Blasphemous Rumors? Maybe Not

Saturday, July 11th, 2009

Kelly Slater is starting a New Tour!!! Is it true?Here’s what I’ve heard so far on this New Tour rumor. Kelly’s long time manager is spear heading the idea, he and Kelly already have silent investors willing to fund the new tour. Investors that supposedly have no ties to any one major surf company. If a company choses to sponsor an event it will cost them around 1.5 million. ESPN and insurfnews.com are the official media outlets for the new tour. Kelly and company have the green light to run events starting next year and have guaranteed funds in order to run for a minimum of 3 years. As a result Kelly is obligated or volunteered to surf the new tour for the first 3 years. Along with Kelly will be 15 other top pros, how they will be selected is yet to be determined. ASP is shitting in it’s pants.

We’ll keep you guys updated. In the mean time this subject is open for discussion. Lets start rumors.

64 Comments

Hdip 07.11.09

Would this have to do with that new “wavepool” idea he was supposed to be coming out with this year? I don’t remember where I read that interview.

He wanted to have a device that made a wave you could surf in a circle around a center tower. Fans could watch from a crows nest in the middle or on the edge and get sprayed.
shawn 07.11.09

to be honest, I dont believe it. But please god(or whoever) make it be true.
surferb 07.11.09

Kelly owning and entering the event would be a conflict of interest. If Kelly wins an event in his own contest it will seem bias. He should focus on just running the event, than entering.
harns 07.11.09

I tend to think this could only be a rumour. I can’t see why the guys would want to splinter. It’s seems to be little gain and a lot to lose. The guys and girls are well looked after and sponsored as it is.

Dividing surfers, fans and sponsors into splinter groups would only disolve revenues, fan bases and I don’t think this would be in the best interest of the sport. I’d hate to think we could end like F1, or worse still boxing (with so many different companies proclaiming to own the sport).

So why splinter the ASP? They have been supportive of surfers for generations now! It’s already being run by surfers… Sponsorship is thru the roof. Webcasts are attacting ever increasing crowds, WQT is continuing to develop awesome talents!

To me, the sport is working well now. it’s not broken. It doesn’t need fixing!
Yes Man 07.12.09

This is probably great financial news for the top 16. Anyone can see the ASP is not marketing surfing well at all. Of course, non pro-surfers don’t care about marketing surfing, we just like to see you guys kill it and not have to work jobs like us.
JAM 07.12.09

The ASP should definitely be shitting their pants. If this rumor is true, it’s great to see someone/people taking such measures into creating a more “TRUE” dream tour. Especially someone as influential for the sport of surfing as Kelly Slater. It says a lot for what the ASP is “NOT” doing for surfing. Can’t wait for the updates on this.
SO TEX SURFER 07.12.09

HO-LY-SHIT…
dude 07.12.09

…wtf
dy 07.12.09

I heard they have a new design on a wave pool that can be built anywhere and at low cost. Thus controlling the conditions, consistency, size….
Sounds like he’s tired of this so called “dream tour” where everyone is dreaming that the waves were better, more consistent and the list goes on.
About time 07.12.09

Its about time that pro surfers got paid on a level with other pro athletes. The dream tour is hardly a dream. We should have the best surfers, in the best waves, not beholden to a waiting period or corporate pressure.
I want to hear more about it.
plhsurfer 07.12.09

Hell yea.. come on, can’t wait to see this in action. Please keep us updated as you get the info.
CostaDave 07.12.09

Hmmmmmm…..A “true” dream tour. I’m guessing all the best spots with all the best guys. Cool….Maybe time for a little shake up. Keep us posted.
reynolds 07.12.09

what?? another tour as the WCT ASP tour? but how? its like a QS that everyone in the world can compete? or just a few selected ones? kelly wil participate in both tours? man i had no idea of this new project, but i think its gonna be awsome!
Homie G 07.12.09

Holy Homies
Bootyjuice 07.12.09

a bit of a conflict of interest if Kelly is surfing the tour that he owns/runs/started eh?
A. Escobar 07.12.09

Rumor has it that the first event will be held at p-town and Rainos gets an invite.
ltny 07.12.09

Siiiiiccck! I bet events are called on the fly.. when the waves are pumping the crew helicopter drops into the pit! going to be epic!
the unknown photog 07.12.09

