WSL Holdings To Acquire Kelly Slater Wave Company

How about a treadmill?

It's just like running a marathon, only a lot different...

 

Exactly. This could be the final nail in the coffin for surfing. Imagine for a second if the amount of crowds going to ski areas on the east coast suddenly headed to a few surf breaks on the east coast. There would be THOUSANDS in the lineups. 200+ people per peak sunrise to sunset. Total chaos. I remember recently on a surf trip to supertubos or somewhere Kelly Slater was complaining about crowds and saying it was so crowded it wasn't fun, but not realizing the commercialization of surfing caused by SLATER himself is the reason it's crowded. Talks of making surfing an Olympic sport will also make things MUCH worse. Money/Glory brings more to the sport. Ski areas see a rise in lift tickets during Olympic skiing.

How many people skied by climbing a mountain before the advent of commercialized ski lifts/resorts and marketing?

What will happen is people will learn to surf at a wave pool, the it will become a regular thing like going to the gym and then when a swell descends on the east coast hundreds of thousands will make the trip to the ocean for FREE waves. This is a BIG JUICY FISH hook to bring surfing to the masses. Think it's bad now? Just wait.This will be especially bad near big cities or areas that have limited good breaks and long flat spells(northeast U.S.)

Remember there are a TON of mountains especially out west. There are entire mountain ranges with millions of acres to spread out. There are relatively few surf breaks with good peaks.

If the population that heads to Vermont ski areas from nyc metro suddenly headed to NJ surf breaks, how many people would there be?

 

Understood. Have fun waiting in line paying large amounts of money per hour or whatever the price will be to surf one of these pools. I picture waiting in line with everyone and their cousin waiting to try the "wave pool", not much unlike a water park or flow rider. Hope you don't blow your wave because you just have to get back in line for another half hour for your next shot. It's a single wave, not continuous like the ocean, and then the machine has to reset itself. And you thought it was tough to get waves now at your local break when it's crowded...

 

I think it would be awesome if you could rent it out for a few hours with a group of friends.

 

Maybe not. Did rock gyms ruin climbing or just give people another place to do it without having to drive 2 hours to the crag?

If I was going to 'ruin' surfing for profit, I'd start a shuttle service for select towns where there's limited parking. Getting a ticket in Gloucester or Natant- no problem. I'll just drop you off at the side of the road and come back 2 hours later to shuttle you back to your car.

Speaking of limited parking, when I was down in RI surfing the place everybody usually goes this weekend, I checked out a place named after a place in NH (is that how this works?), looked pretty good but above my skill set.

BRB, writing a business plan. It's like heli-skiing but for rich beach towns where only locals can surf.

 

This already exists in several locations. But not here in NH, but I hear it is coming soon!!

 

Face it...we are doomed unless the media reports on all surfing related injuries or deaths.

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-kelly-slater-wave-pool/

Interesting article, written from the biz perspective. I thought this was an interesting part, too:

"WSL CEO Paul Speaker, who’s held executive positions at RKO Pictures and the National Football League, took an interest in the business of surfing after joining the board of Quiksilver in 2010. He says it stood out as the action sport with the biggest potential for growth in terms of both fans and participation. People didn’t age out of surfing the way they seemed to do with snowboarding, skateboarding, or BMX, and it was almost uniquely aspirational, with a culture and style that’s as much a lifestyle as a sport."

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-kelly-slater-wave-pool/

Interesting article, written from the biz perspective. I thought this was an interesting part, too:

"WSL CEO Paul Speaker, who’s held executive positions at RKO Pictures and the National Football League, took an interest in the business of surfing after joining the board of Quiksilver in 2010. He says it stood out as the action sport with the biggest potential for growth in terms of both fans and participation. People didn’t age out of surfing the way they seemed to do with snowboarding, skateboarding, or BMX, and it was almost uniquely aspirational, with a culture and style that’s as much a lifestyle as a sport."

 

Fock the WSL, fock the Olympics, scary times.

 

Well said herrrmanno

 

Those sonsab!tches!

 

viva la south and fk the wsl