Nike Gives Hurley Its Surf Assets, Exits Category

Not long after Nike announced that it would pull its sponsorship from the U.S. Open of Surf without much explanation, the move becomes (almost) clear. On Tuesday, the sports-brand giant announced that it would be exiting the surf category completely, rolling all of their wave-riding resources—including all of their sponsored surfers such as Kolohe Andino and Julian Wilson—under the Hurley umbrella.

While Nike has still kept its lips sealed tight on details, a spokesperson said that it has big sports initiatives on the horizon for 2013—and that they'll be refocusing their direct action sports attention toward snowboarding and skateboarding.

Indirectly, though, Hurley sees this move as a way for Nike to "double down" on their surfing focus.

"This strategy re-alignment further validates why I believe Nike is such a tremendous partner with Hurley," CEO Bob Hurley said. "We have the talent and desire to compete hard, as well as the resources and focus to continue to be inspired by athletes and kids. I could not be more excited and energized by the next phase of our adventure."

But what does this really mean for the brands moving forward? Shop-Eat-Surf.com talked one-on-one to the Hurley CEO and founder to get some answers—and while they're very PC (read: vague on the details), it's still worth a read. Check out the full interview here.