{"id":46061,"date":"2014-04-29T20:07:18","date_gmt":"2014-04-30T03:07:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/?p=46061"},"modified":"2014-04-29T20:57:52","modified_gmt":"2014-04-30T03:57:52","slug":"the-asp-buys-the-xxl-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/?p=46061","title":{"rendered":"The ASP Buys The XXL Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Gbakerjawstubemar2Richardhallman\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In another interesting development in pro contest surfing the Association of Surfing Professionals<\/a><\/strong> has purchased the XXL Awards <\/strong>from Billabong<\/strong>, The ASP will own the franchise and Billabong will maintain “a key naming rights position.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a night to celebrate big wave surfing and we\u2019re very pleased on the partnership between Billabong XXL and the BWWT Awards and the acquisition of the XXL Property,\u201d Paul Speaker<\/strong>, ASP CEO, said. \u201cThis is a platform to honor the brave men and women who dedicate their lives to the art of big wave surfing and we are honored to continue this tradition in future years.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Since the XXL awards are basically a TV awards show (aside from all the death defying surfing everyone else is recording), this property will likely fit very well in the ASP’s current skill set. The show has come a long way since it’s beginnings with K2. Nice work, Bill Sharp! For the official word from the ASP, please follow the jump.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

ASP International is pleased to announce the acquisition of the Billabong XXL \u00ae Big Wave Awards. Following this 2014 event, the XXL Big Wave Awards will enter into a fresh ownership with ASP which will see the popular action sports property expand its reach and co-sponsorship opportunities well into the future while Billabong maintains a key naming rights position. Ushering in this acquisition, the ASP is pleased to partner with the group on this week\u2019s Billabong XXL Awards on Friday, May 2, 2014.<\/p>\n

Held annually at the Grove Theatre in Anaheim, the Billabong XXL Awards has traditionally honored a cross-section of big wave accolades, including: Paddle Award, Biggest Wave Award, Men\u2019s and Women\u2019s Performance Award, Wipeout Award, Biggest Tube Award and the top-line Ride of the Year. This year\u2019s XXL Awards will also incorporate the official crowning of last season\u2019s ASP BWWT Champion \u2013 South African Grant \u201cTwiggy\u201d Baker.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a night to celebrate big wave surfing and we\u2019re very pleased on the partnership between Billabong XXL and the BWWT Awards and the acquisition of the XXL Property,\u201d Paul Speaker, ASP CEO, said. \u201cThis is a platform to honor the brave men and women who dedicate their lives to the art of big wave surfing and we are honored to continue this tradition in future years.\u201d<\/p>\n

A truly global event, historic XXL entries have come from Hawaii, California, Oregon, Washington, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Brazil, Tahiti, Fiji, Australia, South Africa, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, France, Morocco, Canary Islands, Azores \u2014 and even international waters at the Cortes Bank.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Billabong XXL Big Wave Awards is a progressive event that has been instrumental in elevating the profile of big wave surfers to a global audience,\u201d explained Billabong Brand President, Shannan North. \u201cWe are extremely proud to remain a sponsorship partner in the XXL for many years to come and are confident in ASP\u2019s ability to take the event and profile of big wave surfing to the next level.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe XXL Property is now in its 15th year \u2013 over this time period the event has gone off every year and over $1.5 million of prize money has been awarded to the big wave surf community,\u201d Graham Stapelberg, ASP CMO, said. \u201cThe property has evolved over this period as the big wave surfers continued to push the boundaries from big wave tow-in surfing to going back to putting themselves at their very limits by paddling into the biggest waves ever ridden. Throughout this period of change Billabong was there supporting the big wave surfers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Surfline, a key partner in the XXL event since its inception in 2000, will remain in position as the official surf forecaster of the event and the sponsor of the Surfline Best Men\u2019s Overall Performance category.<\/p>\n

\u201cFifteen years ago, The XXL was all about capturing epic performances at places like Jaws, Mavericks, and Cortes, said Surfline\u2019s CEO, Jonno Wells. This year, surfers are chasing XXL waves beyond the North Pacific, and the event has evolved to capture and celebrate the best big wave surfing world-wide. Surfline is honored to have been involved from the beginning and we see a natural fit for The XXL under the ASP\u2019s wing. We\u2019re looking forward to working with the ASP team to continue inspiring XXL surfers, photographers, and fans around the world.”<\/p>\n

Finally, Bill Sharp, the founder and event director for the XXL Big Wave Awards event is stoked to see his creation growing yet again and taking its place on surfing\u2019s biggest stage. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I created the XXL concept in the 1990s, big wave surfing did not seem to get the respect it deserved,\u201d said Sharp. \u201cThat was when action sports on TV was the new big thing. But I feel like the XXL Big Wave Awards, working so closely with the surfers and the photographers for the last 15 years, have helped to show the world how incredible the sport truly is and now a huge swell hitting anywhere in the world will routinely make global headlines. We have achieved a lot so far, but I think there is more work to do and I look forward to pushing hard to expand the opportunities for the sport and for all the top surfers and photographers involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Billabong XXL ASP BWWT Awards will take place this Friday, May 2, 2014 at the Grove in Anaheim, Southern California. The event will be webcast LIVE via aspworldtour.com beginning at 7:45pm PST.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In another interesting development in pro contest surfing the Association of Surfing Professionals has purchased the XXL Awards from Billabong, The ASP will own the franchise and Billabong will maintain “a key naming rights position. \u201cThis is a night to celebrate big wave surfing and we\u2019re very pleased on the partnership between Billabong XXL and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46061"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=46061"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46061\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46064,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46061\/revisions\/46064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}