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Andy Irons Taking 2009 Off, Billabong Backs Him Up
The bru’s over at Stab Magazine just released these juicy little nugget’s of industry information.
- Andy Irons will take next year off to chill and do some surf trips. He will aim for a wildcard in 2010. Billabong is backing him all the way, and has just given him a new five-year deal. (Parko’s just signed up for another five, too.)
- Wonder why Bobby Martinez has been shredding Pipe with no stickers on the nose of his board? He’s no longer riding for Reef. Despite the tough economic times (and his management persuading him to put ink on paper), Bobby walked away from an offer that was three-quarters of what he’d asked for. When he simmered down, Bobby went back to Reef, saying okay, I’ll take the deal, but Reef had withdrawn. It’s gonna be tough trying to find a company with $500k kicking round in its marketing budget right now. But Bob has signed some of the smarter deals in surfing. Remember seeing huge Monster energy drink green and black “M” on the bottom and deck of his board? Rumors suggest this nets him around $US300k.
- As always, Dane’s endorsements are the subject of constant speculation. The latest has it that the golden child is going to break his deal with Quik to join Analog. With Burton’s backing, Analog’s certainly got the cash. But Dane has not suggested he’s even thinking about moving, so the rumour remains unfounded.
The Andy Irons info actually makes a lot of sense. Time away from the Dream Tour has worked out well for past champions Curren, Occy, and Slater. And if Billabong is backing this, chances are there will be unreal amounts of fresh footage of Irons freesurfing to look forward to next year.
As for the industry as a whole, especially regarding sponsorships, it’s going to be interesting to see what happens in the upcoming month with the economy being what it is. Everyone is re-evaluating their financial strategies and chances are we’ll be hearing more stories similar to the Bobby Martinez/Reef situation.
Tags: Andy Irons, Billabong, Bobby Martinez, Dane Reynolds, monster energy, Reef
Posted by Shaun on Saturday, December 13th, 2008 in Surfing.
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December 14th, 2008 at 11:52 am
Good for Andy. He doesn’t seem into right now and I am stoked to see more footy of him freesurfing and ripping. He attacks big waves like no one else.
Bobby – too bad for Reef. Bobby is one hell of a guy and any company should be stoked to have him rep them. He is also a very underrated surfer and has many good years left in him. Plus, he is the only guy they have on tour as a main sponsor. Sounds like Bobby just potentially made himself an extra $300k. With this sponsorship from Monster, he’s still open to find himself a main appareal sponsor. I think he would fit well on Quik’s team.
I can’t imagine Dane leaving Quik. They’ve had Kelly for ever and I can’t imagine they would want anything but the same with Dane. I would expect they will do whatever it takes to keep him around for good. Plus, with Kelly being such a big part of Quik and such a good friend/mentor to Dane, he won’t be going anywhere.
December 30th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
[...] France and skipped the Mundaka and Brazil contests leading to speculation about his troubles. Andy announced that he was taking 2009 off from the tour, and may be following the path of free surfer of his [...]
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