you guys are missing the point: they do bring in a loooot of money, but shops or ditributers aren't interested in giving money back into the skate community, because that would not affect their sales
It's almost an "everybody needs to look out for themselves" environment right now. The skate shops have a priority to stay in business, and that's not easy when the economy is in such a rut. Blaming the economy can be a cop out, but businesses are shutting down left and right from lack of money. Borders books is about to disappear completely, for instance. I went to my local skate shop for the first time in years and they charge a fortune for basic clothing items, so I don't know why posers or skaters would shop there for clothes anyway. They didn't even have what I wanted.
Here's a question, do people that wear skater clothing even know it's made by a skate label? If they go to a mall and buy a shirt, they might just think that it's a random shirt that happens to say Element on it...for some reason. They might just think that Element is just a clothing label.
Here's another question. I haven't skated or cared much about the skate industry in many years. I'm probably going to give it a try again and I want to buy the Zero DVD set (Zero was my favorite team). I just ordered and received a Zero t-shirt. If I wear that shirt out, will I be a poser? Dun, dun, duuuunnnn. This is actually the first piece of skate clothing I've ever bought (other than a small Zero patch on an old denim vest). I also won't buy anymore skate clothing...
In the end, real skaters can still wear skate clothes from more obscure brands and non-skaters won't know what it is or they will be able to target you for being some wannabe rebel or whatever. If you're offended by the posers, then don't buy a Vans t-shirt or whatever the posers are wearing. Buy a Zero shirt or something else.
Will skateboarding eventually evolve to the point where people who dont skate can enjoy watching it, or does that only work with a team to root for? How many people would buy a Ladd jersey ha
I don't skate anymore but I've re-watched some old skate vids. It's entertaining, so it's possible that people that don't or can't skate will still want to watch. The problem is when lame shows focus on skaters acting goofy instead of the actual sport. That does nothing to build interest in skateboarding. It's just another lame "reality" show.