I find it a bit strange if people here assume that "being a pro/having a name on the website" equals a monthly paycheck which is out of some hungry am's pocket... While there are pros that are milking their past fame, there's those whose name should always have a board on the wall and I have no issues when companies keep their family of skateboarders together whether or not they do the latest or greatest part every 6 months (Like Deluxe is a good example).
There's the marketability issue. Crail comes up every time with these topics. While there are tons of skateboarders who don't care whose Johnny Whatshisname board they are skating, there's a lot of people who get that Rick Howard or MC board off the wall, because they have been in skateboarding for over 30 years and certified legends/name recognition, thus keeping the company afloat. Same with Jeron and Chris, their 9club thing probably gives more eyes to Chocolate than the latest patch of pros.
Especially now in the age of everyones-a-pro, it's harder to get your name out there, but there's people like Breanna whose pro-board is cool enough thing that people choose that over some other company.
There's a lot of comments in that Emerica topic about "Spanky shouldn't be a pro because he doesn't skate on a pro-level", what ever that means. But Spanky is doing his own thing which a lot of people dig, is recognizable pro-skater and brings more value to the companies he rides for = is marketable.
I think if you don't like "pros milking it", vote with your wallet. Get that new-pros board next time you buy a board.
Topic: Pros milking it (Read 10255 times)