What’s the Financial Value of a Surf Vlog?

Two weeks ago we posted a story highlighting the prices for a seat on the WSL’s charter plane to Australia.

The short answer? Not cheap. The even shorter answer? $2,500.

That price reflects a seat in Economy (with Business and First Class tickets going for even more green). This is all before the hotel and quarantine costs, which are another $2,500, bringing the minimum cost of getting a human being physically/legally down under to a whopping $5k (not including a return ticket home).

If you’re Rip Curl or Billabong, this is but a drop in the bucket for the exposure Cola Bros has brought their brands in the past five months.

So if you were wondering, the answer is yes—Griffin and Crosby have flown their vlog’s filmer/producer Cameron down to Australia. They’ll be on the continent for close to three months, and with their vlog historically accruing over 12k subscribers in that amount of time, NOT sending Cameron would simply be a bad business decision.

While it’s unlikely we’ll ever see the acquisition of a personalized surf media channel like Cola Bros, if you ever asked yourself how much one of these things is worth, the minimum is $5,000+ USD for a 12k subscriber channel. For context, J.O.B has 707k followers, which at the going rate would make his platform’s value worth a minimum of $294,500. Though based on the deals he’s doing, even that seems supremely undervalued.

Anyways, good on Crosby and Griffin for keeping the ball rolling. Let’ see how much this channel grows over the next couple months…

Click (or miss) below.

Click- A Lesson In Reacclimation
Channel Subs: 17.5k
Video Views:  76,671 (10,953 views/day)
Like/Dislike Ratio: 911/24 or 37.9 likes per 1 dislike

Von Froth recently spent a month in Costa Rica surfing and taking a step back from churning out episodes of one of the most entertaining vlogs in the biz. While Costa hosts a wide variety of waves (including some sneaky heavy water set-ups), Nic was happy to return home to a swell at his favorite Portuguese grower. His excitement was bursting through the screen when he exclaims: That’s the biggest barrel I’ve seen in at least a month.

With what was seemingly an equal ratio of boogs to surfers, one can take off on the boil of a head-high wave, only to watch it grow down the line and morph into a 10-foot tube. If somehow you needed further proof as to the efficacy of Pyzel’s ‘Ghost’ model, click above.

Miss- “Shit’s like gold around here”
Channel Subs: 8.57k
Video Views:  5,877 (2,938.5 views/day)
Like/Dislike Ratio: 268/2 or 134 likes per 1 dislike

Ever wonder what happens when a surfer of Zeke Lau’s caliber changes board sponsors? Well, for starters, they get a fuck ton of new boards. Which begs the question: how are you gonna wax them all? While we’ve heard of surfers going the extra mile to secure Brazil’s tacky, highly valuable export, this is the first we’ve seen someone keep Fu Wax literally under lock and key.

While I don’t have a problem with the video as a whole (and actually commend Zeke for giving it a realistic title instead of some clickbaity BS), I can’t tell you to watch a video that shows an air session with only one make, no matter how scared I am to be publicly critical of a man 3x my size.

Miss- More John John Please
Channel Subs: 120k
Video Views:  69,979 (17,494.5 views/day)
Like/Dislike Ratio: 1,959/26 or 75.3 likes per 1 dislike

Last week we led off Click or Miss with a Nathan Florence video I described as “everything you want a vlog to be.” Today we have a similar concept with a decidedly worse execution. Koa Rothman is far and away one of the surfing’s biggest vloggers, owning and operating a YT channel with incredibly high levels of engagement and more followers than many tour surfers’ Instagrams. In essence: Koa doesn’t need me to tell him how to make videos. With that, Koa did what was seemingly the opposite of brother Nate’s ‘John vlog’ strategy from last week and spent the majority of this video talking to the camera instead of focusing on his surfing or that of his otherworldly friend.

Click- Aus Prep with Kolohe and the Cola Bros
Channel Subs: 12.1k
Video Views:  28,945 (4,824.1 views/day)
Like/Dislike Ratio: 579/6 or 96.5 likes per 1 dislike

While Lowers may be good cutty training for Bells/Snapper, the closest thing California has to Newcastle-style waves is Salt Creek. With the WSL’s charter flight having officially departed for Australia, the Cola Bros and fellow San Clementine Kolohe Andino visited the famed OC beach break to get in some reps, before Griffin and Crosby received a welcome visit from ..Lost’s Gian Bernini.

I’ve said it before, but each week I try and mix up what videos are in here. Seeing that Griffin and Crosby were a big part of last week’s C/M, it would make sense for them to be out this week, but the fact of the matter is they’ve been putting out so many episodes per week that it’s all but impossible to ignore surfing’s fastest-growing vlog. Just be thankful I didn’t make you watch Kade Matson paint a board while sporting a blonde bob.

Click- Who needs bigger waves when you can have smaller surfers?
Channel Subs: 121k
Video Views:  39,750 (13,250 views/day)
Like/Dislike Ratio: 947/8 or 118.375 likes per 1 dislike

While this footage is by no means new, that doesn’t make it any less entertaining. Whilst on a strike mission to the Palm Springs Surf Club, Jackson Dorian, Sky Brown, and Kalani Robb made quick work of the pool’s left wedge. Pound for pound, there is no one better than Jackson, leading me to believe his surfing at the pool would be the highest achievable level at it’s current size—that was until someone ripped out their RC surfer and faded the right…

Did we just find our next Stab High specialty event? Probably not, but this is the closest our electronic friend is gonna get to perfect Backdoor, which is a moment worth celebrating for any being, sentient or not.