Surfpolitik ASP Selling World Tour Webcast Rights

In: Surfpolitik by Stu Nettle 76 Comments Thu 28th Jun '12

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Sweeping changes to surfing's World Tour appear imminent upon news the ASP is preparing to sell its global media rights. In 2007 the ASP ceded full control of media rights, including the production of event webcasts to its licensees. It's been hampered by a piecemeal approach to webcasting since.

Swellnet has learned through an anonymous source that the ASP has been in negotiations with a global media company and will soon wrest the webcast rights back from licensees to be run by the new company.

World Tour webcasts have proven to be a powerful marketing tool and many observers believed the licensees wouldn't give them up easily. However Swellnet has been told that ASP licensees are now at the stage where they believe it's in their best interests to hand over control of the webcasts.

For one, it would reduce expenditure for the licensees - each webcast production costs a minimum of $250,000. Secondly, there's an understanding that webcast reach has plateaued and can only expand further with the assistance of an established global network.

The project can only work if the new company acquires the rights to each WT tour stop, and it's believed that they will. What this will mean for viewers is a uniform webcast package between events: commentators, webcast technology, and presentation, would, for the first time, be consistent at every event.

Swellnet understands that this isn't an umbrella sponsor, although it has the potential to generate huge income for the ASP.

The ASP has no official comment at this stage.

We'll have more developments as they come.

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