The Rebel Tour Rides Again

“Not sure where you got that from but I will say, it’s not dead,” Kelly Slater confirmed, when ASL asked him to comment on rumours that the so-called ESPN Champions Surf Tour (CST) was back.

According to those rumours, the CST has targeted a slew of surfers including Dane Reynolds, Andy and Bruce Irons, Ry Craike, Taj Burrow, Rob Machado, Shane Dorian, Mitch Coleborn, Clay Marzo and, of course, Kelly himself.

Rumours heard by ASL say the rebel tour is confident of securing the services of all the surfers they were after apart from Mick Fanning, Joel Parkinson, and Jordy Smith, who have all committed to the ASP tour. The ASP has confirmed that Andy Irons is yet to commit to his wildcard position on next year’s ASP tour.

“I will know more shortly but probably won't speak much about it 'til I'm fully aware of how it changes and effects our sport as a whole,” Kelly told ASL. “ASP had a chance to go in a new direction and chose not to. That doesn't necessarily mean things disappear. It did seem to show that ASP maintains control of the sport's direction.”

Kelly has been a vocal critic of the current surf industry sponsors’ control of the ASP Tour, who bankroll most of the events and own their own media rights to each event. The new tour’s promise of increased prize-money, mainstream sponsorship and slick packaging of events for television on ESPN helped convince Kelly that change was needed.

“I love and appreciate my sponsors but freedom of choice is a basic part of our world and our sport's structure should reflect that. It's an inherent feeling shared with all surfers,” Kelly said.


Kelly competing at the Billabong Pro Tahiti in May. Teahupo'o is a wave the Champions Tour organisers have their eyes on. pic Andy Morris

Kelly was active in promoting the virtues of the new “Champions Surf Tour,” backed by US sports network ESPN, during the Jeffreys Bay event in South Africa back in July. Meetings were held between ESPN and the surfers in California to explain the concept in more detail, and some sort of announcement was promised during the Trestles event in September, but no solid news was forthcoming.

ASP meetings in Mundaka, Spain, in October saw the ASP surfers vote to support their existing tour. At the time, it was assumed that left the rebel tour dead in the water. The surfers were able to get several of their demands met at the October meeting under threat of supporting the rebel tour - chiefly, increased prize-money, comprehensive insurance, and a restructuring of the ASP Board to include several independent board members. The surfers, sponsors and ASP publicly declared solidarity at a press conference at Mundaka and the matter appeared settled.

“I think the surfers have done the best job they could given the short amount of time they had to deal with the changes at hand and to make the best of the choices they were presented with through the Euro leg,” says Kelly. “I think there was a lot of pressure put on the surfers’ reps especially. An option exists for a reason. The question is, is that the right direction? I guess we'll still have to wait a bit to find out.”

But with surfers the calibre of Bruce and Andy, Ry Craike, Julian Wilson, Jamie O’Brien and many others not committed to the ASP tour, the rebels didn’t need to pick up too many current ASP surfers to make their tour viable. Add Dane, Kelly, Rob Machado and few hot kids like Clay Marzo to the mix and you have yourself a tour. Of sorts. With only 16 surfers on the CST, it is hard to see how they could annoint their winner a legitimate world champion.

“There are 16 guys who can possibly compete on the CST,” says Neil Ridgway, Rip Curl’s head of marketing and ASP Board member. “Then there’s 1000 surfers on the ASP rankings all trying to get to number one, and 10 000 grommets behind ‘em. You can be part of the hit and giggle, or you can play to the real game.”

Chief architect of the new tour, ESPN’s Matt Tinley, has kept his cards close to his chest since news of the CST first broke in July, and has refused to comment to the media. But behind the scenes he has clearly been working hard to shore up support for the new tour.

According to US surf industry sources, Tinley has said he is “playing with my own chips,” meaning he is funding the tour himself, with the help of private backers, and banking on attracting mainstream sponsors once surfers are locked in. It is a big gamble by both Tinley and the surfers, especially given the current state of the US economy.
Kelly, for one, obviously feels it is a gamble worth taking.


The man who pulls more crowds than anyone else in surfing. Freesurf punt in Portugal. Pic Roger Sharp

“Just the thought of a different tour earlier this year put a lot of people in a tailspin, many of whom are now pleased with the 'changes' that have taken place,” said Kelly. “That tailspin reveals some things about what we're dealing with and how obvious some of the changes should be. The Sydney Morning Herald got it right when they wrote the piece about surfing being the last sport in the world sponsored, run, and controlled by the brands and essentially blocked off from outside interests. That does offer good and maybe not so good options for the tour and the surfers themselves.”

The CST has already drastically downsized its prize-money from US$1.5 million to $500,000 per event, with $125,000 for first and a minimum $25,000 per surfer. Surfer’s contracts stipulate all travel and accommodation expenses, as well as insurance and a per diem, will all be covered for all surfers. The CST will consist of eight events, each of two days’ duration, scheduled from September to December 2010, with a ninth final Championship event to decide their own world champ. One hour TV packages produced by ESPN will be presented a week after each event.

Neil Ridgway was heavily involved in the ASP meetings at Mundaka and fronted the media conference along with ASP Director Brodie Carr and Mick Fanning and Joel Parkinson to declare unity. He has heard the rumours of the CST and is confident in the ASP's place as the legitimate world title decider of the sport.

“I have no doubt that despite the fact that ASP surfers and events voted not to sanction (the Champions Tour), that they would be endeavoring to get their tour up and running, and good luck to ‘em,” says Neil. “As for the surfers that they’re recruiting, any ASP surfer who signs with them will be walking away from the ASP and will not be able to compete on the world tour.”

ASP is adamant that any surfers who join the Champions Tour will be inelligible to compete on the ASP tour.

“Why would we (the ASP) contract surfers to the true and legitimate world title and then let them compete on a tour that claims to be a world title?” says Neil.

What would his attitude be to any Rip Curl surfers joining the CST?
“We’d listen to ‘em, hear all the reasons why they’d want to do it, then we’d make a decision about their future in the company. Thankfully, that’s not a conversation we’ve had to have with any of our surfers. All our guys are committed to ASP world tour.”


By Tim Baker, Nick Carroll and Tim Fisher. (edit: Tues Dec 8)

Click here for more updates on this story. (Monday Dec 7)