WSL - will the bubble burst?

The last three years have seen undoubted changes in the surfing world with the, some say, over professionalized WSL. Ratings and attendance figures are through the roof. With huge, full time sponsors 'Samsung' and 'GoPro' coming on board, you can imagine cash must be dripping out of their ears. Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that you can watch the world's best surfers at the major spots on tour in HD. I love the fact that there is a reliable and unbiased(ish) commentary team. What I don't love is the uneasy niggle I have that the bubble may burst. Everyone is riding the cash cow at the moment but how long before its legs fall off? The conditioning that all the athletes are undergoing seems to take away some of the charm, mystique and perhaps the fun. Oh, and how did Hurley (Nike) get to sponsor most of the good up and comers?

I will explain my misgivings a little if you will indulge me some more. For all of the above mentioned reasons I like what we have now, but part of me misses the Chris Ward roles of the past. The possibility that a pro might miss a heat because of too many beers the night before. No, it's not professional but part of me can relate to that and it's fun, or was the night before. Let's look at the most popular surfers in the world at the moment: Dane Reynolds and Craig Anderson maybe? Both free surfers who want to live the life without the pressure and conditioning that goes into the comp scene. Rob Machado is another example, almost a household name but does not compete and seems to promote the free and easy way of life that people look for in surfing. What we are looking at is order vs chaos and I know which I would choose.

A good example of this is what has a happened with the World Longboard Tour. Never heard of it? That's because there are only 5 events a year now and the top prize money up for grabs is a measly $1,200. I am pretty sure that you can't even watch them live now. This was not always the case, it was popular and televised and there was more money in it. What happened? - Answer : logging.

Old school longboards with an old school approach, 'logging', or the art of riding logs, means dipping back in time with board design, single fin pin tails, displacement hulls and guess what? - you need to have an old school 'cool' attitude. Its back to the hippy vibe, back to the free roots that surfing is so well known for. People are lapping it up.

My rather long winded point is : How long before the public eye shifts and the top surfers of today are forgotten about and favour of a more free, 'cooler' version with no comps and pressure? To me it's a scary but possible reality  that the 'cash cow' might become a 'skint dinosaur'. Just saying.