The Nike US Open of Surfing hits Hunting-ton Beach on Saturday.
The annual event, which has been around since the 1950s, has become an economic boon for Huntington Beach and other parts of Orange County, drawing some 500,000 people for a nine-day run.
It’s free to the public and has grown into a youth culture festival of sorts that stretches over 14 acres of beach.
Pro surfing competitions are the anchor. Skateboarding and BMX contests run alongside surfing.
Fashion shows, art exhibits and musical acts also are part of the scene.
There are more than thrills aimed at the action sports set.
The US Open is a marketing showcase for surf-inspired clothing brands—including big and small OC-based labels—and other makers of action sports apparel and gear.
The event also fills hotels and restaurants, and keeps stores hopping in Huntington Beach and neighboring cities such as Newport Beach and Westminster.
“It is incredible the amount of extra business—extra revenue—the event brings,” said Aaron Pai, owner of Huntington Surf & Sport, which runs the official US Open of Surfing store at the event.
The rising tide goes inland to downtown businesses. Pai’s store on Main Street gets regular bumps of 30% on sales. Beachfront restaurant Duke’s and the nearby Sugar Shack Cafe also get big lifts.
The biggest seller: “T-shirts, T-shirts, T-shirts,” Pai said.
Last year the event brought $21 million in extra sales for area businesses. Huntington Beach saw nearly three quarters of the spending, according to a study conducted by Los Angeles-based market researcher Horizon Consumer Science.
Most of the spending went for lodging, bringing taxes to boost city coffers.
Downtown restaurants and retailers stay busy, but some businesses—hair cutters and other service providers—are left out of the rush.
Some city concessionaires get a mixed effect. The building and tearing-down of the event cuts into sales.
“It hurts our business for two weeks before and one week after, but it gives us all the business we can handle for four days,” said Jack Clapp, who operates beach concessions Dwight’s and Jack’s. The concessions serve beach fare, sell souvenirs and rent gear such as umbrellas and bikes.
The event’s producer, Los Angeles-based IMG Action Sports, part of New York-based IMG Worldwide, accounts for a chunk of the spending. Last year it spent $1.3 million in Huntington Beach for goods and services, and another $2 million in OC and Los Angeles.
IMG doesn’t bring any vendors to sell food during the event, leaving that to local restaurants and city-sanctioned beach concessions.
The company doesn’t want to pirate business from downtown restaurants, said Vice President James Leitz.
It also uses local and regional subcontractors to build and take down the event.
“We try to keep our contractors local as much as possible,” Leitz said.
IMG reimburses the city for all of its costs, which include fire and police services. It makes money primarily from sponsorships and takes a cut of some merchandise sales.
The US Open is a low-margin event but brings other benefits for IMG, according to Leitz.
“It builds other pieces of business for us,” he said. “It’s great for our reputation, our profile, our business-to-business relationships.”
Huntington Beach also benefits in other ways.
The US Open polishes its brand as a tourist and business destination, said Chris Cole, specific events coordinator for the city.
“It’s a really important event for us because, at least in our eyes, we’re Surf City USA,” he said. “This event lands on the world radar.”
That helps bring business to Huntington Beach beyond the summer season, a key goal for locals.
Volleyball Next
Huntington Beach will be one of the stops next year for IMG’s newly started professional volleyball tour. It’s being staged with Colorado Springs, Colo.-based USA Volleyball, which has its indoor volleyball training center in Anaheim.
In recent years, the US Open has tried to bring back more of a surfing vibe.
“That was one of the objectives of the sponsors: Bring back all the pros to the beach,” Leitz said.
Costa Mesa-based Hurley International LLC has been a large part of that charge.
“Hurley has brought back the professionalism—the athlete comes first,” retailer Pai said. This year’s roster features top pros, including Kelly Slater, Rob Machado, Jordy Smith and Carissa Moore. They’ll vie for $460,000 in prize money.
IMG signed Hurley in 2009 as the US Open’s presenting sponsor.
Hurley’s parent, Beaverton, Ore.-based Nike Inc., took on the title sponsorship this year.
Nike has staked a claim in the action sports market with its Nike 6.0, a line of shoes and clothes aimed at surfers, skaters and BMX riders.
Nike’s interest in surfing is an indicator of the action sports segment’s strength, Leitz said.
“I would say surfing’s pretty hot right now,” he said.
IMG limits the number of sponsors for the event to provide more exposure for them.
“The idea is fewer, bigger, better,” Leitz said. “We have to create a delicate balance so everyone gets value.”
The US Open also makes room for other companies. At the tented Festival Village, more than 100 exhibitors use giveaways and autograph signings to lure attendees to their booths, where they promote their brand and sell their wares.
“It’s the Mardi Gras for the action sports industry,” Leitz said.
Another Big Draw
Music is a big draw, too.
MGMT will be performing, among other bands.
“Music is an important component to action sports,” Leitz said.
Hurley rounds up the bands, according to Leitz.
“Hurley has a lot of experience with music,” he said. “They work with an L.A. talent agency to secure the bands.”
Hurley also puts on the “Walk the Walk” high school fashion show competition.
The students design and direct their own fashion show. Corona del Mar High School won last year and will compete against four other schools for $25,000 this time.
In the competition’s early years it was called the West Coast Surfing Championship and then the US Surfboard Championships. In the 1980s it was the OP Pro, named for the Ocean Pacific brand, which has local roots and now is part of New York-based Iconix Brands Inc.
It became the US Open in 1994. IMG bought the event in 2001.
“As corny as it sounds, we feel more like a custodian of the history, the heritage and the authenticity of this big surf contest,” Leitz said.
