Key success factors in the journey of Surfing to the Olympic Games

Five additional sports (Baseball/Softball, Karate, Skateboarding, Sport Climbing and Surfing), approved by IOC the 3rd of August 2016 in the 129th IOC Session in Rio de Janeiro, were included to the Olympic Programme for Tokyo 2020. The same will happen for Paris 2024, new events will be included in the French edition of the Olympic Games. Recently, Paris 2024 Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (OCOG) also proposed Surfing as one of the sports to be included in the Olympic Programme (Paris 2024. Twitter. Feb 2019). This implies that surfing could be included in the Olympic Programme for two consecutive Summer Olympic Games depending on IOC Executive Board final decision. This article will focus on some key elements that might helped Surfing going into the Olympic Games.

Recently Paris 2024 OCOG also proposed Surfing as one of the sports to be included in the Olympic Programme.

Surfing industry is growing considerably. New forms of technology are helping the sport of Surfing to boost its audiences. Therefore, more and more sponsors are getting involved into this world. Historically, Surfing was a difficult sport to broadcast on TV due to its natural environment. Surfing is a sport practiced in waves, which are natural resources that happen in open sea and open landscapes. This means that water and long distances between the wave being surfed and the stationary cameras in the shore made it difficult to obtain a good quality broadcast. Nowadays, Surfing broadcasting is evolving into new ways in which Surfing is being filmed. The experience for online spectators has improved tremendously: Better long distance cameras, flying drones (filming live events from a closer perspective and different angles), jet-skis with waterproof cameras and waterproof microphones (this last one is used by reporters broadcasting live action from the water). Even World Surf League (WSL) has thought of placing underwater cameras to film the waves over the reef (McFarland, Matt. Washington Post. Sep 2015). All this technological evolution is becoming more engaging, the spectators feel closer to the athletes and the sport itself. Another way in which Surfing has reached more audience is with digital broadcasting. Young people consume sports from multiple devices (Computer, tablets, smartphones, etc). WSL has its own broadcasting platform and International Surf Federation (ISA) recently signed a media right contract with Facebook. (Badenhausen, Kurt. Forbes. Jan 2018)

...the experience for online spectators has improved tremendously.

Technological evolution is not the only factor. Stakeholders seem to be paddling in the same direction to catch the wave of Surfing inclusion in the Olympic Games. Good relationships between the international federation and the professional leagues are crucial to achieve the Olympic dream. Fernando Aguerre, current president of ISA, was elected president in 1994. Thereafter, he decided that one of the priorities in their strategy would be the inclusion of Surfing in the Olympic Games. WSL opinion is also in line with ISA in their strategy. "We are pleased that surfing has been recommended for inclusion in the 2020 Games by the Tokyo Olympic Organizers", said Kieren Perrow, Commissioner of the WSL. "Surfing's international growth over the past few years, its loyal and enthusiastic fans combined with its globally-recognized athletes makes it an ideal sport to showcase on the Olympic stage. We're excited to show billions of Olympic viewers the athleticism and artistry of these world-class surfers."

Good relationships between the international federation and the professional leagues are crucial to achieve the Olympic dream.

Professional athletes are also involved with the cause. They see the Olympic Games as an opportunity to represent their countries and to be part of the globalisation of surfing. Top Athletes like Kanoa Igarashi, Japanese-American surfer, celebrated the inclusion of surfing in the Olympics, "the Olympics is one of the biggest things to happen to surfing as a community," Igarashi pointed. "It's an amazing opportunity for the sport. Surfing is very much celebrated in Japan and I think the 2020 Games will be a great opportunity for the world's best surfers to represent their countries and showcase the culture". Ensuring professional athlete participation guarantees a successful event and spectator engagement.

Ensuring professional athlete participation guarantees a successful event and spectator engagement.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC), since the election of its current President Thomas Bach and under its leadership, has made huge steps towards a more modern structure of the Olympic Movement. For example, the Olympic Agenda 2020 was agreed in Monaco at the 127th IOC Session in December 2014. This document consists of 40 recommendations that are meant to be followed by the IOC and to be implemented through the Olympic Movement. "The 40 detailed recommendations are like individual pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, which when put together give us a clear picture of what the future of the Olympic Movement will look like. They give us a clear vision of where we are headed and how we can protect the uniqueness of the Games and strengthen Olympic values in society", Thomas Bach pointed in the session. Within these recommendations there is a clear change towards more flexibility and openness of Olympic Games and the Olympic Programme, regarding new sports. For example, recommendation 6 mentions, "the IOC and the International World Games Association (IWGA) to closely cooperate regarding the Sports Programme composition and their respective evaluations". Furthermore, the IOC recommends to forge relationships with professional leagues and in that sense, the main stakeholders are going in the same direction. ISA and WSL reached a landmark agreement in which Olympic Games qualification criteria for surfing included ranking of the WSL, ensuring the best professional athletes participation in the Olympic Games. The ongoing modernisation of the Olympic Movement, and the flexibility of the Olympic Programme, is giving the opportunity to new sports to change the game and become part of the Olympic Games as a claim to attract young spectators.

The ongoing modernisation of the Olympic Movement, and the flexibility of the Olympic Programme, is giving the opportunity to new sports to change the game and become part of the Olympic Games as a claim to attract young spectators.

We might be talking about a successful case study of a sport becoming Olympic, where all stakeholders seem to be in the same track. Surfing seems to have most of its stakeholders happy, while in some other sports, professional leagues and federations are clearly struggling to reach agreements when it comes to Olympic Games participation. But not everything is light and shinny during this journey, there is still a lot of resistance within the Surfing community that feel that being part of the Olympic Movement is one step further in the commodification of the sport. Communities that are reluctant to see their traditional, eco friendly and free spirit sport becoming commercial. Surfing needs to take into account these communities too and to see how to overcome these challenges in the best way. It would be really interesting to study the impact of the Olympic Games in Surfing, and how this evolving sport will look like in the future.

#Surfing #IOC #ISA #WSL #OlympicGames #Tokyo2020 #Paris2024 #OlympicProgramme

The Author:

Guillermo Marín

AISTS alumni 2019 | Sports Management | Business Development

I describe my self as a person with multiple facets: former Hockey Athlete, sports passionate, with a business strategy background and a creative and entrepreneurial attitude.

I wrote this article because Surfing is really close to my heart, and is one of my passions. I always enjoyed surfing the waves in the coast of the Basque Country, my home region. My first memory of the Olympic Games is when my parents turned on the TV to see Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and they started talking about the success of Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games.