A new professional surfing league is heading to Australian screens in 2028, with the Surfing Super League securing an exclusive broadcast deal with Foxtel Group.
The eight-week competition will deliver at least 50 hours of coverage across Foxtel, Kayo Sports and Binge, including seven rounds, 14 regular-season games and a Premiership Grand Final.
The deal comes just weeks after the Surfing Super League was unveiled as Australia’s first professional surfing league, with the competition designed around a fixed format that can be scheduled consistently for television.
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A concept render of the Surfing Super League’s purpose-built beachside event precinct (image – supplied / SSL)
Live coverage will air at 4pm AEDT every Saturday and Sunday, with each broadcast occupying a two-hour window.
That will include a 10-minute pre-game show, a 90-minute live game featuring two 40-minute halves and a 10-minute half-time, followed by 20 minutes of post-game coverage.
A 30-minute weekly highlights program will also air multiple times across Foxtel, Kayo Sports and Binge.
The league has been created by former Red Bull executive and Surfing Australia CEO Chris Mater and will feature eight franchise teams competing across seven regular-season rounds, with the top four progressing to the Premiership Grand Final.
The fixed format is intended to overcome one of the traditional challenges of broadcasting surfing, where competitions can be dependent on weather and swell conditions and therefore difficult to schedule into television grids.
SSL Chief Marketing Officer Jo-Jo Alpers says the new league’s Foxtel Group deal validates its fixed-format approach to broadcasting surfing (image – supplied)
SSL Chief Marketing Officer Jo-Jo Alpers said securing Foxtel Group as its broadcast partner validated the league’s approach.
“By engineering a high-stakes, 90-minute team format that fits neatly into broadcast grids at 4:00pm every summer weekend, we’ve created a tentpole media asset.”
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Foxtel Group Head of Sport & Content Partnerships Nic Goard said the league’s format and line-up of established and emerging talent would provide a new offering for viewers.
“Surfing has a passionate following in Australia, and the SSL’s innovative, made-for-TV format … sets the platform for unmissable entertainment for viewers.”
The league will also offer contracted athletes a fixed $89,000 base salary, with equal pay for male and female competitors, while allowing them to retain their personal sponsors.
With its broadcast deal now secured, the Surfing Super League has opened commercial tenders for founding sponsors and strategic partners ahead of its first Team Scouting Combines in June 2027.
The inaugural Surfing Super League season is scheduled to begin in summer 2028.
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