Is the World Tour restructuring… again?

Words by Jake Howard

After Filipe Toledo wins the 2015 World Title in flexing, 18-foot Pipe, after Adriano De Souza loses the title (again, so close!), after Italo Ferreira finishes higher in the standings than Kelly Slater (what?!), when the year is, as a certain WSL commentator might say, “done and dusted,” the governing body of pro surfing will sit down and try to figure out once again how to make the game more interesting. The question they will pose is how to, formulaically speaking, entice more butts into the seats – or, eyeballs onto the webcast.

“All components of the sport are constantly being discussed and analysed by the Commissioner’s Office,” says WSL VP of Communications, Dave Prodan. “(There are) no plans to alter anything at present.”

That may be the case, but after the clouds of the Brazilian storm part don’t think for a minute the WSL won’t zig just when you think they’re going to zag. A source close the tour says that format changes may be coming in 2016. None of this is confirmed, but the source is solid and the rumours too enticing not to speculate on.

Hypothetically speaking, 2016 will see the tour expand from 34 to 36 surfers.

Additionally, based on the success of the wildcards this year, next season’s wildcards won’t surf until round two, giving them only one shot in the main event.

Round 1 will see the first and second-place surfers move into Round 3, while third place will go into Round 2, where they will potentially face said wildcard.

In the grand scheme of things, none of this means a whole lot except for the two extra surfers hovering on the cusp of qualification. But still, if we get any confirmation on this we’ll keep you posted. Until then just ask; What would Kieren do?