How Much Do Surfers Make?

For some of us, surfing is only a way to enjoy and relax at the beach and feel the thrill. But aren’t you curious about how much surfers make for riding waves? Pro surfers are exceptional athletes who win competitions and are idolized by other surfers and the community at large. People see them as someone to aspire to, someone who embodies the perfect surfer.

How much do surfers make? Professional surfers make around $250,000-$400,000 yearly. They earn money through competitions, sponsorships, and more.

Aside from being talented, professional surfers are also skilled and dedicated athletes who have worked hard to achieve success. Additionally, they continue to work hard, constantly pushing themselves to be even better. Surfers earn money in various ways. Let me give you some idea of how much surfers make a year and why an average surfer makes this much annually.

Prizes From Competitions

Several major surfing events attract participants from all over the world. The Vans US Open of Surfing, for instance, is one of the sport’s most popular and highly anticipated competitions. Whoever wins first place will bag a cash prize of $30,000-$50,000. Imagine if a pro surfer wins several major surfing events in a year.

Competition Runner-Up Prizes

If you’re not one of the top five winners in the competition, how much money do you stand to make? The cash prizes tend to decrease significantly after the top five contestants.

For instance, Yago Dora won $30,000 at the 2019 Vans US Open of Surfing, and Liam O’Brien finished in second place and won $15,000. Next, third place drops to $10,000. Numbers like this show that many surfers have to depend on money from sponsorships to get to the top of the pro surfer earnings list.

How Much Do Surfers Make From Sponsors

Pro surfers earn money by signing contracts with different companies as brand ambassadors in addition to their earnings from competitions. It is called sponsorships, which are prevalent in the sports industry.

Then the sponsor pays them to generate publicity for the business. The top surfers visit far-off places and surf alone while bringing back a ton of video and still images that they can use to create interesting content.

Do Men And Women Surfers Earn The Same Amount?

In competitive surfing, winning a men’s Championship Tour results in, without a doubt, the highest payout.

The top 34 professional surfers compete in 11 events on the Men’s Championship Tour (CT), a men’s elite competition where the winner can take home up to $100,000 in cash prizes.

On the other hand, how much do female pro surfers make when they win a women’s Championship Tour event. Even in an era when female professionals earn 77 cents for every dollar a man earns, this is a significant disparity.

Male and Female Surfers Should Have Equal Opportunity To Earn

The World Surf League follows prize money parity or a purse parity system, which requires that the total prize money be divided among the finalists. Although this idea is progressive in sports tournament winnings, it is at the very least doubtful how much men’s winnings differ from women’s.