Billabong Isa World Surfing Games Costa Rica 2009 breaks records.

-70,000 spectators passed through in 8 days, second only to the US Open’s 500,000 attendance
-ICODER confirms the biggest national and international coverage ever for the country
-Retailers of Jaco see $2.5 million, more than triple the sales of a regular high season

Source: Carlos Brenes - Federación de Surf de Costa Rica

Prior to the Billabong ISA World Surfing Games Costa Rica 2009, organizers knew that with the confirmation of 35 participating countries, the contest had the potential to be a great Championship event. However, after almost three weeks since the close of this successful event, the media results have surpassed even their wildest expectations.

The personnel of the ISA, Billabong, and the Federación de Surf de Costa Rica (FSC) agreed that the media element of the event was the greatest in the history of the World Surfing Games.  In fact, 100 different media outlets were on hand from all parts of Costa Rica, as well as more than 50 international outlets to promote what was going on in the water as well as related activities on land.  In total, 400 journalists were credentialed.

One of the main goals accomplished during the World Surfing Games was to break the record of $1 million in local media space set at the Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championship in Ecuador in April of this year. A summary of the articles published to date place the media value at up to approximately $2 million.

The ISA and Billabong worked brilliantly this year to provide a tremendous amount of text information, photographic material, video and audio for the international media.

Franklin Solis, the Press Officer for ICODER, the Costa Rican Office of Sports and Recreation, stated the Billabong ISA World Surfing Games 2009 was positioned as the sporting event with the greatest media coverage in the promotion of sports in the history of Costa Rica.

“The only thing we can compare the coverage of the World Surfing Games with are the National Games. The media impact internationally marked an era in this country not only concerning promotion, but in sports” said Solis.

About the International Surfing Association (ISA)
The International Surfing Association (ISA) is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the World Governing Authority for Surfing. It was originally founded as the International Surfing Federation in 1964 and has been running world championships since 1964 and the Junior World Championships since 1980.

ISA membership includes the surfing National Governing Bodies (NGBs) of over 50 countries on six continents. Its headquarters are located in La Jolla, California. It is presided by Fernando Aguerre, first elected in 1994 in Rio, and re-elected six times since. The ISA's four Vice Presidents are Alan Atkins (Australia), Robin de Kock (South Africa), Mike Gerard (USA) and Karín Sierralta (Peru).

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