Leonardo Fioravanti enjoying the fruits of Hossegor. Photo: Damien Poullenot//WSL
When the WSL released its 2024 schedule last week, it included notable additions and subtractions that received plenty of fanfare: J-Bay axed, Fiji is back, more El Salvador, and another Final 5 at Trestles. What received less attention is that France, which was removed from the schedule in 2021, continues to get the cold shoulder.
When the WSL emerged from COVID with a revamped format, the France Championship Tour stop, which had been on tour for years, was suddenly the odd man out. The new schedule, which called for the Finals to take place in September, didn’t align with Hossegor’s best season: autumn. And, apparently, the WSL insisted on procuring government funding that the local officials were less than keen to cough up. So, 2024 will now be the fourth consecutive year that France has been relegated from the tour.
We of course reached out to the League and it doesn’t sound as if France is necessarily off the table in 2025: “The WSL is committed to the French region, community, competitors, and fans,” they told us. “France remains important to competitive surfing’s history and future. We are actively engaged in conversations about bringing the world’s best surfers back to France in the future.”
So if there’s a movement to bring the tour back, what politics are in play? I had a chat with Hossegor local Darren Broadbridge. Originally from Australia, Broadbridge met his wife in France and made the move 25 years ago. He’s held various positions in the surf industry from Quiksilver to Euroglass. He currently serves on the board for EuroSIMA and manages two surf schools and a cafe in the area. He’s got a good feel for the situation playing out in France. Here’s his opinion.
Why has France been excluded from the CT again?
I think what happened is Quiksilver ran it themselves the whole time, but when the WSL took over (after the ASP transition) they took over the rights. Quiksilver was now the partner. By then they were also trying to get funding from the government. But the local council and the mayor here weren’t coming to the party. There was a famous quote here where the mayor said, “We don’t need surfing, we have golf.” I think that pissed the WSL off. It caused a lot of political friction. At the time the WSL Euro HQ was here in Hossegor. But at the same time Portugal was booming. The guy that was running it over there was really good at politics and the Portuguese government had given heaps of support for their event (at Supertubos).
The French already have all these massive sporting events (French Open, Tour de France), so the local council here didn’t push hard enough for it. First the WSL moved its headquarters near Lisbon. Then COVID scrapped the tour and when it was reborn they took France off. It didn’t fit into their schedule. They would have had to have it in August, which is not our prime season. The WSL offered the Challenger Series instead of the CT. But Quik wanted the CT back. They paid for the whole thing for 20 years then got offered the B-grade event when they wanted the A-grade one. The WSL did offer the CT to them in March, but in March it’s 12-degree (Celcius) water and the surf is really marginal.
Everyone wants to revive the CT on one hand, everyone in the business. But it’s contradictory. As much as I would like it to come back, it was hectic from a local, non-pro surfer’s point of view. It was our prime season, and it ramped up the crowds at the best time of year despite only being 10 days.
Are there efforts to get the CT back?
On the EuroSIMA board that’s been the main talking point ever since they lost it: How they can get back in their discussions with the French government to get support and how they can get the WSL on board with it. Still, at the moment more than anything it’s a scheduling problem.
What else is holding it back?
The president of EuroSIMA is in continual contact with the local government. But the reality is no surf company is going to do a competition in August. It’s not the surf season and they already have tourism at that time of the year. I think the first step would be to get the WSL to bend the new format to fit it in the schedule. Despite the efforts, it appears the local government is still not coming around. It’s been a perfect storm with all the electricity and power costs increasing (with the war in Ukraine) combined with the money spent on COVID. They don’t have the funding that the WSL is asking for.
How much money is the WSL asking the government for?
I heard a couple numbers, but I think it’s about three million Euros to run the comp – a million from the main sponsor, a million from various partnerships, and a million in public money.
(Editor’s Note: The WSL neither confirmed nor denied the above monetary figure.)
How has the CT’s absence affected the local businesses?
Hossegor used to be full for the Quik Pro. It started off as a decent comp in the 2000s where you would have core surfers on the beach and then a lot of people on the final day. Then around 2014 to 2016, it really took off. We’d have the shop full of foreigners from all over Europe. The whole town would be full. It was a big smack when we lost it.
It’s funny because the same year that happened there were COVID and travel restrictions. Most of Europe flocked here anyway to get out of the cities. Imagine 60 million people in France, even more in Germany. They couldn’t leave Europe, but they could come here. People went from renting their Airbnb houses for 2,000 Euro a week to 4,000 a week. We lost the event, but the rest of the town was booming anyway.
Of course, all the surf companies still want to get it back. Obviously, the surf side of things is struggling. Now the COVID boom has slowed and all the restaurants want it back as well because it was like an extra week of summer.
I remember during the Quik Pro week we used to sell 30-40 boards. Surfboard sales are definitely down. They are the biggest hit by this. I am positive if the CT had been here this week that there would have been big spending.
How about the surf scene as a whole?
It’s not as simple as only the loss of the CT. For a young aspiring pro, 15 years ago, you had a direct path to try to get to the top. There are only limited spots for that, and they have yet to gain real sponsorship. Most of these young kids are getting funded by mum and dad these days. However, nothing is more impressive than seeing John John or Gabriel surf live. For a European surf rat, and I mean the French, Italian, English and the rest of them, seeing it live was better than any edit you can imagine. That’s that.
Is the goal to fill the CT void? Or to lure the WSL back?
There is a push for an independent surf and culture festival. There is the new Quiksilver festival. However, if it is successful, I can’t see them sharing it with other surf brands. In my opinion, the goal is to increase the event’s exposure to A) lure the WSL back, and B) help raise funding for the eventual CT to come back.
