So you want to get sponsored? We ask a handful of New Zealand’s leading team managers what you need to do and the steps you should take.
Firstly, sponsorship has never been in a worse state in New Zealand (you can read our story on the surf industry state of play in New Zealand here). Most of the big players in the surf industry are focused on the very best global athletes and, for the most part, New Zealand surfers are not even on their radar. However, New Zealand brands are springing up to fill the void and your local surf shop already knows how valuable you are.
If you are a young surfer coming through the ranks in New Zealand right now, then owner of Backdoor, Geoff Hutchison, believes we’re past the worst of the surf industry contraction.
“I don’t know what the future holds” Hutch shakes his head. “I would like to think that we are at a low point of sponsorship. All of the industry money that’s flowed into surfing has been shrunken and shrunken and shrunken over the past few years. Ideally the various brands that are up and coming will look at investment and go, ‘right, what can we get? What bang for our buck can we get?’”
“Ideally the various brands that are up and coming will look at investment and go, ‘right, what can we get? What bang for our buck can we get?’”
Cian Sullivan is a co-owner in C-Skins here in New Zealand. His role is to manage the C-Skins wetsuit brand and distribution. They run a small team of about 10 surfers and expect to get a return from them.
“We don’t have the budget to pay any of our team, we just try to shout them to occasional freebies and really discounted wetsuits,” Cian smiles.
With its head office in Christchurch, Exit Surf Products distributes brands like Xcel, Aloha, JS Industries, Ocean & Earth and Captain Fin. Long-time employee turned co-owner, Hugh Ritchie, said that over that time things had changed a lot.
“We sponsor people we like who have a good attitude,” Hugh reveals. “What I expect from our team riders is a good attitude both towards us and in the surf. I don’t get bogged down with competition results, but obviously when our team riders do well – like Jack Tyro competing on the WSL – we can use that to our advantage on socials etc.”
“Mainly we don’t want to sponsor anyone who’s a dick and will bring our brands into a bad light,” he adds. “Being active on social media can be a benefit, but can sometimes be a detriment if the surfer is projecting an image that doesn’t mesh with the brand’s image.”
The Exit Surf team ranges from a handful of high profile surfers who really get looked after right down to some local groms who are hooked up with wholesale deals. “We haven’t had any ‘paid’ surfers for the past two years.”
Hutch said a lot of young surfers didn’t understand what sponsorship was.
“Essentially sponsorship is about helping a brand or company sell more product to other people,” explains Hutch. “If there isn’t a bang for your buck return then it just doesn’t work.”
Sponsors are looking for a return on investment, also called an ROI. If they give a surf athlete two tailpads a year, then they might expect to sell at least 20 tailpads because of that. For every dollar they put in they might expect to get $10 back.
“There are definitely pockets of investment happening, but we’re at a really low point right now,” he admits. “The days of Maz, and Ricardo, and Billy, and Paige on good money, that’s well behind us at the moment.
Backdoor currently has the biggest surf and skate team in the country, supporting around 20 athletes.
“There is quite a lot of complication and work that goes behind that,” Hutch reveals. “Some of our team riders are not giving that value back. They’re meant to post on social media. They’re meant to tag us in, and they’re meant to put the stickers on the board. If they don’t want to put the sticker on, then, laters. We’ve got to get a return, too. It’s a pretty simple ask – it’s not much.”
Backdoor operates on one-year contracts, which makes it easier to tidy up when things don’t work out. Every year in January they renew their contracts.
Exit Surf has also cut its team by half in recent years. “We say ‘no’ a lot more than we used to so that we can say ‘yes’ when we find the right fit,” Hugh explains.
So, you still want to get sponsored? Here’s how …
One of the best places for young up and coming surfers to start is through their local shop. They know you represent some decent lifetime value and can apply some discounts, at least, against this.
That will give you a chance to develop the relationships and learn how to deliver value. It may also extend to you being introduced to the people running the brands they sell. The key is to be honest and authentic about your skills, ambition and what you can deliver.
“One or two kids have sent through portfolio styled PDFs to our email about themselves, their goals and what they feel they can bring to the brand,” Cian explains. “I like this a lot. I hate getting messages on Instagram like, ‘Yo, love ya suits, keen on doing a deal?’.”
“I would 1000% rather deal with a grom who is stoked on our brands rather than their parent who thinks their kid is the next Kelly Slater.”
Hugh advises young surfers to speak with their parents about their approach toward a sponsor, but to keep them out of the process itself.
“I would 1000% rather deal with a grom who is stoked on our brands rather than their parent who thinks their kid is the next Kelly Slater,” Hugh smiles. “Building a relationship with your local shop is super important – go in with a plan – ask to make a time to see whoever is in charge of sponsorship. Be polite and let them know what you are able to do to help promote their brand. Don’t go in expecting a hand out.”
Backdoor has its own approach to sponsorships, which younger groms won’t want to hear.
“We’ve got our own internal rule and that’s mainly because we just don’t see much value in the 12, 13, 14 to 15-year-old bracket, because of the lack of measurable return,” Hutch explains. “Even with our own kids within the company – Taylor and Caleb – we didn’t actually sponsor them until after they were past 16.”
“We didn’t see any value in it,” Hutch admits. “It was like, ‘Hey, you can put the sticker on your board, but I’m not giving you anything’. I wanted it to be reasonably arm’s length. A lot of grommets are looking for a lot of stuff free, quite young. But we felt that it was better to leave it a little longer. Kids develop at different rates and some of the most amazing 14-year-olds had completely disappeared at 17 or 18. And vice versa. Some of the kids who were very average at 14 became world beaters at 18.”
Hutch said there was a really big swing in those formative years. “You are either getting better and better, or you plateau and stagnate a bit. So we just felt that it was better to be more careful.”
“Kids develop at different rates and some of the most amazing 14-year-olds had completely disappeared at 17 or 18. And vice versa. Some of the kids who were very average at 14 became world beaters at 18.”
Hutch admits they broke the rule with Tao Mouldey. “He was 15 when we picked him up. He’s obviously a kid on the rise and he’s in Mount Maunganui and we have two stores there. He’s a really nice kid who just seems like a good fit for the brand.”
“His parents have taken him all around the world, everywhere,” Hutch adds. “And he pops up in the wave pool in Melbourne, and he pops up in Indo, and he pops up on the Gold Coast, and he’s constantly not at school … Tao!”
When it comes to sponsorship a few sports are already exploring new models that centre around content production and feeding the giant social media beasts.
Many high-performing athletes are now securing content budgets directly as part of their sponsorship package. They can then hire photographers and filmers directly and become the creative lead on their own stories and adventures much like Nathan Florence is doing.
“It’s going to be tough in the world of Instagram and YouTube, where everyone’s famous – everyone’s a star. I think athletes are going to have to have a really unique selling point.”
Cian believes this is a big part of the challenge, but also an opportunity. “I think it’s going to be tough in the world of Instagram and YouTube, where everyone’s famous – everyone’s a star,” Cian considers. “I think athletes are going to have to have a really unique selling point. They will also have to look at working with brands that complement each other closely, so maybe the brands can go 50/50 on a deal of some sort.”
Hugh said that while the surf market had grown, so had the players involved, which diluted the pool. “As long as people understand that sponsorship is a two-way street – you get stuff from a brand in return for promoting their products – then you might still get a few shekels here and there.”
“But really,” Hugh pauses. “Nobody is getting rich from surfing.”
