Opinion: It Doesn’t Matter If the CEO of the WSL Surfs or Not
With the announcement that the World Surf League had appointed a new CEO, the internet has been aflame with criticism. Much of it revolves around the fact that Ryan Crosby does not appear to surf all that much, if at all. But I have a controversial opinion. Ryan Crosby doesn’t need to surf to head the largest surfing organization on Earth.
This opinion isn’t one that I like very much. I would much prefer to see a surfer at the helm, organizing events with longer windows and more freedom to change venues at the last minute, depending on the conditions. “The best surfers in the best waves,” is supposedly the goal, but the reality is that balancing that goal with running a successful business model is nigh impossible. And make no mistake — the World Surf League is a business. A full-fledged media outlet, in fact. Sure, they might strive to give the viewer what they want, but what the League wants — and needs — is more viewers. And in order to get more viewers, the person in charge needs to be media savvy, not surf savvy.
Take, for example, an event like the Backdoor Shootout or the Capitulo Perfeito. They are the perfect events, as far as I’m concerned. They only run when the waves are ridiculously good. They only invite the best of the best. But when it comes to the general non-surfing public, those events are just blips on the radar, if not entirely unknown. The World Surf League is aiming to turn itself into an organization like the NFL or the NBA, with legions of fans around the world backing athletes and buying merchandise. I’d wager that the vast majority of NFL or NBA fans aren’t the greatest football or basketball players, but that doesn’t stop them from spending their hard-earned dollars on seats and hats.
Surfing is different from other sports, of course. Some don’t even like to consider it a sport. But in a competitive setting, with judges and points and trophies, it most certainly is. Maybe it’s not when you’re just splashing around at your local spot, but when it comes to the World Surf League, surfing is a sport.
Erik Logan, the former WSL CEO, was roundly harassed online for not understanding what surfing is to most people. Although he did entrench himself in the surfing community, he was late to the game. Any surfer who’s spent a lifetime doing it can spot a newcomer a mile away, but newcomers shouldn’t necessarily be scorned. Despite his hasty, unexplained exit from the throne, it can’t be denied that Elo took professional surfing to heights unseen in the past.
It was clear Logan’s goal was to make pro surfing mainstream. Shows like The Ultimate Surfer (which was quickly cancelled) and Make or Break (which was renewed) put surfing on screens that hadn’t had surfing on them before. Merchandise was created, with jerseys and numbers and names for sale. Social media numbers skyrocketed. Storylines were inserted, although we never saw a real rivalry like Kelly and Andy’s. Production value of events was far better than it had been in the past, and most of that is due in part to Logan’s hands guiding the reins.
What pro surfing needs, if you agree that it’s a business and businesses exist to make money, is a business savvy leader. A person who knows how to put butts in seats; how to entice new audiences to watch something they don’t really understand. And with surfing, that’s a tough sell. Long lulls in between waves, being forced to run contests in lackluster conditions, and explaining something unexplainable to those on the outside is, and always will be, a very tall order.
Ryan Crosby has a deep resume when it comes to getting eyes on things. He was the Head of Publishing at Riot Gaming, a giant company behind games like League of Legends and VALORANT. He worked in advertising and marketing at Activision, was VP of content marketing at Hulu, and was Netflix’s director of global creative marketing. The man knows how to make content and how to get people to watch it. And that, despite all the bluster around keeping the soul of surfing intact, is the backbone of any professional organization.
In the end, core surfers may not like the direction pro surfing is going: controllable venues (Surf Ranch), mid-year cuts, Super Bowl-esque finals. And yes, perhaps more fans means more crowds, and more crowds means less waves. Unless the WSL falls to the wayside and fails completely, it might just be something we have to deal with. But if we believe the press release announcing his appointment, at least Crosby has a “genuine passion for surfing.”
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