ZoSea?

No-one knows. Which is kinda amazing, considering the ASP announced the ZoSea partnership over 12 months ago - and back then there was wild speculation about what might happen, all because of the lack of information provided up front.

Whatever happens, you gotta admit - the ZoSea team are bloody good at keeping their cards to their chest. We can only assume they have big things planned (otherwise, why bother?), of which it'd surely have been tempting to let a couple of teasers out of the bag.

As released on fb. Wonder if they will actually do press releases any more, or just bang it out new media style on insta/fb.

https://www.aspworldtour.com/2013/10/15/asp-international-announces-land…

Yeah I think they will Mick. It's all streamlined these days anyway.

They've had a really unusual change in social media strategy over the last 6 months though. More 'iconic' photos that are out of sync with the world tour (ie timeless images of Teahupoo during the Quik Pro France?).

Plus a lot of reactionary content designed to broaden their audience through SM sharing mechanisms (ie a photo of an empty barrel, and a dumb caption along the lines of "Would you pull in?").

Reminds me of how some surf mags (still!) have sections like 'hot chick of the month'.

Maybe the Dream tour re-invented. Did they send you a press release?

Watched the Americas Cup on the Youtube channel - worked seamlessly so it makes sense as a delivery vehicle.

Yeah we got the press release (it's up here: https://www.swellnet.com.au/news/3894-asp-announces-landmark-agreements-…)

YouTube offers great streaming, and it certainly makes sense because the previous arrangement whereby ASP streamed via Akamai was costing a bucketload of money.

But.. at the end of the day, the ASP is still a business and all businesses have to make money. I still am yet to see where the ASP's new revenue streams are located - and as they've upped the ante under ZoSea, the overheads for running this business are likely to have increased considerably as well.

Maybe they're treating 2014 as a 'proof of concept' year, in which they absorb the costs in the hope they can lure a really big fish for 2015 and beyond. Certainly makes sense in some way, however if they score dud surf (as they have at many events this year) then it'll be difficult.

Also worth pointing out that Tim Baker tweeted a few weeks back that he had heard Pepsi were sponsoring the ASP World Tour for next year - that's much more along the lines of what I was expecting.

I kind of get the feeling whatever gets announced next year might be fairly underwhelming for the general punter who has been following the tour for years now. As Ben mentioned this latest 'amazing' announcement seems to really just build on what's already been happening.

As for the 'what' will happen next year I'm not really sure what they'd change that would have effect for us the sportsfan? I mean all the sponsorship / surfer's pay etc etc might be groundbreaking for the pro surfers and hangers-on but I wonder will the format of the tour or venues be that different?

Personally I'd like to see them do away with Brazil to more quality South American waves elsewhere, but can't see that happening on account of its popularity and the massive market that Brazil owns.

If Margaret River is going to be a Men's and Women's CT event then does that mean they've have 3 CT event in Oz? Doesn't seem fair to the rest of the world really, but how do you flick either Bells (most traditional comp) or Goldy (surfing industry hub)??

Be nice to see another even in Hawaii. I reckon Africa and Indonesia needs one each.

Pay-per-view HD streams for the PRIME events is my prediction.

But.. That'd diminish the value to ESPN. Besides, I don't think there's a big enough audience to carry that model forward anyway.

One of the new ASP's biggest worry is Kelly Slater.,and whether he will do the Tour next year?

In Fact the hunt for a global presenting sponsor must ne insaney difficult,because if I was a sponsor,I would want a guarantee off the ASAP that Kelly will be on tour,so I could get more bang for my marketing buck!

Kelly 's participation in next year is critical for any potential longterm sponsorship deals,as his pulling power is Huge, and I reckon Zosea are being very careful in how they deal with next year...

One of surfings greatest strengths Kelly,is also its greatest weakness if he retires..bit like MJ and the NBA..

But surely that's why ZoSea took on board the challenge? They've got unprecedented access to Kelly, so I can't imagine they would have taken the risk if they knew he would leave within the first year?

Hi Ben your last comment and the new forum I started don't appear on the home page yet, is there a problem?

Yeah we have noticed a bug about this BB, waiting for the developers to fix it.

Hi Ben...so why hasn't the ASP announced yet ....next years tour,dates places and that Kelly has a guaranteed 2 year contract?

Spoke to Dave Prodan on Friday, the ASP will release the 2014 WCT tour dates late Nov/early Dec. The late announcement - WCT calendar is usually released by October - leasd me to think ZoSea has had trouble securing sponsorship.

yeah,the ASP/Zosea cannot find an umbrella sponsor.....and in part if Kelly had signed for next years Tour,one would think that there could be some global action.....or....??

so what events are guaranteed for next year??