Images via aspworldtour.com
The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour is making waves with its game-changing video technology at the Billabong Pipeline Masters this week.
Pipeline, on the North Shore of Oahu, is hosting the final event of the year with three surfers vying for the 2014 World Title. For young gun Gabriel Medina from Brazil, current World Title-holder Australian Mick Fanning, and 11-time World Champion and legend of the sport Kelly Slater, it all comes down to this.
And fans will get to watch it all unfold, in real-time, from their laptops and mobile phones in HD quality, with one of the best replays systems in pro-sports today.
Previous to the 1990’s, surf fans needed to wait for monthly publications of Surfer and Surfing to arrive in order to see the results of contests, which often take place in remote spots around the world, including South Africa, Tahiti, Fiji, and Brazil.
But in the mid-1990’s, viewing professional surf events changed radically with the first real-time webcast of an event.
This technology allowed previously distant fans to tune in and watch their favorite surfers tackle some of the dreamiest waves on the planet. This now includes both the Men’s and Women’s World Tours, and newly-minted Big Wave World Tour.
And fans have been watching in steadily increasing numbers. Stats from the first three events of the year showed some favorable trends:
- Over 1M uniques to the event during window
- 1M hours watched per event, on average, for first three events
- Fans watching for over 30min on average and returning to watch multiple days of the event
- 300K additional watch hours via ASP video on demand (VoD)
- 40% of audience watching on mobile and tablets
- Additional broadcast reach of over 10M households across the globe
At each event, a crew of nearly 60 videographers, producers, and techies spend countless hours bringing surf fans high quality footage of the best surfers in the world. 12 video streams are integrated in five production trailers, with the final product uploaded to YouTube for distribution.
It’s an unbelievably complex field production, even in a relatively wired place, like Pipeline. In places like Tahiti, much of the work happens on platforms out in the middle of the ocean.
More recently, the ASP has added additional cameras in the water, on jet-skis to provide a truly “in-the-lineup” experience. Just as pro surfing put GoPro on the map with views from the tubes, now you can get into the barrel in real-time during the contest.
And if you miss a heat, the ASP has surf fans covered with their trademark Heat Analyzer, a self-curated highlight video reel for every contest.
As professional sports have ridden the wave to rapid highlight consumption, the ASP has gone way overhead and taken highlight watching to a new level. The Heat Analyzer, introduced in 2011, has changed the way fans watch the sport.
In 2011, Billabong introduced the technology at an event in Tahiti. Previously, fans needed to wade through hours of video or look at the score sheet to review the action. But the Heat Analyzer integrated the two into a super-powered highlight reel machine.
Almost immediately, after every heat, the production crew tags and organizes the video into a series of highlights, including all waves with scores, wipeouts, and action from the beach, like interviews and special clips.
This format allows users to quickly get up to speed on the action (sometimes as many as 24 half-hour heats run in one day) in a highly efficient manner. Heats can be reviewed in minutes.
An additional benefit to the heat analyzer is the ability to follow a specific surfer, like Medina, Fanning, or Slater. Each round and heat are tagged with specific surfers, so fans can easily watch their favorite athletes in-and-out of the water.
With the conclusion of the Billabong Pipe Masters right around the corner, now is the time to watch some of the best surfers in the world in amazing conditions (Surfline forecast for event is 10-15ft+). Tune into the webcast to get a feel for the surf up close, with the real-time webcasts.
And if you miss the action in real-time, the ASP has you covered with their Heat Analyzer. Ride the wave, and check out the next generation of video technology for professional sports.