Cool, you’ll need the unknown photog full time then. Let me know….The Unkown Photog….
fuck yeah! 07.12.09

Fuck yeah!
Tpizzle 07.12.09

I heard Slates was trying to incorporate a beer chugging contest within this new organization and Freddy P. is already being predicted to win in the 2010 inaugural year!
Dan 07.12.09

You are our leader Freddie…….The word has been spread
jl 07.12.09

wow. if kelly goes on that tour, would quiksilver drop his sponsorship since it will be going against what qkslvr and those other surf brands are doing, sponsoring the current wct events? he just renewed his sponsorship right? and however they choose those 15 pros, if they choose current wct tour pros, would they need to chose between the new tour or wct? can they do both? if they are wct pros, what implications will that be on their sponsorship? hey fred, if you are one of those 15 pros chosen, how will your sponsor react? would you join the new tour if given the opportunity? maybe andy will get on this new tour? or maybe even bruce? where would hawaii (i.e. triple crown events)stand in this? so many questions and i don’t even know why i’m asking them since… i’m not really partaking in it. i guess it’s good for reading. anyways, good luck at j-bay!
John Brennan 07.12.09

Didn’t he just resign with Quik and took stock instead of cash so therefore he has ties with the biggest anyway he’ll only start a new tour if he gets another 17th the guy is a great surfer but when he loses he offers up motivation ,personal issues sometimes you just get scored like anyone else and it brings you back to the pack
dy 07.12.09

just read some stuff on ESPN about him talking about his new wave pool he and Bob Mc Knight are building…
Jeff 07.12.09

About freaking time… Surfing and surfers have always gone against the grain.
The big multinational companies that made there money from us, simple surfers, are now sitting to pretty on the gravey train, drinking champagne and smokin cigars.
Someone needs to shake it up and if anyones the man KS is the captain
I say F**k the tour and bring on something new and fresh.
ASP comps and formating is like watching the grass grow or america cup sailing.. yyaaawwwnnn !!
Freddy P 07.12.09

How the sponsors will react to their surfers switching tours is a big concern. Will the sponsors back this new tour or will they back the ASP? Will they force their surfers to stay with the ASP? Where will events be held and who will make up the top 16? Just a few great questions that need to be answered.

Obviously the new tour will need top contenders suck as Mick and Parko, new blood like Dane and Jordy, Andy and Bruce to come out of retirement. But, will this all fall into place? This could very well be a huge turning point in surfing. If necessary will the 16 surfers drop their surf sponsors and the ASP in order to do this 3 year tour. With no guarantee of a 4 or 5 year. That’s a big gamble. The real question is do the surfers believe in Kelly’s vision of a new tour?

New tour or not I personally don’t see the WT going anywhere. With only 16 surfers invited to this new tour that leaves 39 surfers left with no choice but to continue what they are doing with the ASP. Will the ASP world Tour events still be relevant? I’d say YES. The World Title could get diluted, but who cares. Individual events will have more significance.

What ever the case, the surf world has some decision making to do. Along with 39 others, I believe that my decision will be made for me, mark my words FreddyP will not be invited to this new tour. It’s the unfortunate truth.
Dylan 07.12.09

The big 3 brands have maintained control of the ASP & the sport for their own benefit. They held back it’s development by stopping other brands entering, and by keeping the prize-money low relative to other sports. The fundamental problem is the ASP has no vision for their own sport. They have ignored the feedback of their athletes, and now as a result their tour will look amateur without the top 16 guys.
RydrHi 07.12.09

@Freddy P. But if you did get invited….. would you join it?
Bee 07.12.09

Smaller sponsors like Mada, Insight, Reef, Oakley & co that don’t sponsor a WT event shouldn’t really have a problem with the new tour because if their riders are involved, it would mean even greater exposure for their brands. So any sensible brand wouldn’t drop a rider coz they have want to surf the new & improved tour!

The new tour, all things being well would make the ASP Tour obsolete or it would become like the second division of competitive surfing, the qs- third division like in football and eventually the major surfbrands would want a slice of the cake and cough up the $1.5m to be part of the premiership.

