When suit poseur ASP CEO Brodie Carr is willing to fly half-way around the world and wait three weeks for a meeting with Kelly Slater’s business manager Terry Hardy, you know the ASP is starting to sweat.  Yet that’s what Carr did, and while he isn’t discussing what took place in the meeting, according to The Australian, Hardy “was bullish about his ability to steal the sport away from the ASP.”

Quiksilver’s International event director Rod Brooks is even commenting on the new Dream Tour.  “In a year there is a possibility that there will be two world champions,” said Brooks.  “But obviously that’s not what we want to happen.”  And last month, Quiksilver CEO Bob McKnight ordered heads of other surf companies to meet with Hardy, and Hardy reportedly told the mob bosses that the new Dream Tour would happen with or without their support.

A press release is said to be issued soon with an official announcement regarding the tour.  What we do know as of right now is that this new Dream Tour, which is reportedly going to be broadcast exclusively on Mickey Mouse’s ESPN (before you get your panties in a bunch over this, remember that Fuel, which broadcasts ASP events, is owned by Fox); there will be 16 surfers on the tour, with each event having a prize purse of $1.5 million.

There are pros and cons to a new tour competing with the ASP.

Pros:

- No more amateur commentators that are selected by the event’s sponsor (Billabong is the absolute worst) giving extremely biased commentary, especially when it comes to riders who are sponsored by the event’s sponsor.  Slater has been aware of how bad webcasts have become over the years, mainly due to poor commentators.

- Only the best surfers will be on-hand.  Meaning there won’t be days wasted watching surfers nobody cares about.  Eight of the surfers will qualify based on ASP results (we think); the other eight will be wildcards.

- Guaranteed the venues will rock.  This has been another one of Slater’s gripes.  The ASP World Tour isn’t always making events happen at the right time and the right place.  Slater wants to change this, and his Dream Tour will likely have the pros only surfing in the most macking of conditions.

Cons:

- The involvement of Matt Tinley.  Tinley is a former boxing promoter who ran a company called America Presents into the ground.  Some say Tinley is the reason why MMA has replaced boxing in popularity.  And now Tinley is reportedly been tapped to handle all promotion for Slater’s new Dream Tour.  Tinley knows nothing about surfing.  This is a recipe for disaster.

- This reeks of greed and further exploitation of surfing, thus making it more mainstream (and way less cool).  With Disney’s ESPN broadcasting the event, we’re going to have even more douchebags thinking how cool surfing is and congesting already overcrowded breaks.

- The ASP.  While Slater’s new Dream Tour sounds great in theory, the ASP isn’t going anywhere.  Meaning that we could have two World Champions next year.  Which tour will surfing’s top pros flock to next year?  If some of them stay with the ASP, credibility on both sides will be damaged.

- Disney will be getting all the prime coverage.  And Disney’s action sports site is garbage.  Our podcasts get bigger guests than a site that is linked off ESPN.com.  Their main surf writer looks like a blonde whale.  And this is where you’ll be getting your most insightful coverage.  Very sad.

The drama continues.  We’ll keep you updated.