Everywhere I look right now, I see people talking about sponsorships. It is the start of the new year, I guess. In case you missed it, there have already been a few major moves – like current World Champion Yago Dora leaving Volcom, and former World Champ Gabriel Medina leaving RipCurl; some random sponsor additions such as Jack Robinson joining Binance, and Cam Richards leaving Vissla to join a much smaller, unheard of brand; and quite a few “insignificant” changes, if you will.
All of this begs the question, though – what does sponsoring a surfer do for a brand? Or any athlete in general? I know we’ve talked about this before – I just (obviously) can’t wrap my head around it. Is Yago going to bring in a bigger profit line for Vissla? What is in it for the company?
The easy, one word answer is Marketing. I get it. I guess I can say that I understand it on the surface – you want to get eyes on your brand, build recognition. But is Yago going to bring a whole new demographic to Vissla? Maybe so, I just don’t know.
So, I’m going on a mission. I’m trying to find out why, exactly, that brands sponsor surfers. What do surfers do for these companies? Do they equate to sales – immediately, or in the long term? Do they bring in a bigger fan base? Do they provide the content that brands then monetize? I have a lot of questions, and I intend on finding some answers.
You see the surf “industry” was born as this tight-lipped, ego stroking machine. It’s in its DNA. If you didn’t know already, most of your favorite ‘core’ brands that you loved as a grom were started with drug money. Look up Ron Jon Surf Shop, and the guy that started that (at least) $5 million dollar company, for example. Makua Rothman just recently made mention of this in a podcast with JOB and Mason Ho. What I’m saying is that these brands and this entire “industry” was built on sketchy, “unknown” business practices. I don’t expect it’s going to be easy for me to find these answers.
Lucky for you (and me), I do have a couple of connections in the game. I was working in a glass shop and a surf shop for a few years, and I’ve been judging contests for the last 3+ years as well. I’m going to be reaching out to my contacts, as well as trying to make new connections in an effort to unearth some of these mysteries.
If you have any insight, any information to bring forward, please do not hesitate. We are all wondering where this money goes in this industry. How much longer is this going to last? Is this the beginning of the end as we know it?
Time will tell, but I plan to tell you first.
Cheers,
hwilsin
Drew Stanfield