The World Surf League (WSL) announced significant viewership and engagement for the 2025 season, citing newly released Nielsen data that the organization said, “underscores professional surfing’s cultural ascent and growing global fandom.”
Across both linear and digital platforms, WSL reported that competitions reached a total global audience of 80 million, a 39 percent year-over-year increase. Fan of the sport generated 20.3 million watch hours (75 percent live and 25 percent on-demand), up 19 percent from the previous season. The average live audience per event reached 2.5 million globally, with peak engagement during the CT Finals, when the digital audience reached 45 million.
Online during the 2025 season, streams on YouTube and WSL-owned platforms saw a 17 percent increase in unique viewers per event.
The WSL also reported that “social performance extended competition beyond the live window, with WSL content generating 1.5 billion impressions, up 46 percent from the 2024 season, 849 million video views, up 31 percent, and 28 percent growth in YouTube subscribers,” and underscoring the League’s expanding direct-to-consumer ecosystem.
“With sustained growth across broadcast, streaming and social this past season confirms that competitive surfing has meaningful scale and there’s still opportunity ahead,” said Ryan Crosby, chief executive officer at the WSL. “Our audience is not only expanding; it’s engaging longer, sharing more and returning event after event with even greater passion. With the 2026 season now underway, the WSL builds on its most comprehensive year of audience and distribution growth and elevates the sport to new heights on the global stage.”
The 2026 Championship Tour field includes returning World Champions Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), Carissa Moore (HAW), and Gabriel Medina (BRA), which is set to begin on April 1 at Bells Beach in Australia.
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