future of top level pro surfing will be something along the lines of a major company sponsoring a stable of free surfers and taking them around the world to exotic locales and producing eye candy videos, maybe live streams could be apart of it (why not? It's easily done). Perhaps even a paywall model if it really takes off?
I have a mental picture of how companies would compete for views and exposure by having the hottest, and most engaging surfers (male and female, sure!). The competition would not have a clearly defined winner at a single point, performance would evolve as each surfer vied to outdo the others latest marquee video.
Surf comps would still exist but would be more along the lines of the current National Titles where it is still an athletic contest, just not with all the glitz. The hotties making video clips could still enter but it would be far more worthy of their time and skill to make video content in world class waves.
Of course climate change could change everything by then....
@ Stunet
I think its possible they just need to think outside the box, for instance you could have different legs like a Mentawai leg, where you have four charter boats with 5 surfers on each boat so 20 guys in the event.
1. Aussies
2. USA.
3. Brazil.
4. The rest of the world.
It's as total mobil event that goes for ten days, traveling through the islands, that moves between different waves and takes over a break for a day or so like Macaronis, HT's, Kandui and you have a few short one day comps. (tech should all be there now to stream a decent comp)
Surfers surf as both individuals but results also factor in as a team..
Then to make things really interesting apart from normal judging the public can also vote online to make up part of the voting, so 4 main judges and 4 public voting based on regions.
Then only so many votes for each region like 2,500 per USA, Aust, South America, rest of the world but the catch is you need to pay for instance you pay $10 USD to vote over the whole event and you need to register with ID to validate things to get around the VPN thing.
The key part is you actually get people involved, invested and interacting and feeling they are a part of it and part of dictating the result, and you play on the nationalist aspect like Soccer world cup does.
All this and quality waves creates much more interest and viewership, which keeps the sponsor's happy and you ideally raise $100K USD for prize money.
The winning team gets $5K each ($25K) then the $75K gets split between top three overall winners.
Yeah i know there is most likely all kinds of issue's like time zones and some nations being asleep when the comps on, and dont know if that many [people would pay etc, but its just an idea thrown out there for, what if kinda fun :D
Realise you've thought a lot about it, but it'll never happen. Trust me, there are people who are born promoters, and they're paid handsomely to devise marketing solutions, and nothing they've come up with is profitable - and definitely nowhere near as profitable as the current social media model.
If it was, we'd have seen it by now.
Also, mobile comps have huge hurdles to clear in terms of insurance, pay, working conditions, connectivity, the whims of Mother Nature, and shit just going wrong, and then there's the rec surfers who are pissed off cos they paid $X amount to surf Maccas or Rifles or Kandui, and the tour tells them they can't. Fuck that.
Public voting is a complete non-starter. They tried that during an expression session at the Quik Pro years ago. Dane Reynolds was winning without actually catching a wave. Sure, it can be rigged differently but it'll only ever be a popularity contest.
Yeah your probably right and who really wants a big pro comp blowing up the Mentawais further, but its still fun to think about.
Indo was there a couple of weeks ago and it is chocka's and internet shizenhousen. 30+ land camps in the playgrounds area plus boats a plenty. The place is so far from anywhere and still has nothing but surfers - and plenty of them. A lot of investment in infrastructure would have to occur prior to anything happening and it can still be fluky with real lulls between sets.
In 2001 they held the OP pro at i think Kandui and Maccas? Occy won it that was over 20 years ago.
The technology is now there to hold a comp pretty much anywhere and broadcast to the world, they've done QS comps at HT's and broadcast them.
Its completely doable its more about the will.
But yeah as much as it would be nice to watch, on the flip side these areas are crowded enough as it is without pointing a WSL spotlight on things.
Edit: Maybe Maccas & HT's here an article on it http://www.boarding.net/surf/june_01/op/final.html
So what's the biz model? Who pays for what?
I guess the main difference is Youtubers are almost ensuring you will be watching pumping waves (that's why they travel to these destinations) whereas the WSL is hamstrung by event windows and poor location choices to ensure that we get pissed off watching 2 foot shite....I was a big fan of competition surfing for quite a while however I'm fast becoming very bored with it due mainly to the finals day horse shit to decide a world title which is another story I guess.....Just remember the title will never be decided at Pipe again while these dates and format are in place. Unreal
Totally agree ID ... Dirk bought a dud !
Its 2023 and technology and the 'market' have moved on . Most of the young guys and girls I know who surf couldn't care less let alone know who the current CT surfers are .
The future WSL consumers have not moved on , they were never there .
