The World Surf League has had its hands full the past several days dealing with the onslaught of media requests after the shark attack on Mick Fanning became the biggest story in the world.
A sampling of global media outlets that have used WSL assets and spoken to WSL staff include FOX, CNN, AP, Reuters, Sports Illustrated, Wall Street Journal, Today Show, USA Today, Uproxx, ESPN, TIME, NBC, Daily Mail, The Guardian, TMZ, News.com.au, Washington Post, New York Times, Sydney Morning Herald and many more, said WSL VP of Communications Dave Prodan.
The YouTube video has been watched 11.5 million times and 16 million have watched on Facebook.
All the elements organically came together for the perfect media story – a live broadcast of the attack, heroic actions of both Mick Fanning and Julian Wilson, emotional video interviews immediately afterward, and best of all, a happy ending.
Both Rip Curl, Mick’s apparel sponsor, and Hurley, the apparel sponsor for Julian, said they are trying to respect the athletes and what they just went through and support them in any way needed.
In other words, it sounds like there are no plans for brands to do any marketing activation from the event.
“On this one, we’ve taken a step back and let the media run with it,” said Hurley GM Brand Marketing Evan Slater. “What Mick and Julian went through was extraordinary, and their instincts made us all proud to call ourselves surfers.”
The first priority at the WSL has been to support the athletes and their health and well-being as well. Once the media requests came pouring in, the team moved to made sure accurate facts were reported, that the story was being respected instead of exploited, and that the video assets were accessible.
Dave said it helped that under the new WSL ownership, all the assets from the event were under one roof and the team was able to move quickly to react to the unprecedented influx of requests from major media outlets.
Mick and Julian did hold a press conference in Sydney yesterday that was organized by Red Bull, and their further willingness to talk with the media is up to them, Dave added.
While the drama at J-Bay is the biggest thing to ever happen in surfing, the WSL wants to ensure the organization is not seen as trying to exploit such an intense situation, he said.
The WSL does hope that the massive amount of people that have visited the WSL website and social channels over the past few days will also be engaged by the aspirational qualities of the sport – the lifestyle, the passion, the athleticism, the adventure, he said.
“There are a lot of attractive qualities to the sport that we hope will turn people into fans,” Dave said.
