Paul Speaker, CEO at ASP, believes "the new name is easier to understand and gets us on a better track to serve our fans, athletes and partners, and to grow the great sport of professional surfing worldwide."
The Association of Surfing Professionals was founded in 1982 by Ian Cairns. Under the new management led by ZoSea, the world surfing circuit has been introducing dramatic changes in the sport.
"All of it is driven by the twin goals of preserving the heritage and culture of surfing while, at the same time, creating an even better foundation to grow our sport in the future," explains Speaker.
"We hope you will give us the benefit of the doubt and that, over time, you will come to see this change as positive for the sport we all love. At the end of the day, professional surfing's DNA remains intact: we're about the world's best surfers in the world's best waves."
The new World Surf League is not an innovative insignia in sports. The expression "world league" is already used in volleyball, water polo, hockey, American football, wrestling and many other sports.
The ASP World Tour will be dropped in January 2015. The World Surf League will be adopted as the new season kicks off.