Kelly’s tour will have a huge marketing campaign to get even more people interested in competitive surfing, along with televised live coverage too, so the question Freddy should be who wouldn’t want their rider surfing this tour when they know that with all the hype & intrigue surrounding this new tour they will benefit froml even greater coverage than what they would be getting on the regular same old not going anywhere exciting ASP WT?
ltny 07.12.09

yeah fred.. I guess after you smoke KS in a few events this year he will be over you! haha I think its a cool thing.. start raising the stakes.. how much does a pro golfer win for taking a major?
Bee 07.12.09

one of competitive surfing’s problem lies with the fanbase, loads of people surf but only a fraction of those are interested in comps, met so many surfers who have devoted their life to surfing but couldn’t care less or know nothing about the pro surfing. WHY?

look at other sports e’g tennis, i dont know any tennis player who isnt interested in the competitive side of the game, some fans dont even play the tennis but tennis fans are prepared to camp 3 days inadvance to get wimbledon tickets to see the fav. player live knowing they cud just as well watch it the comfort of their homes on tv with all the different angles the eyeball report cant deliver.
surfing doesnt have that kinda fanbase. if pipe was only watchable live if u bought one of select number of tickets (u cud still watch it on webcast by the way) would anyone wait 3days in queue for a ticket? just wondering.

or football, look at all the fatbastards that wud probably have a heart attack if they ran after a ball for more 3mins, the female football fanatics, they’re not just into it for the hotties that play, they really really enjoy watching and supporting their fav. club/player/country! & the thot of running after a ball themselves for 90mins has never even factored on their agenda even for a the fun of it but they’re still fanatatical about it like the anyother dude. i doubt surfing has such fans, i dunno
i think kelly is hoping to create this kinda fanbase with his tour.
Molo 07.12.09

The ASP out of OZ has sucked ass for years. Who is the business/marketing director? 30K to the winner? Not even on ESPN? The internet is only watched by surfers and should only be considered “side coverage” at this point.
Westcoast 07.12.09

As much as I want to see the boys get paid more, I also worry about the “X-Game-ification” of surfing. Yeah I know it’s already a part of Xgames but not a major part.

Look at the Dew Tour/Xgames and what it’s done to skateboarding. It’s turned a unique sport/skill into something that looks like a f’in circus and on the same level as rollerblading and motocross.

As many complaints as people may have about the ASP, especially influences that Quik/Bill/Rip have, it is still pretty much all surfer-influenced.
town brandon 07.12.09

ambivalent in general on this one…
sticking it to the big man but the new guy stepping in is the big man…?
different shit, same smell?

but if they going hold contests at g-land, mentawais, ozzy slabs, carolines, montebellos,
id be fkn interested…
i wanna see you guys eat shit and push your limits… seems like that hasn’t happened in a while… padang padang since i can remember

i like the idea of a sick wave pool (4ft hayn waves) to eliminate the weather/swell/wind/etc variables
… or just hire the rip curl search crew to make the waiting periods… & score epic swells on the day… ie. arica, mexico, bali stops.

16 surfers not enough… top 20?

will be interesting to see how the tour surfers will be chosen..
Cabral 07.12.09

16 top surfers quit asp and start their own millionary tour. sounds good for them. what about the other thousand competitors around the globe. and in a few years how will those 16 be replaced. asp is moving slow but you guys should keep things as one. a new top tour with fewer guys and more waves and money plus a better qualifyer that embraces everyone sounds good. a few lucky ones breaking apart for more money on an elitist tour with no solution for the rest sounds bad. maybe they’re only putting some pressure in asp to see if they finally make a move. let see
Kahuna Bob 07.13.09

Bad idea, one of the greatest things about sport and i hope we are still considering Surfing a sport, is the dark horse, the wildcard, the longshot and the hot young upstart making a name for himself. the elite top 16 surfers already get enough push and help from both the Media and ” JUDGES ” in some cases and do not need their own eletist tour. I can understand Kelly’s desire to not face anymore wildcards for awhile, as of late he has fallen victim. What ? no more Dusty ” bringthe ” Payne or Owen ” beaturight ”
Nope, don’t like it,, and how about these guys, Mick Campbell, would he be in the ESPN top 16,?, i doubt it but guess what he has gone 3rd, 9th in his last 2 events that he would probably not even qualify for in the NEW format. Aritz Aranburu got a 3rd at Chopes but would he be there, no. The list goes on and on and it would exclude too many threats as to make the new tour the whitebread bland tour. Is that what we want ? After Bruno Santos won the Chopes event in 08 i asked my good friend Fred Patacchia, Father of the great Freddy P. what the chances of that were and he told me… one in a Brazillion …
So let me just say in conclusion, there has been a lot of talk about revamping the tour to make it more sexy or mainstream but do we want to sell our soul in the process ?
Eddie Hapa 07.13.09

