Online Traffic To J-Bay Contest Reaches New Highs

by Luke Wallace / digitalsurfmedia.com

Online traffic to the Billabong Pro at Jeffreys Bay, South Africa looks to have set a whole new level of viewers, higher then that of any other ASP Event in 2009, according to analysis of online reach using Alexa. Using the online traffic monitoring tool, the graph above shows the worldwide users peaking over the final 2 days of competition at a new level not seen all year.

Indepth statistics from official sources for all contests are not widely available, but a search using the Alexa tool, cross-referencing the ASP, Billabong, Rip Curl, Quiksilver and Boost Mobile Pro events would suggest that the amount of traffic to billabongpro.com could be an all time high for the webcast productions of professional surfing.

The large spike in traffic is an extremely positive result for Billabong and all the sponsors, the ASP, the surfers and the wider surfing community; a well earnt justification that the time, money and effort invested into the webcasts continue to reach new levels and set new benchmarks in online sports broadcasting.

The J-Bay Cocktail

The combination of the Clash Of The Icons social experiementation, the best swell we’ve seen on tour all year, a giant slaying local hero, a resurgent world champion and a new king in the making, gelled together by Billabong’s interactive media prowess, were all the ingredients required in setting a new benchmark for the webcasts. As I mentioned in a previous post, it’s no longer just a webcast, it’s an interactive experience. And it continues to get better each contest.

South African’s Come Out To Play

In the biggest result of the contest, more surprising than the early eliminations of Kelly, Mick, Adriano and Taj, is that online traffic from South Africa was greater than any other country, making up 29% off all traffic, 6% more than the might of the USA, and more than 3 times that of Australian traffic. The results below show a healthy mix of the top surfing nations logging in to watch the action take place.

Suggested Reading:

1. Graham Stapelberg
2. Nikki Scoggins
   New Media/Online Consumer Communications for Vans