After several years of sponsoring the US Open in Huntington Beach and taking it to a whole new level, Nike and Hurley are moving on and will not sponsor the event in 2013 or thereafter.
Hurley CEO Bob Hurley and Nike Global Action Sports VP Sandy Bodecker answered some questions for me about the decision.
Hurley has sponsored the US Open for four years and Nike for three.
Why did Nike and Hurley decide to stop sponsoring the US Open?
Bob Hurley: Hurley constantly strives to innovate, inspire, and evolve. Five years ago, before we committed to the US Open, only a small handful of the Top 44 even attended the event. But an unprecedented partnership with the city of Huntington Beach and IMG enabled us to change how the world looks at surf events.
Bob Hurley. Shop-eat-surf file photo.Thirty of the top 32 attended in 2012. Close to a million kids came to watch their heroes over the course of nine days. Huntington Beach (Surf City USA) has regained its crown as one of the surf world’s most important arenas. We even saw “US Open”-style events attempted in New York and Brazil.
In many ways, we achieved the goals we set for ourselves at the US Open. Now it’s time to export the magic created at the US 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.
Sandy Bodecker: Over the last four years we’ve worked with IMG to make the US Open one of the most exciting sporting moments of the summer.
But we are always looking for new ways to connect with athletes and consumers. In the spirit of evolving, we are exploring new opportunities to help elevate the sport beyond the sand to new audiences around the world.
How do you think the past sponsorship helped both brands?
Bob Hurley: What’s good for the sport is good for the brand, and we’d like to think that the sport in general is in a better place after Nike Inc.’s sponsorship of the US Open.
Sandy Bodecker, Nike Global Action Sports VP. Shop-eat-surf file photo. When 50,000 fans are on the beach screaming for Kelly Slater, that’s good for us. When close to a million kids are connecting with our brands both face-to-face and digitally each summer, that’s good for us. When skate, surf, art and music are living in harmony under one banner, that’s good for us.
So many wonderful things emerged out of the past four years of US Opens. The Agenda show, a massively successful retail center on the beach. A surfing level never before seen on the south side of HB Pier. Music concerts with crowds bigger than we could have ever imagined. And the nation’s best high schools competing on the big stage in our Walk the Walk fashion competition.
The US Open was good for Hurley because it proved what three major brands can do when they share a common vision. And it proved the value in putting the athlete and fan experience first before anything else. HB is where i learned to surf … It was truly, a dream come true.
Sandy Bodecker: It’s hard to match the experience of the world’s best in sports, music and art coming together on the beach in one of action sports’ most iconic locations.
At the end of the day, we helped one of the world’s most recognized surf and lifestyle events become an even more premium experience for everyone.
The exposure of an event that reaches millions is of course beneficial, but more importantly the US Open is a platform to try new ways of connecting with athletes and fans. We learned a lot about event retail, the athlete experience, consumer customization, merging surf and skate events – the list goes on and on.
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What are the advantages and challenges of the event?
Bob Hurley: Advantages: working with James Leitz and his team at IMG – the best event partners in the world, and the City of Huntington Beach –the HB Lifeguards-HBPD-the local businesses and the people of the community. We can’t say enough great things about these groups and look forward to working with them on future events and projects.
Challenges: like any event on a massive scale, there are many, many moving parts. Making those parts work together and maintaining a handle on the crowd are the biggest challenges of any large-scale event.
Sandy Bodecker: Connecting with millions of fans in the heart of the action sports community was amazing experience for both brands. Working with IMG and the City of Huntington Beach allowed for the elevation of the US Open of Surfing to positively impact a broader audience and introduce them to the power and excitement of sport.
In putting on an event with such large exposure, we pushed our teams to find an authentic connection to stay true to the core of the sport and lifestyle.
The biggest challenge ahead for the US Open is to bring the energy from Huntington Beach to even more fans across the world.
Is Nike and/or Hurley planning other events on that scale to replace it?
Bob Hurley: Our opportunity is our ability to have a dialogue with millions of kids…Will it be in the form of a US Open somewhere else? Probably not. This isn’t about moving our investment in Huntington Beach to a similar event somewhere else. It’s about looking at new and innovative ways to connect with the next generation. We are continually pushing the boundaries on what might be. The USO has been magnificent in a comparatively short period of time, driven by the athletes. As difficult as it is not to renew, we are looking forward to the possibilities of what’s next … it’s limitless.
Sandy Bodecker: 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 will continue to be active in the sport by innovating and supporting surfing through our events, products and athletes.
Will there still be the Australian Open? Is a similar event planned for Europe?
Bob Hurley: The Australian Open is a property we’re proud of and plan on continuing with the event in the future. There are no plans for a similar event in Europe at this time.
Sandy, do you think sponsorship of the U.S. Open helped define or demonstrate Nike’s commitment to action sports and surfing?
Sandy Bodecker: Absolutely. The sport, the athletes and the fans welcomed us. We are honored to have been a part of the US Open. No event celebrates the culture of action sports better.
Our goal here was to create an environment where the athletes are treated to a world-class competition experience and they look forward to the Open each year. We think we achieved that.
Nike will continue to be active in the sport by innovating and supporting surfing through our events, products, athletes and fans.
