How eero delivered epic connectivity for the World Surf League.

When professional surfers come in from the water they want to review their footage with coaches, who are watching remotely, to get ready for upcoming heats by analyzing wave selection, technique, and execution. But there’s a problem, beaches aren’t known for great wifi.

“Connectivity is a huge part of my world in being able to come in from the water and have the playback as soon as possible because you really want to see what you felt while you’re on the wave,” said Kanoa Igarashi, professional surfer on the World Surf League Championship Tour (#7 in the world in 2025) and Olympic silver medalist.

For the World Surf League, reliable connectivity isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s critical. Judges need stable connections to score performances in real-time. Media teams need bandwidth to capture and share content. Athletes need connectivity with their teams. And thousands of fans on the beach want to stay connected throughout the event.

The Challenge: Building Networks on the Beach

Deploying wifi at World Surf League events, like the Pipe Pro, Trestles Pro, and US Open of Surfing, presents unique challenges. First and foremost, there are the outdoor conditions—salty air, harsh sun, winds, and unpredictable weather. High-density crowds with thousands of smartphones are constantly competing for bandwidth. The judges need connectivity to score in real time, athletes need to review footage with their team, and the media is broadcasting live. Adding another layer of complexity, each of the groups have different security and bandwidth requirements. 

“It is so important to have a reliable, fast, stable Wi-Fi connection throughout the event,” said Robin Erb, VP of Tours & Events at the World Surf League. “You don’t know what you have until you don’t have it.”

The Solution: eero Outdoor 7 and advanced networking solutions

eero partnered with the World Surf League to design and deploy a comprehensive network solution using eero device gateways and Outdoor 7s for multi-gig connectivity..

“We couldn’t be happier to be partnering with eero,” said Robert Occhialini, Chief Technology Officer at WSL. “They’ve really helped us design a thoughtful network solution using their best-in-class hardware to solve the really hard problem of deploying a network outdoors for all of the various uses that we have.”

The deployment featured multiple SSIDs to serve different user groups:

• Dedicated judge networks – ensuring scoring systems had priority bandwidth and security
• Secure Point of Sale network – to keep drinks, food, and merch flowing
• Open public networks – allowing fans to stay connected throughout the event
• Media and production networks – supporting broadcast teams and content creators

“We know what expectations people have when using wifi, and our ability to do that at large scale only comes from the lessons that we’ve learned by cutting our teeth doing this residentially,” said Rowan Chakoumakos, EVP of Software Engineering at eero. “All this is being powered by eero. The reason why we have such great performance and can cover an event like this is we leverage eero products and features that make it really easy for a small business, medium business, or even a very large venue to run their Wi-Fi network.”

Result: Infrastructure that just works

The best technology is the kind you don’t have to think about. As the official mesh wifi provider for the WSL across three North American events, eero delivered consistent, reliable performance that became invisible infrastructure. Judges scored performances without interruption. Athletes reviewed footage instantly with coaches all over the world. Fans and press shared moments on social media in real time. And the WSL team could focus on delivering incredible events—not troubleshooting network issues.

From the water to the beach to the broadcast booth, eero kept everyone connected across every competition.

Takeaway

The best technology is the kind you don’t have to think about. As the official mesh wifi provider for the WSL across three North American events, eero delivered consistent, reliable performance that became invisible infrastructure. Judges scored performances without interruption. Athletes reviewed footage instantly with coaches all over the world. Fans and press shared moments on social media in real time. And the WSL team could focus on delivering incredible events—not troubleshooting network issues.

From the water to the beach to the broadcast booth, eero kept everyone connected across every competition.