Erik Logan was born in Oklahoma, and he started surfing at age 41.
So, it came as somewhat of a surprise when someone so new to the sport became the chief executive officer behind the leading competitive surfing circuit, the World Surf League, in 2020. And with his rise to WSL chief executorship, the man known as “E-Lo” brought some changes.
Photo: WSL/Cait Miers
“We’ve got a long way to go but our mission really is to build the world’s biggest platform for professional surfing,” E-Lo told The West Australian about his vision for the WSL. “We are a media company. And every sports league is a media company at its core.”
And so, Logan introduced some new things to pro surfing when he took the helm.
First, there was the Mid-Season Cut – a new format, which sliced the bottom third of the competitive field halfway through the season.
Controversial. To say the least.
Then, there was the Finals – a one-day, winner-take-all reimagining of the WSL format in which the top five competitors, on the men’s and women’s side, duke it out in a bracket-style event at Lower Trestles.
Also controversial. But exciting, too. Dramatic.
Next came the Apple TV show, Make or Break. Coming from his background as President at the Oprah Winfrey Network, E-Lo knows television and media. And his goal was to bring the sport of surfing to the masses via a relatable, behind-the-scenes docuseries of the competitive season. The show was great; it presented surfing in a digestible format and made people who didn’t surf invested in these athletes. It definitely achieved its goal of broadening the pro surfing fan base.
“Our distribution platform in terms of ways people can consume the content is larger than it ever has been,” E-Lo said. “The real key for us is keeping in mind that the media part of this is the vehicle by which we connect the fans to the sport. That for me is what really excites me.”
From a business perspective, more fans means more visibility and more money. It’s simple. And it turns out, even though he came to the surfing game late in life, E-Lo is one of those newly-converted surfing fanboys.
“Every event I go to, I’ll be in the locker room, I’ll be at the stairs, in Tahiti I was in the channel,” he said.
“To be on the stairs after Kelly Slater wins a heat and walks up and pinches me, it’s pretty cool. I love being around it and I’m a fan, I don’t know what else to tell you.”
What’s next for pro surfing under this new(ish) leadership? We’ll have to wait and see.
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