Surfpolitik Specialty webcasts: a new means to dream

In: Surfpolitik by Stu Nettle 287 Comments Thu 12th Jan '12

Tags: billabong mundaka challenge , dane reynolds , jamie obrien , asp , Rip Curl Cup

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In August last year Billabong set what was considered a record for an ASP webcast at the Teahupoo World Tour event. Measuring webcast viewers is a dark art - what with unique viewers, absolute uniques, pageviews, and many more confusing metrics - but what can be said without debate is that Billabong scored exponentially more viewers at Teahupoo then at their Jeffreys Bay event, held just one month earlier. The reason for the difference? The waves: J'Bay was small while Teahupoo pumped. Simple as that.

The webcast numbers for last years Triple Crown underscore the correlation between waves and viewers. The surf for Haliewa was small which was reflected in the viewer numbers. However, both the World Cup of Surfing at Sunset and The Pipeline Masters scored exceptional surf and equally impressive webcast stats.

Yet in 2010 it was the World Cup of Surfing that got the short straw having to contest the event in tiny surf at Val's Reef, just twenty or so metres off the sand at Sunset Beach. That event was sponsored by O'Neill who subsequently pulled their sponsorship for the 2011 event. Small waves meant small viewer numbers and minimal return on O'Neill's investment.

Let's drop the shibboleth of 'sport as theatre' for a moment: professional surfing contests are, at least for the companies that bankroll them, marketing exercises. In simplest terms they are an opportunity for event sponsors to advertise their wares to a surfing audience - to a passive, captured, surfing audience no less. And the bigger the audience the more successful the venture is considered.

Extended waiting periods have increased the likelihood for good surf on the World Tour though it is still a multi-million dollar gamble and it doesn't always pay off. Last year Billabong pulled Mundaka from the World Tour schedule when, after six consecutive years and a combined outlay of approximately $20 million, it failed to deliver the surf expected.

The cancellation was a blow for the European surf community, yet last month Billabong announced a resurrection of sorts for the Mundaka event. Rather than an ASP event, however, featuring the Top 34 and a fixed waiting period, the new event is a specialty event held on the best day within a three month waiting period. Competitors are a mix of hot locals, Billabong team riders and Dane Reynolds. On Monday Billabong announced Reynolds, who recently quit the World Tour, had accepted the invitation injecting interest and a fair whack of credibility to the concept.

The model for the Billabong Mundaka Challenge is taken from the old Billabong Challenges of the 1990's held at Gnaraloo and the South Coast of NSW. The Rip Curl Cup, a yearly event at Padang Padang, has also modelled itself on the idea and updated it for the internet age. The Rip Curl Cup has been won in the past by Jamie O'Brien, who continues to score invitations to the event.

Both the Rip Curl Cup and Billabong Mundaka Challenge are unrelated one-off events. They don't contribute to tour ratings though with large advertising and technology budgets they have the potential to draw huge webcast viewers - more than many World Tour events – if they score good surf. Of course the odds of that happening are greatly increased with a waiting period stretched from two weeks to three months.

It's no coincidence that Dane Reynolds and Jamie O'Brien have been drawcards at the two events mentioned. There is a growing movement, fuelled by the discontent of surfers such as Reynolds and O'Brien, that competition surfing in it's current ASP form is a shackle for talent. Importantly, neither surfer cares for the world title. Reynolds, in fact, questions the very concept of a world champion and his influence shouldn't be underestimated.

Events such as the Billabong Mundaka Challenge and the Rip Curl Cup fill a void of competitive dispirit and they represent a new way of reaching an audience, yet they also run the risk of being public relations disasters. With a three month waiting period the organisers expect to cherry pick the very best day of the season thus denying access to the local surfing community. At present they circumvent any friction by including locals in the draw but with growing surf communities and the advent of social media the risk of controversy is real.

At present there's only a handful of specialty events but expect to see more in the future. Any notion of allegiance that surf companies have for the World Tour is outweighed by their duty to shareholders, which itself is governed by the global economy. And many surf companies – Billabong the prime example – are struggling.

The expectations and consumer habits of the viewing public are changing, and although specialty events are few they provide exactly what the viewing public want – good surfers in great waves. Hence they also provide exactly what the companies want – lots of viewers watching their webcast.

The waiting period for the Billabong Mundaka Challenge begins on January 15th and runs for three months.

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