Elo has just quit.
Wow!
Says who?
JMD
https://www.worldsurfleague.com/posts/517779/leadership-changes-at-the-w...
Ha!
Paving the way for Ke11y to be CEO, he sure ain't in Saquarema wishing Elo adieu
Surfers have always enjoyed surf films and surf competition has always been irrelevant to core surfers. The pro tour in all its guises has always been about advertising to mostly non surfers and short off a total restructuring to align it self with real surfing will remain so, as much as I enjoy FRs writing I find the comp articles irrelevant to surf forecasting and my life as a surfer.
Good truthful read.
There has to be a correction. I get the feeling the WSL might just out of the blue walk away. We can only hope.
How do I tag ELO in this??
Good writing as usual. But, what’s the solution? You yourself protested the wsl holding a contest in your region’s home breaks, and you make pocket change writing about the contests. The wsl are really doing the only thing they can by having their contests sites be underwritten by regions looking to boost their tourism. This does not translate into the best quality surf. In addition, providing network quality broadcasts limits the contest site mobility. And a further defense of the wsl is that its broadcasts reach more viewers than ever. This is due to the expansion of the Brasil market. Australia also still has a strong interest in pro surfing. Here, in the United States, nobody cares. Less than .001% of our population know who John Florence is. There is no potential in the USA for pro surfing to be a money-making sport. The future of WSL is expansion into Asian and other untapped markets.
That said, the WSL pro tour is treading water and Ziff seems to be using it as a placeholder, waiting to sell it off to Saudis or some other suckers for a hefty profit. The mid-year cut and Trestles finals are consultant produced focus group research ideas that non-surfer Eric Logan has used to justify his storylines narrative, but this has diminished any interest by true surfers, since nothing will replace an end of the year finish in Hawaii at Pipeline. The WSL’s dogged refusal to cull the non-elimination rounds, result in contests drawn out way too long, usually being surfed in mediocre waves. The judging system leaves experienced surfers scratching their heads in confusion with the criteria, imagine how perplexed the non-surfing viewers are. Couple this with the complete collapse of the surf clothing industry and the demise of surfing magazines, which has left pro surfing stranded in an indifferent sea.
Excellent summary.
New just in - ELO no longer the CEO effective immediately. See WSL pressa
Great write up Steve.
Surfing use to be a hardcore scene yet fun and pleasurable to be about, now it's become another sport full of entitled selfish egotistical simpy bitches thinking that they're hard core. 1% are great to watch but the others who claim themselves with their mates filming from the beach like heroes are a fucking joke and need to be humbled and take a good long hard look at themselves. It doesn't mater how good you surf so get the fuck over yourselves. Smfh
Shit , will we have all WSL events at wave pools in the future??
motorsports are mind numbingly boring, until you have 500 camera angles, grid girls and a netflix show revealing how much the privileged drivers truly loathe their team mates...then its almost watchable...
At the end of the day its got nothing to do with sport and everything to do with stripping back the layers and seeing honest unbridled emotion.
There are some amazing characters in 'our sport'. Occy, the Hog, Bobby Martinez, your shaper etc etc etc - hugely relatable and watchable, why did/does the WSL muzzle/ignore them?
Lets stop promoting surfing as a sanitised product which nobody is interested in. Strip it back to what it really is. I dont dream of hucking my kawasaki off a sand dune, but i am supremely interested in the minds of those who are.
More candid interviews, more mics and cameras in the judging tower when a pro offers some honest feedback and when someone smashes their entire quiver
Everyone is pretty down on the tour, me included. But I wonder if our fervour would be somewhat dimmed if each event had been held 2 weeks earlier in the often pumping waves which preceded the event window?
No doubt the tour format stinks. The venues are sub-optimal. But they have had fucking awful luck with conditions to really drive that home. If the waves are good and result in compelling viewing, I feel like people can look past the other stuff. But this year has been the perfect shit storm.
Doesn't even feel like all-time Chopes and J-Bay could help at this point.
Put surfers in waves of consequence.
And if it's a pointbreak, minimum 6-8ft.
It's not rocket science.
Build it and they will come.
You don't need to create a story. The waves can do that all by themselves.
No one remembers Brazil.
Everyone remembers last years Pipe comp.
I've watched more Ben Gravy surfing novelty waves than WSL this year. His froth is palpable. The WSL is a waste of my time. Nates slab tour has been a good watch too. Couldn't give a shit about the WSL and the show ponies on tour. I'd rather my viewership/subscription to a YouTube channel contribute directly to funding more adventures of what content I'm interested in, and that sure aint more sessions in the tub or el sal.