Sounds dope!!! Seems this tour has already pushed out those surfers who aren’t in the top 16 so they should be crapping in their pants. Time to jump ship….
Josh Smith 07.13.09

Wow. Very interesting. Kelly a 9 x ASP World Champ wants to throw his toys out of the cot. Why would he when the ASP tour built him and he built the tour? Not true. The Surfers are living the dream of all us. If Kelly does this it is very very selfish. He should leave gracefully if he wants to leave and help the ASP. It is the dream of us kids to be on this tour.
graz 07.13.09

Kellys New World Invitation Only Tour hmm he would want to get better results then eh.
Nothin but a quick payday Might send a few sponsors broke especially those that are in financial trouble Quicky for one
Dave Mailman 07.13.09

If K9 and his managers cared about the sport, they would propose new formats and events within the existing ASP structure. If they have the cash to do 8 events, why not just do 4 “Masters” events (like golf and tennis) on top of the World Tour that would have more influence towards the world ranking and that would only be open to the Top 16. Then adjust the judging criteria/contest format so guys get more time in the water and results reflect who is ripping over the length of a whole heat, not just on their best 2 waves.
Otherwise, Kelly is just putting on a series of specialty events for the most media friendly surfers in the world, but if his tour causes the ASP to fall apart, he is leaving every single other “contest pro” on the planet in the shit! He and 15 other guys would make out like bandits, while he’d leave the vast majority of the Top 45 and the 2000 or so other guys battling it out on the WQS without a job! Yeah, go Kelly! You rule!
Maybe this is all paranoid ranting on my part, but if he’s got a real plan for the future of professional contest surfing then he and his managers would do well to lay it out for all to see.
Jeff 07.13.09

I agree with dave above. try to merge this new idea with the wct. we all believe that surfing needs more prize money and better coverage (ie. webcasts – anyone see the shit-cast in brazil??)

By starting a new tour with just 16 “media darlings” seems pretty shitty to me. I hope they can use the new funds and partnerships to really improve what we have now but keep surfing under one governing body. asp has been pretty lame in doing all that could have been done to increase the sports exposure but breaking away completely reminds me of indy and F1 which are in total chaos right now.
Jack 07.13.09

The selling of souls in this sport was done long ago..
what has it achieved, there’s a million dorks living miles from anywhere wearing Billy/Rip/Quik T’s and boardies,
where has it got the tour, its the same shit that was going since its inception..
for sure give the captains of the industry a bit of a fright, shake it up a little..
but the fan base is gonna remain the same.. us the commen folk..
f**ked if i’d que up for wimbeldon , the footy maybe.. free tickets to pipe ..mmm yeh sure..
i mean do you want footy heads and golf nerds to be interested in surfing..
I wanna see the best surfers in the best waves with unbiased judging..
FREAKSURF MAGAZINE 07.13.09

Everything is possible with kelly slater but 3 more year with would fun but dangerous for him. Moreover 15 pro is more some kind of surf trip between pro.
Jose Figueroa 07.13.09

Pick surfes who are not on wct,surfers who rip an all types of waves,surfers who are pushing the level.those guys need to get paid!!!!Not Kelly and his crew!!
Joe 07.13.09

Brody Carr is a kook and they blew it by not getting rid of him a long time ago,

BIG MISTAKE OF ASP and even if this isn’t true they will pay the piper soon,

Go Kelly and make this happen!!
Is Kelly Slater starting a new surf tour? - OC Beach Blog 07.14.09

[...] to the website insurfnews.com, Slater’s longtime manager Terry Hardy is in the advanced stages of discussions with ESPN to [...]
gabe 07.14.09

about time
Eddie Hapa 07.14.09

Kelly’s tour just broke on Surfline….haha Nice to see insurfnews.com has got the inside track!!! At least we really get to find out whats going on here first,

