Mo Freitas leaving Focus...

[805StandUp]

In my news feed this morning... 

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And Bluefins have been on sale for $1449 on their website.

[BrownSugah]

isnt Focus kinda of going under anyways? I ve seen alot of sales from them and overall kind of less people talking about them

[paddlejones]

It's got to be a tough business to forecast sales of a product that you have to order 8+months in advance and pay for it by the container full when it hits the docks in China Etc...

Best thing would be that all shops would have to pre-order at the outdoor retailer shows & surf expo, with manufacturer's having minimal extra off the shelf stock & leave the rest to custom board orders.

Bummer to see these Brands struggle

[exiled]

It will be interesting to see where he lands. I think Body Glove has been his biggest sponsor, and Pat Rawson has always done his boards, so I don't know that he needs to sign with any specific sup company.

[NEplay]

I think Mo Freitas is one of our sports biggest stars. I certainly am a fan of both Mo and his boards- I have a 12'6 Bluefin which is fragile but agile and a Rawson 8'4. I am amazed that only two comments have been posted to this thread, now three. I think SUP is really cooling off. And that is okay as it will never go away, just become a niche, like windsurfing or open water rowing. Thoughts?

[TallDude]

Hopefully he didn't get a real job. That would be sad.

[supsurf-tw]

 He may be finding that a pro supper is a difficult career for long term so maybe hitting the books or something?

[Bean]

It's sometimes difficult to maintain your focus...

[NEplay]

Hitting the books is never a bad thing.

[addapost]

I think SUP is really cooling off. And that is okay as it will never go away, just become a niche, like windsurfing or open water rowing. Thoughts?

My understanding from a good friend deep in the industry is that paid sponsorships to pro athletes have seen their peak, those days are over. Mo is a fantastic athlete but companies can't afford those sponsorships and the return does not match the investment. Basically the people who buy the most boards (low end and cheap) have no clue who Mo Freitas (et al) is and no interest in surfing or racing. Sponsored athletes have very little to no effect on the vast majority of board sales. Smart companies are focusing on "free" local ambassadors who do have an effect on sales on the grass roots level. Even the 'good old days' of the brand ambassador have seen their peak. Savvy companies are scaling down what they offer their ambassadors and are requiring more output in the form of social media postings. In the past an ambassador might receive 2 or 3 free boards a year. Now it may be the case where an ambassador receives only one free board or even less- only steep purchase discounts. Still that investment makes more business sense versus sponsoring an athlete that the vast majority of buyers have no awareness of or interest in. I would bet a paycheck that someone like Supthecreek has created more sales volume for their company than any sponsored pro. If I were a young sponsored SUP racer or surfer and I wanted to be able to eat in 5 years I would definitely go back to school.

[FloridaWindSUP]

I think Mo Freitas is one of our sports biggest stars. I certainly am a fan of both Mo and his boards- I have a 12'6 Bluefin which is fragile but agile and a Rawson 8'4. I am amazed that only two comments have been posted to this thread, now three. I think SUP is really cooling off. And that is okay as it will never go away, just become a niche, like windsurfing or open water rowing. Thoughts?

SUP might be cooling off at the business level as the market gets saturated and novelty fades, but there still seem to be a lot of boards on the water. I don't think SUP is going to crash as hard as windsurfing did, because it remains easily accessible and appealing at the entry level, unlike windsurfing, which requires fanatic enthusiasm to get people through the complexity and frustration of learning.

The pyramid of SUP participation has a wide bottom of low-key dabblers, under a modest mid-level of avid paddlers, under a tiny pinnacle of pros, and I think that structure is pretty stable. I hope so, at least.

[robon]

I had been paddling for a few years and didn't really know who the best racers were. Even at it's peak, racing was just a small niche in this sport and not responsible for a big stake in the market share. The vast majority of paddlers don't own race boards and couldn't tell you who Baxter or Freitas are.

It seems the sport has peaked and may be in a slight decline, but it's definitely still growing inland. 

[PonoBill]

I doubt that sponsoring racers ever delivered ROI. It's a way of saying "we're number one" to the small number of people who care. And it's fun, so what the heck. But SUP sales are broad how, and there's not much differentiation. Now it's managing the business aspects and effective marketing. I'm still seeing lots of advertising in SUP magazines. Can't help but wonder who is doing the marketing, and can they do math. There must still be people who buy magazines--especially special interest stuff. I bought a copy of Octane before I got on the plane a few days ago, but used my Kindle for the flight instead after realizing once again that it's still inconvenient to deal with dead trees,

[eastbound]

always like mo's surf style a lot...possibly my favorite sup porn star

[Luc Benac]

I had been paddling for a few years and didn't really know who the best racers were. Even at it's peak, racing was just a small niche in this sport and not responsible for a big stake in the market share. The vast majority of paddlers don't own race boards and couldn't tell you who Baxter or Freitas are.
It seems the sport has peaked and may be in a slight decline, but it's definitely still growing inland.

Local celebrities and often friends at local events might do more, along with a good distribution network that makes boards available for testing, for the sale of a brand.
Here One SUP developed very quickly taking some market shares from Starboard. There is some appeal to a niche brand very present locally even if their board are not in the hands of teh best international racers. Sometime you take what is there rather than what needs to be sourced long in advance sight unseen.