Top stuff FR, I feel for you having to spend any time watching this years tour.
Possibly the shitest beard in sport, bar for John John... seems weird, maybe they had no facial hair role model growing up.
I watched a bit of a heat whilst eating breakfast after a 2 hour surf of 1-3ft glass and here's what stood out.
First was the absolute terrible waves, especially compared to what I just surfed as a laymen on a unremarkable day. The fact that this was coming off five days of no competition is comedic. Second is that they all surf the same equipment the same. It's kinda boring to watch compared to YouTube where you have Nate Florence on his slab tour, Mason Ho radiating fun, Ben Gravy doing novelty waves or whatever flavour your into. I watched a Harrison Roach Bells edit the other day which was really cool, despite loathing Longboard surfing. All are way more entertaining than watching 3 to the beach on a shitty, wonky, fat beachy.
Also, why do all the pro surfers wear those sunglasses that look like safety goggles?
+1 all round, but particularly on the sunnies, the only person I give a pass to wearing pit vipers is coach eric taylor : P
anyone that likes pov surfing channels i'm pretty proud of my last vid
https://studio.youtube.com/video/ppNRjLeeBHg/edit
New Tour Format Announced....
Trials Event 1 - Top 300 surfers in the world by geographical region division... Top 10 from this event gain entry to next 3 CT events.
TRESTLES
CT Event 1 - TOP 30 seeded surfers (from last year's overall CT ranking) plus 10 trials event 1 surfers. Premier Righthand Point.
Long wait period, no non elimination rounds.
SNAPPER ROCKS
CT Event 2 - Same 40 surfers from previous. Historic Event
Long wait period, no non elimination rounds.
BELLS
CT Event 3 - Same 40 surfers from previous event.
Premier Left
Long wait period, no non elimination rounds.
ULUWATU
Trials Event 2 - Top 300 surfers in the world by geographical region divisions, plus bottom 10 CT surfers from current CT ranking if they want... Top 10 from this event gain entry to final 3 CT events.
BRAZIL
CT Event 4 - top 30 seeded CT surfers plus 10 trials event 2 surfers. Premier Righthand Point
Long wait period, no non elimination rounds.
MEXICO / SOUTH AMERICA
CT Event 5 - same 40 surfers from previous.
Premier Beachbreak
Long wait period, no non elimination rounds.
FRANCE
CT Event 6 - Same 40 surfers. Premier Righthand Wave
Long wait period, no non elimination rounds.
MEXICO / SOUTH AMERICA
CT Event 7 - same 40 as previous. Premier Lefthand Pacific Reef
Long wait period, no non elimination rounds.
TAHITI / FIJI (Alternating)
FINAL CT Event 8 - 40 surfers.
Long wait period, no non elimination rounds.
PIPE
Normal Points X 1.5
******
Winner based on overall CT points for the year. All events count in total (no non keepers).
Top 30 stay up for next year
******
No expensive "athletes VIP areas"
more like the Krui level.
Woman's tour to only include the 2 x trials events, and three of the CT events. Top 20 / 5.
I’m 46. Love watching the WSL. But wsl is making it hard. Real hard. App is shit, always cuts out on the ads and I have to reboot then after a minute another ad freezes it . I want to burn the app down. Would be ok if the waves were titillating but this wave is crap and not a world class venue . Chasing Brazilian dirty money and lots of people on the beach over world class surfing. Felt like I was watching a grom comp in slop for a meat hamper prize giveaway . Wsl could be charging forward but these few decisions and this Rupert Murdoch corporate style app is bogging it down in the pig mud with commentators trying to brush it over with a lot of loud Oink oinks. Ps despite his mistakes, John John is always underscored . If someone else was doing the same moves it would score higher
Spot on. It's been unwatchable for years now. I don't even bother watching when the waves are good anymore. It's just too painful. The only thing that I would even consider watching would be perfect maxing pipe of chopes.
Golf actually has a similar thing happening a the moment. YouTube golf is massive and growing. A lot of the youtube golfers get more views than most pro tournaments, apart from the majors. It is so big that the big golf brands are starting to sponsor them.
A lot of golf fans actually would tune in to watch Mcilroy fool around in his back yard.
Maybe we’re just finally ready to admit that surfing isn’t a sport.
I love watching great surfers doing things I can’t even dream of doing. I don’t need someone’s wave awarded an 8.17, I have eyes.
What about everyone just surfs a spot for 3 or 4 days. Then at the end we decide who was best ? Bit like real life.
Well said