Dope,
Eddie
FATMAT 07.14.09

The tour should be broken down into WCT, WQS and WGSC- World Gay Surfing Championship. This would spread all the guys out and weed out the pretenders-real power surfers would stay on the CT, guys who want to have fins on their tails and noses and ride a 4/10 triple bump speed hog and pop shuvits and then a new breed of surfer who wants to get pitted both in and out of the water, the WGSC. that would be a show- guys would be late for their heats because they were getting stuffed in the parking lot and dudes would be paddle battling each other naked, some heats nobody would even ride a wave since they would be doing an underwater mount. I bet you sponsorship would be through the roof- leather wetsuits makers, Ramses Sheep skin condoms, mini cooper all sorts of gay shit.
Kelly Over 07.14.09

So Kelly is going to try turn his back on the tour that built him up to have the profile he has today. Cant understand Kelly even though he is so self indugent would do this when the tour is probably experiencing its best time ever, most money despite the GFC, and more importantly best waves aka the dream tour. The wave pool idea as well, haha dream, on the novelty will wear off within a week.
80884 07.14.09

Dave Mailman has the best idea. 4 “MAJOR” championships … just like Golf, that would feature a limited amount of surfers, say 32. Imbedded in the Major system should be 4 qualifiers that carry the current prize money package as a WCT – $30K for the winner. Like Golf, nobody says that the qualifier has to be at the same “course” as the major is.

For example, Pipe, G-Land, J-Bay and Honolua Bay or even a wave pool event could be majors. The qualifiers could be Teahupoo, Sunset, perhaps the US Open, even the Monster at Pipe. Align the qualifier with the respective Major and that way you decide your wildcards. The top 16 guys from the previous year will face the top 16 qualifiers. Many surfers will ask, “well how can you be in the hunt for a world title if you are not allowed to surf 4 contests?” The answer… You won’t be. If you were truly among the elite surfers in the world, you would be competing for the championship of every tourney they enter, and not just majors, just like Tiger, Phil, Vijay do year in and year out.

There will also be just as much emphasis on the qualifiers for the non-winners simply because the prize money will be equivelant to a WCT and the result will still carry the same amount of points towards a world title. You may also encounter less people entering the qualifiers because the top 16 will have already qualified for the major, thus it will not be mandatory for them to enter the contest and can open up room for more specialists and wildcards to come in.

“Kelly’s Tour” can be incorporated into the current ASP for literally a fraction of the amount it would cost to run an entire 1.5 million per event tour. They will only need the 1.5 mil for 4 contests and the standard $300K for the 4 qualifiers – yet all the contest will give the fans what they want – quality waves.
marvin 07.14.09

This is gonna happen! Outside sponsorship has been trying to get into professional surfing, for some time now, but the Rip Curls, Billabongs, and Quiks, who monopolize the tour, dont want that to happen, seeing that it would make their cost to sponsor, or co-sposor an event, go up. Let’s start seeing guys boards looking more like NASCAR racecars, adorned with “outside” sponsors, and the athletes get compensated well during their short careers. So now here is their chance to step into pro surfing, without dealing with the ASP, and the controlling companies that make up the tour now.

So, will the Surfer, Surfing, Transworld mags finally cover events, the way they deserve to be covered? Will a surfer, during a contest finally get a cover? J-bay is going on right now, and despite the lighting, the most cutting edge surfing on the planet is going down! Chances are, the editors will forget that, heading toward their deadline. Oops, I strayed off the subject…thats a whole other argument!
Dank 07.14.09

The ASP is trying to cater to the sponsers too much. Why do they allow the sponsors to run their own webcasts? One contest (Brazil) the webcast is painful to watch with no heats on demand while the next contest (J-Bay) is produced in a professional manner. How can you expect to get major sponsors to throw down real money and give the sport mainstream exposure when the sport is presented with minor league production.
The top 45 is too many guys to run a contest in one swell and even most avid surfers (surf contest fans) could care less about bottom 10-15 guys unless they are from the same home town. The Round 1 elimination is lame cause sometimes the ocean doesn’t produce enough waves in 1/2 hr to show which surfer is “surfing” better not just getting the best waves. Kelly has the right idea but the top 16 is not diverse enough for the variety of waves avail. If I was going to organize the tour I would want to watch the most important factor would be getting the best waves possible with the most surfing action possible. Instead of the top 45 plus 3 sponsor wildcards I would narrow it down to 32 surfers in the event with man-on-man and the Slater (overlapping heats) format so they could run the contest in 1 or 2 days. Let the sponsors have their 3 invited WC’s but have a trials for the top QS and local surfers to battle for 5 spots in the event so the top 24 face local specialists as well. I could keep going but I’ll shut up now.
Loea 07.14.09

