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World Surf League Receives Interest From New Partners After Shark Attack

The World Surf League has received massive interest from potential new media and commercial partners after the shark attack on Australian Mick Fanning. “Our phones have been ringing non-stop,” said Dave Prodan, VP of Communications for the WSL. While declining to name any of the interested parties, he said there is a lot of interest. "There's a lot of enthusiasm from all sides to partner with the sport -- not because of the shark incident, but because it is a tremendously engaging, dynamic, beautiful and inspiring [sport] that is totally unpredictable and exciting." Triple world champion Fanning was attacked by a shark -- thought to be a great white -- during the final of the J-Bay Open in South Africa on July 19. The footage of the attack and the interviews with everyone involved following the incident “naturally became the biggest story on the planet,” Prodan said. The WSL has been around for almost 40 years and a shark attack has always been a possibility. However, the compelling footage and the happy ending, which saw both finalists -- Fanning and fellow Australian Julian Wilson -- leaving the water unharmed, turned a hypothetical into reality. Prodan, who described the footage as arresting and emotional, believes that it hit a nerve with the larger public. The WSL saw an unprecedented spike in traffic to its online and social media platforms. The video of the attack has received more than 21 million views on YouTube and close to 17.5 million views on the organization’s official Facebook page. The Vine of the shark attack has gathered more than 27.5 million loops and counting. “It is something that we have never seen before,” Prodan said. “This spiked on a level that really isn’t comparable to anything we’ve ever seen before.”

NEW AUDIENCE: The WSL is looking for ways to capitalize on this huge audience that is now sort of paying attention to the sport. The league banks on surfing’s engaging content and aspirational qualities, Prodan said. “An incident like this brings a lot of people into the house and we are hopeful that they are going to stay because there’s a lot of interesting things going on in the sport.” The WSL -- formerly known as ASP -- has seen an increase of non-traditional sponsors in the sport since its takeover by ZoSea Media prior to the ’13 season. While sponsors like Quiksilver, Hurley and Roxy have a long history in the sport, companies such as Swatch, Samsung, Jeep and Target have come on board over the last two years. The competition’s sponsors applauded the way the WSL handled the situation, Prodan said. Neither the league itself nor its commercial partners have any interest in exploiting the story. For the WSL the primary concern was the well-being of its athletes and making sure the story is told correctly, Prodan said. “It certainly hyper-focuses the world’s attention on to your organization when something like that happens.”

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