Results from web metrics company Alexa.com

International online traffic surrounding the ASP Word Tour event #4, the Hang Loose Pro, Santa Catarina, Brazil, has peaked at levels above the first 3 events on the 2009 schedule. Results published by web metrics site Alexa ranking traffic over a 6 month period from January to July 2009 to the aspworldtour.com website, clearly show the spikes in traffic levels surrounding each of the 4 ASP World Tour Events this year, with the final day of competition pushing traffic levels to the ASP website to a new high for the 2009 year.

New Contest Schedule = Winner

The move by the ASP to bring the event to the opposite end of the competition schedule has proved to be a winner, with Kelly Slater’s fight back to the winner podium from an uncharacteristically bad start to the year, no doubt driving renewed interest to the contest that has in past years, drifted off the priority scale.

Slater back in the eye of the spotlight, though he never actually left

What’s In A URL?

Whilst traffic to the ASP during the Brazil contest has peaked above the more digitally savy contest sponsors such Quiksilver, Rip Curl & Billabong, it is not a conclusive result as the more memorable URL’s used by those sponsors make it easy for the to receive traffic direct. This does raise questions about the URL in which we view the broadcasts. The unmemorable, long and unattractive URL http://www.clicrbs.com.br/especial/wct/html/painel2.html doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, which in turn, dictated that users go via the ASP website for the link. Couldn’t they have just registered http://www.hangloosepro.com/ ? No one else has.

Does Size Really Matter?

Whilst reach was high, engagement is questionable. Criticism over the quality of the webcast made viewing for the hard core only. Heat after heat of unplanned and ‘whoever just happened to be standing around’ commentary, cameramen more concerned with filming girls on the beach than a surfer paddling, lack of instant wave replays, and generally below par interactive heat by heat stimulus we’ve come to expect from the webcasts. Could you last 6 hours of that? Some did, some just couldn’t, given some of the comments being posted to Twitter.

Oh, and don’t even get me started about the 3 ‘Pro Ho’s’ doing the back stage content. Thrusting a mic and big boobs into the faces of well known (married) surfers live on air, come on, haven’t we moved passed that? Even ladies man TB looked uncomfortable.

This to me further highlighted the need for a unified webcast platform, a common URL, surfings’ own online TV channel.

Don't Throw Your TV Out Yet

Don’t Be Bagging Out Brazil.

It would be easy to make the contest organisers in Brazil the scapegoat of the poor standards of the broadcast, but given that each sponsor controls the broadcast quality and direction, it’s time for the ASP to step in and take back the media ownership of professional surfing. The ASP, and sponsors need to come together on a common platform in which we watch surfing for the good of the sport, and not just to provide a better webcast then the competitor.

Kelly Slater in a recent interview with ESPN

SLATER SAYS: “START FROM SCRATCH”

“The new governing body should own and run the events, own the media, do the marketing, bring in sponsors. Right now, the ASP doesn’t own any of those things, because it didn’t do the groundwork in the beginning. Sponsors own, run and market the events. That needs to change.”

But until (if) that happens, it’s interactive game on! Bring J-Bay.

This post is tagged ASP, Hang Loose Pro, Interactive, Webcast