The future of the skateboarding industry (riders and companies)

[The Upside of Down]

I can see a lot more companies closing their doors in the upcoming year, and that means a lot of guys might not have sponsorships anymore.  Usually these guys would get sponsored by other companies who had the ability to expand their teams, however these guys are gonna be hard up to find sponsors who have the $ to add another rider to the payroll/or free product program.  I can see that this is gonna weed out some of the really good skaters to continue being sponsored while those that are just pretty good having to find a job somewhere else.  I also wonder if companies are gonna start cutting guys from their team just to stay afloat?

[kevbo999]

Less mediocre ams and pros?  Oh no, how will I ever continue skateboarding, knowing that Angel Ramirez no longer has a board?

[The Pillar]

the master cleanse

[Heshstallion]

maybe the legends divisions and old school boards companies are making will get cut, even though those guys deserve it i dont think theey sell very much of that stuff

[Cthulhu!]

Oh well.

[carbonite]

some kid will literally die jumping down stuff in an attempt to get sponsored...

[waskO]

Because of the state of the economy (fucked) the most legit small brands (like Listen) have the possibility of going out of business. Bigger coporate companies are gonna have a bigger influence in skating since they have the money to stick it out and put on riders who may have lost sponsors.

[Painted Shape]

The term, "Support" comes to mind.

[sal23]

small companies might go under
but
since small companys are under bigger companies userally
i get the feeling ALOT of flow kids will be off the program..
which sucks alot
but if it keeps companies afloat im sure they will support them eitherway..

[natenola forever]

i was thinking about stuff like this earlier today while watching the Habitat video, Thinking about dudes like Ed Selego and Kerry Getz who are companies cuz they are sick and get respect but get virtually no coverage.

Maybe a lot of companies will quit giving pros minimum salrays and just pay board sales or pay the whole team a percentage of sales.
This is gonna allow whatever few companies continue to do well a lot of buying power and we may see the kinda World Industries type team dominace return. just some thoughts.

[ShortyGSATX]

I like referring to 2008 & 2009 as the "Quickening". I don't think a ton of companies are going to close or a ton of mediocre pros will be gone though.
Shops are going through the same problem though. Slower sales are tough on everybody.

[Randozzi]

Depends on the company. some small companies are self-supporting and can ride through shit. some bigger companies have taken out small business loans or borrowed in other ways and may get hit harder. just depends on the business structure and blind luck. i sure hope that small companies and shops make it through the next couple years because this recession will be here for a while.

[Livin The Psychedelic Lif]

Depends on the company. some small companies are self-supporting and can ride through shit. some bigger companies have taken out small business loans or borrowed in other ways and may get hit harder. just depends on the business structure and blind luck. i sure hope that small companies and shops make it through the next couple years because this recession will be here for a while.

totally, its rough out there. And its only gonna get rockier.
So hold on to your hats cuz we are in for a ride.
Yes that means: Jake Johnson you only get 1 board a week instead of 4.

[Matze]

hopefully we get to this point when mtv and mountain dew don't like to support skateboarding anymore.

[walrus]

"WE AINT INDUSTRY NIGGAS, WE IN THE STREETS, NIGGAS"

[sweatloaf]

Flying cars and 3 course meals in pill form

[Bipsmound]

Flying cars and 3 course meals in pill form

Sex with robots and cyborg offspring.  Everything in Futura font.  People get hungry and obesity becomes sexy again.

[Se7en]

I definately see more DNA/Burton type deals happening which is depressing - distribution is going to become a huge problem for some companies, especially if credit stays frozen

[H8R part 4]

my biggest fear in all this is that the guys who i enjoy watching, who are actually good at skating will get the boot, while the guys who are just marketable will stay getting checks putting out subpar footage.    

kind of on topic...
i was looking at the bummer high catalogue the other day and i noticed they have way too much ramdom shit their trying to push.  they got bummer high zippos and bummer high guitar straps which IMO is just not a good product to stock during this economy.  shop owners and companies alike need to tighten their budgets and stick to things they know will sell(boards, hats and hoodies) and drop all that other nonsense until people get their feet back under them.  

      

[Bipsmound]

i couldnt give 2 shits if my favorite pro had to get a job, i have to work, so shuold they. ive been skating for ten years havent gotten 1 free board that was actually good. i am just as good at skateboarding as pretty much any pro out there and i dont get coverage cause i dont have some sick underground flannel wearing pussy ass personality. so fuck them they're paycheque can lick my choad/chode.

