Buy a Ticket. Win the Sweepstakes. Surf The Wave. Or just mail a postcard. Image: Founders’ Cup
Remember when the WSL released the prices of the Founder’s Cup packages? Oh, you do. You do because you, like everyone else, were outraged. “It costs WHAT?!” you shouted over the sound of your own boiling blood. “HOW DARE THEY!?” To be honest, for at least one of the spectator packages, the outrage was warranted: the “Surf Ranch Experience.” It was the only package that allowed the person who bought a ticket to the Founders’ Cup to actually surf the wave, and it was a cool $9,788 all told. “It costs WHAT?!” Seething, unbridled rage! But wait! Now there’s a chance you can surf it for the low, low price of $99 and a whole bunch of luck… or maybe just a whole bunch of luck and no money at all.
It’s a simple premise: buy a ticket to the Founders’ Cup and get yourself entered into a sweepstake for “your shot at the surf of a lifetime.” Of a lifetime! I, as an avid email opener and fan of experiences of a lifetime, received the email from the WSL alerting me to the surf of a lifetime. Upon further inspection, I found a loophole that could potentially allow you to surf the wave for free. Free! “It costs WHAT!” (Potentially) nothing!
On clicking the “more information” link in the email informing me that I could “Buy a Ticket. Win the Sweepstakes. Surf The Wave,” I found that if I bought a ticket, I would be entered in said sweepstake. Then I was redirected to a page that loudly told me that “NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. MAKING A PURCHASE WILL NOT IMPROVE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING.” At first, I was confused because I thought the whole idea was to buy a ticket because it said explicitly that I was to “Buy a Ticket. Win the Sweepstakes. Surf The Wave.” As it turns out, all you have to do is mail a postcard. Yes, a postcard, like your grandmother used to ask you to send.
It is “Method #3,” and it goes like this: “Mail-In Entry. To enter without purchase, mail a postcard including your name, complete address, email address and phone number (the “Mail-In Entry”) to the following address to receive one (1) entry into the Sweepstakes: The World Surf League Founders’ Cup Sweepstakes, 625 Panorama Trail, Suite 2100, Rochester, NY 14625-2437. Each Mail-In Entry must be mailed separately and must be postmarked between Friday, April 13, 2018 and Wednesday, April 25, 2018, and received by Wednesday, May 2, 2018. Photocopied, illegible, or mechanically reproduced entries are not eligible. All entries become the property of the Sponsor and will not be returned or acknowledged. Sponsor is not responsible for lost, late, damaged, misdirected or postage-due mailed entries.”
So there you have it. Get out the old feather quill and ink pot, scratch your name on a rectangular piece of thick, glossy paper, and you could (potentially) enjoy the “surf of a lifetime.”
Or you can click here, drop $10,000, and just surf it that way, moneybags.
