US Open of Surfing loses Nike, Hurley and Converse as title sponsors

Hurley, Converse and their parent company Nike have pulled out of sponsoring the US Open of Surfing event in Huntington Beach in California, America, to focus their attention on other projects.

In a statement to the online industry news outlet shop-eat-surf.com, the CEO and founder of Hurley Bob Hurley said that the company had achieved pretty much everything it had aimed to accomplish when it attached itself to the US Open.

Upon reaching a point where there is very little left for the company to do at the event, Hurley said the time had come for the them to start concentrating on other initiatives, hoping to create the same magic there that they had been able to create at Huntington Beach over the last few years.

“In many ways, we achieved the goals we set for ourselves at the U.S. Open. Now it’s time to export the magic created at the U.S. Open and invest it into other aspects of our business, like a renewed athlete focus and new and exciting ways of connecting with millions of kids,” said Hurley.

The US Open of Surfing event comprised of both a surfing competition as well as a skateboarding contest. Nike and Hurley had taken on the role of sponsors for the title in the surfing event, whereas Converse was a regular sponsor of Coastal Carnage, a skateboarding contest that allow the immensely-skilled skaters to entertain the big crowd that normally attended the event with their magical performances.

Nike had contributed heavily to the excitement on offer at the Huntington Beach during the course of US Open by not only sponsoring the title, but also setting up pop-up retail stores.

However, the company is looking to support surfing through other events and carrying out a bit of an innovation to help the sport and its athletes’ progress.

“We are looking forward to evolving the Nike Lowers Pro and putting efforts into expanding grassroots events like the Nike Block Series surf contest,” Nike Global Action Sports VP Sandy Bodecker said to shop-eat-surf.com. “Nike will continue to be active in the sport by innovating and supporting surfing through our events, products and athletes.”

The event is considered to be one of the most exciting surfing competitions in the region, attracting some of the best surfers, including reigning 11-time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater, to compete at one of the best surfing spots in the world.

It remains to be seen if US Open of Surfing will be able to find itself a new title for both the surfing and skateboard contest.

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Posted by Muhammad Qasim Hassan on Sep 26 2012. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.