i was thinking the same shit like last year! wouldn’t it be sick to have like a super tour! where all the big dogs would be in it… prob a lot fewer contests cause everyone has families and dont wanna leave home all that much.. but to have guys be interested in it.. like Shane Dorian! i’d love to see him back in action(not that he isn’t) but if u made a tour with pipe, teahupo’o, G-land, Skeleton Bay!, somewhere in the Mentawai, and maybe a big wave spot too! like Jaws! haha, i think some of the older guys who still rip the shit out of waves would be drawn to that…. regardless of who really won or not.. i mean, if the money’s there, good incentive, but i think the real incentive would be to surf the ultimate waves, against the ultimate competitors! Maybe leave the crappy beachbreaks to the ASP. and just flawless ripping to the super tour!
Cyrus 07.14.09

Who gives a fuck about the rest of the surfers. Most people only want to watch the heavy hitters, not some nobodies in the first round. Let Slater pick his other 15, then have the rest of the surfers compete for entry the following season. I could care less about the lesser-known surfer; I’m a lesser-known surfer. Let’s watch the top surfers battle it out and fuck the ASP!
GCV 07.15.09

one thing they should do is improve the QUALIFYING system. imagine all WQS 6 stars run by WCT standards; only 48 surfers, 45 seeds plus 3 wildcards, a window, only prime places. at first the seeds would follow the previous year: the 18 former WCT surfers plus the 27 top WQS who almost made it – ranked 16 to 33 . eventually minor events (1 to 5 stars) should also affect those seedings. all major points leading to the big league taken on a tour alike. only maybe less than the 17 six-stars they have this year, a dozen would be nice.
the wqs problem is a dozen rounds with dozen heats in a shorter period than a wct. and that’s where most pro surfers are – all in fact at some point
Ana 07.15.09

Here goes my advice for the surfers and the surfing competitors: don´t leave the money be the thing. I´ve been a professional volleyball player, (now a surfer) and I say that it´s really hard to keep the free spirit if you goal is the money. Surfing still remains pure free spirit and foul soul, even in competition (as long as you´re not a brasilian…). Be carefull: turnig a place of only a few (16 surfers) you tend to kill the rest.
Kevin 07.15.09

Maybe this new tour will stop by Canada! Yew!
Freddy P 07.16.09

I think we all agree that competitive surfing needs to take note of what major sports like golf and tennis are doing. I enjoy reading all your comments and if I have the chance to attend a meeting on this new tour, I will bring up as many of your questions and concerns I can.

There’s a meeting during the US Open, insurfnews is going to weasel our way into it.
Freddy P 07.16.09

By the way guys, I found out that Kelly doesn’t have as much to do with this tour as I originally thought. Apparently he’s only offering ideas and his professional opinion on how this new tour can be successful. He doesn’t like the fact that people are calling it “The Kelly Tour”.
trav log 07.16.09

tell kelly to bring Shiva Wayne GlassCock back for the tour, or SWGC as he is more commenly known
Rod 07.20.09

I really don’t like the sound of a new tour separate from the current WCT. In the last few years the surfing and a spectators ability to watch the sport has come along way. Don’t ruin it by splitting it into ridiculous little factions where people can’t work out who the best surfers in the world are. People will just lose interest and surfing as a spectator sport will be lost. just continue to work on the current successful system and improve what is already getting better and better every year. Go Parko!!!
jc the entertainer 07.20.09

long time coming. fyi, to those that think surfers sponsors have say etc.. most top pro’s are in the dumps with sponsors it’s only a matter of time when the outside money buys up these guys with endorsements… Cialis, anyone?

It’s happening and for the better of the sport, finally surfing in the US will get its due attention. Come on ESPN.. you’ve got my support.
Morgz 07.22.09

Who gives a fuck.

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