I think this MTB article is interesting, but pro MTBing isn’t a comparable world to skating.
Yes, some bike companies make a lot more than skate (board) companies. And some pro mountain bikers are going to make the same or more or less than pro skaters. But skate culture is a worldwide phenomenon. Mountain biking isn’t. It’s a very niche world. Bikes cost thousands and thousands of dollars. And although the industry is growing, there is not the same demand for the culture - vids, mags, clothing, shoes, etc - as there is for skate products around the world.
Mountain biking doesn’t have NIKE (cons), Adidas, Vans and New Balance all paying hundreds of bikers to bike every year. Of those companies, I believe New Balance has the smallest market cap, and it’s at least a few billion dollars. They also DON’T have a much smaller secondary shoe market - Lakai, Emerica, Fallen, DC (more of a mid player between Corpo and smaller) paying living wages to their skate teams. All these are companies just paying skaters to wear there skate specific footwear. And footwear is a huge and expensive market to create product for and distribute worldwide.
On top of that, brands like Palace, Supreme (now VF Corp) and to a lesser extent Dime and Alltimers etc, have transcended skateboarding and are more worldwide fashion brands that help drive trends and the global hype machine. They do this through skate culture, which gives them legitimacy. It’s because skateboarding is “cool” they have cache. That “cool” is derived from the skaters those brands and all skate brands are associated with.
VF Corp, which owns Vans, dickies, the north face, didn’t buy Supreme because they sell the most* clothing. They bought it for the brand and the ability to market and create trends that drive culture. And they paid billions for it. Nothing like that exists in Mountain Biking.
In fact, there’s nothing really from Mountain Biking that had infiltrated mainstream culture as a trend. Yes, certain mountain bikers have videos on YouTube with millions of views and Red Bull helmets on. But those videos aren’t driving fashion and consumer trends on the streets of global cities like Milan, Shanghai and New York....
As for skate salaries, I think it really depends on who the skater skates for.
The big shoe brands - Adidas, Nike (cons), Vans, and NB - all have deep rosters of pros and flow pros and ams. It depends on the tier the skater is at within those companies for their salaries. And those salaries probably range from the high six figures (300,000-500,000$ +) at the very top end, to 40-60,000$ per year (USD) depending on the pros status or marketability. Pick out a pro on their team. Ask yourself if they are more of a niche “skaters skater”, a guy who wins Xgames every year, or a skater regularly up for SOTY (hell, they could be all of those things). If they are one of those things or more, adjust their salary accordingly.
If you use the supreme kids for example, those guys are probably getting a salary from supreme, a salary from a corpo shoe brand, and a salary from a board brand. They are likely making a really solid above average living wage from their collective sponsors. None of them likely have an energy drink sponsor because they don’t need them. The board brands they’re associated with sell well. They all have shoe deals. And the Supreme factor makes them more appealing to their sponsors, buying extra “cool points” (I know it’s corny) which translates into extra dollars.
Board brands aren’t likely the main source of income for most* pros now. That said, board brands that sell lots of boards probably pay pros decently. And board brands that sell a lot of clothes, think Palace, probably pay quite well too.
Like all industries - picture a pyramid - the people at the top are likely making the most. Most pros are going to be somewhere in the middle or bottom third of the triangle.
That said, the economics of skating are super strange. There are pros that slap loves that are probably getting the odd check from an indie board and maybe “pro flow” payments from a corpo shoe brand. They might make 20-30K USD a year. And work a part-time job to support themselves. Shit, some guys making “pro” salaries might be in this range and work.
But brands pay for “cool” - it’s what gives them legitimacy. So a skater without even a pro board on the wall and a pro status from a corpo shoe brand might be making pro dollars from that corpo shoe brand as they build a following. Lots of “ams” are making more than pros, especially if they are sponsored by a corpo shoe brand, an energy drink and a clothing brand.
TLDR: the economics of pro skating are strange, but they aren’t likely the best comparison for mountain biking because the skate industry is too large and too diverse and too popular, resonating beyond just skateboarding and into global fashion/trends.
Topic: Salaries in Skate? This is what MTB riders make. (Read 4612 times)