{"id":50141,"date":"2016-05-24T09:08:06","date_gmt":"2016-05-24T16:08:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/?p=50141"},"modified":"2016-05-25T20:54:18","modified_gmt":"2016-05-26T03:54:18","slug":"slater-name-involved-with-sale-of-something","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/?p=50141","title":{"rendered":"Slater Name Involved With Sale Of Something"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kelly Slater<\/strong>, the 11-time world champion surfer who has lent his name to a growing number of commercial ventures including a surfboard company, a high-end casual clothing line, a recently independent accessories brand, and a wave pool development company, has commented on the “sale” of the magical wave making company (Kelly Slater Wave Company<\/strong>) to a surfing event production and content creation company that is co-owned by his agent Terry Hardy<\/strong> along with Dirk<\/strong> and Natasha Ziff<\/strong>, who are also reportedly partners in the wave company.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile surfing for me will always be about adventure, travel and the ocean, this wave brings a new opportunity to the sport without taking away the soulfulness that attracted many of us to surfing in first place,\u201d said Slater. \u201cSurfing great waves in a controlled environment adds a new dimension, as there is no hassling for waves, no stress over who got the best wave \u2013 they are all good. Everyone can relax, have fun and focus on improving their surfing.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Whether anything has actually changed hands is totally up for discussion, however, either way it makes a great press release for the surf event production company. And that’s often the only upside to deals of this sort.<\/p>\n

For the official word from the purchaser, please follow the jump.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

SANTA MONICA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–WSL Holdings, the parent company of the World Surf League (WSL), today announced an agreement in principle to acquire a majority stake in the Kelly Slater Wave Company (KSWC). The partnership between the WSL and KSWC will be dedicated to promoting the growth of high-performance surfing around the world. KSWC\u2019s revolutionary technology creates a number of possibilities for the future of the sport. The WSL and the KSWC envision the build-out of a global network of WSL-branded high-performance training centers utilizing this wave technology.<\/p>\n

For Kelly Slater, the 11-time world champion, the creation of this wave technology is the realization of a lifelong dream and a 10-year project, and today\u2019s announcement brings his two worlds together. \u201cWhile surfing for me will always be about adventure, travel and the ocean, this wave brings a new opportunity to the sport without taking away the soulfulness that attracted many of us to surfing in first place,\u201d said Slater. \u201cSurfing great waves in a controlled environment adds a new dimension, as there is no hassling for waves, no stress over who got the best wave \u2013 they are all good. Everyone can relax, have fun and focus on improving their surfing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s beyond my dreams that this wave will be a canvas for the global advancement of this great sport in partnership with the WSL,\u201d he added. \u201cIt will democratize surfing and provide incredible training opportunities for athletes as well as aspirational surfers in areas with no ocean waves.\u201d<\/p>\n

The WSL sanctions and organizes the highest-level professional surfing competitions for men, women, big wave, longboarders and juniors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe WSL proudly represents the best in men\u2019s and women\u2019s competitive surfing globally, and the amazing man-made wave technology developed by Kelly Slater and his team is a revolutionary innovation that has the power to dramatically enhance every aspect of our sport,\u201d said Paul Speaker, CEO of the WSL. \u201cWe share the same vision and passion for growing high-performance surfing, and are beyond excited to work together under one roof to bring the sport to levels and places never before possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

KSWC technology creates an opportunity for surfers to practice and develop ever-higher levels of performance in a repeating environment, with unprecedented opportunities for surrounding camera and sensor arrays providing immediate and perfectly accurate feedback on their progress. This is the first repeatable man-made wave that convincingly delivers the power and shape of ocean waves most sought after by accomplished surfers, including a hollow barrel allowing for long tube rides. While high-performance surfing is the core mission of both the WSL and the KSWC, the wave technology is flexible and can also create variable waves for beginner and intermediate surfers.<\/p>\n

WSL Commissioner Kieren Perrow recently visited the first KSWC site, and said the wave surpassed his expectations. \u201cUp until a few weeks ago, I had never ridden Kelly\u2019s Wave, and when I did, I was blown away by the experience,\u201d Perrow said. \u201cIt is incredible to see this wave in action \u2014 it has more energy and power than I expected and this technology holds a lot of potential for the future development of surfers just starting out and those already competing on our Championship Tour.”<\/p>\n

While competition in a man-made environment will offer previously impossible opportunities such as the creation of surrounding spectator environments, as well as certainty of scheduling, WSL CEO Speaker emphasized that nothing could ever replace the magic and mystery of world-class competition in the ocean. \u201cWe do believe that all stakeholders \u2013 athletes, fans, broadcast and corporate partners \u2013 will be super energized by the advent of Championship Tour-level competition with man-made waves,\u201d he said, \u201cbut the ocean will always be our home, and the great waves on our tour will always remain the backbone of our competitive schedule.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaker added: \u201cNo firm plans have been made for the inclusion of a man-made wave-based competition. We will be evaluating all the possibilities in the coming months with the Commissioners\u2019 Office and the WSL athletes.\u201d<\/p>\n

WSL Holdings is the parent company of the World Surf League (WSL). The transaction is subject to the negotiation of mutually agreeable definitive documentation, among other customary conditions. Both WSL and KSWC will continue to operate independently as separate entities following the closing of a transaction. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.<\/p>\n

For more information, check out WorldSurfLeague.com and KSWaveCo.com.<\/p>\n

About the Kelly Slater Wave Company<\/p>\n

Kelly Slater Wave Company (KSWC) is an innovative wave technology company. KSWC is the first company to develop a formula that combines cutting edge science, engineering and design to create the longest, open-barrel, high-performance wave in existence. The wave system can mimic the power, speed and experience found in the best ocean waves. As envisioned by 11-time world champion Kelly Slater, KSWC was created to evolve the sport of surfing by making it more accessible. The company is creating world-class, high-performance training centers where top athletes can perfect their talent. In addition, the company is looking at development applications for surfers of any level to enjoy the best man-made waves.<\/p>\n

About the World Surf League<\/p>\n

The World Surf League (WSL), formerly the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP), is dedicated to celebrating the world\u2019s best surfing on the world\u2019s best waves through a variety of best-in-class audience platforms. The League, headquartered in Santa Monica, is a truly global sport with regional offices in Australia, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Hawaii, Japan and Europe.<\/p>\n

The WSL has been championing the world’s best surfing since 1976, running global events across the Samsung Galaxy Men’s and Women’s Championship Tours, the Big Wave Tour, Qualifying Series, Junior and Longboard Championships, as well as the WSL Big Wave Awards. The League possesses a deep appreciation for the sport’s rich heritage while promoting progression, innovation and performance at the highest levels.<\/p>\n

Showcasing the world’s best surfing on its digital platform at WorldSurfLeague.com as well as the free WSL app, the WSL has a passionate global fan base with millions tuning in to see world-class athletes like Mick Fanning, John John Florence, Stephanie Gilmore, Greg Long, Gabriel Medina, Carissa Moore, Makua Rothman, Kelly Slater, Adriano de Souza and more battle on the most unpredictable and dynamic field of play of any sport in the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kelly Slater, the 11-time world champion surfer who has lent his name to a growing number of commercial ventures including a surfboard company, a high-end casual clothing line, a recently independent accessories brand, and a wave pool development company, has commented on the “sale” of the magical wave making company (Kelly Slater Wave Company) to a surfing event production and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","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\/50141"}],"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=50141"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50173,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50141\/revisions\/50173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=50141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=50141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=50141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}