I've seen your footage, you're about as good at street skating as an 80's vert pro who tried to adapt to the hip new thang.  So yeah, maybe you should be pro, you could ride for Zorlac.

[Livin The Psychedelic Lif]

my biggest fear in all this is that the guys who i enjoy watching, who are actually good at skating will get the boot, while the guys who are just marketable will stay getting checks putting out subpar footage.    

kind of on topic...
i was looking at the bummer high catalogue the other day and i noticed they have way too much ramdom shit their trying to push.  they got bummer high zippos and bummer high guitar straps which IMO is just not a good product to stock during this economy.  shop owners and companies alike need to tighten their budgets and stick to things they know will sell(boards, hats and hoodies) and drop all that other nonsense until people get their feet back under them.  

      

you mean if i ride for bummer high, i get guitar products?!?!
and music sheets to slayer and such others.
my kinda team.

[Hobochilli]

i couldnt give 2 shits if my favorite pro had to get a job, i have to work, so shuold they. ive been skating for ten years havent gotten 1 free board that was actually good. i am just as good at skateboarding as pretty much any pro out there and i dont get coverage cause i dont have some sick underground flannel wearing pussy ass personality. so fuck them they're paycheque can lick my choad/chode.

can you be more annoying?

[gordon bombay]

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i couldnt give 2 shits if my favorite pro had to get a job, i have to work, so shuold they. ive been skating for ten years havent gotten 1 free board that was actually good. i am just as good at skateboarding as pretty much any pro out there and i dont get coverage cause i dont have some sick underground flannel wearing pussy ass personality. so fuck them they're paycheque can lick my choad/chode.

[close]

can you be more annoying?

yes.

http://www.slapmagazine.com/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=33&topic=30099.0

[coop D.O.G.G.]

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i couldnt give 2 shits if my favorite pro had to get a job, i have to work, so shuold they. ive been skating for ten years havent gotten 1 free board that was actually good. i am just as good at skateboarding as pretty much any pro out there and i dont get coverage cause i dont have some sick underground flannel wearing pussy ass personality. so fuck them they're paycheque can lick my choad/chode.

[close]

I've seen your footage, you're about as good at street skating as an 80's vert pro who tried to adapt to the hip new thang.  So yeah, maybe you should be pro, you could ride for Zorlac.

i wanna see his footy, can you post some?

[oldcasual]

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i couldnt give 2 shits if my favorite pro had to get a job, i have to work, so shuold they. ive been skating for ten years havent gotten 1 free board that was actually good. i am just as good at skateboarding as pretty much any pro out there and i dont get coverage cause i dont have some sick underground flannel wearing pussy ass personality. so fuck them they're paycheque can lick my choad/chode.

[close]

can you be more annoying?

[close]

yes.

http://www.slapmagazine.com/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=33&topic=30099.0

hahahahahah

[Hobochilli]

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i couldnt give 2 shits if my favorite pro had to get a job, i have to work, so shuold they. ive been skating for ten years havent gotten 1 free board that was actually good. i am just as good at skateboarding as pretty much any pro out there and i dont get coverage cause i dont have some sick underground flannel wearing pussy ass personality. so fuck them they're paycheque can lick my choad/chode.

[close]

can you be more annoying?

[close]

yes.

http://www.slapmagazine.com/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=33&topic=30099.0

true,that shit is the most annoying ever.

[ProjectBluebeam]

i couldnt give 2 shits if my favorite pro had to get a job, i have to work, so shuold they. ive been skating for ten years havent gotten 1 free board that was actually good. i am just as good at skateboarding as pretty much any pro out there and i dont get coverage cause i dont have some sick underground flannel wearing pussy ass personality. so fuck them they're paycheque can lick my choad/chode.

suicide is the answer

[Canuck]

The term, "Support" comes to mind.

depending on how bad the economy gets, it might become really hard for people to pay the rent, bills, etc...

On the plus side, every time there is a bust there is a boom down the road. Hopefully this time we won't need something like WWII to kick-start the economy.

[The Upside of Down]

Expand Quote

The term, "Support" comes to mind.

[close]

depending on how bad the economy gets, it might become really hard for people to pay the rent, bills, etc...

On the plus side, every time there is a bust there is a boom down the road. Hopefully this time we won't need something like WWII to kick-start the economy.

That is based on the assumption that things will continue the same as they have been.  The energy crisis isn't going anywhere, and the economy cannot rebound without cheap energy.

If you guys want some good insight as to what is going on, check out www.theoildrum.com   This website has helped me make some good $ over a couple of years, as well as give me some insight as to how things really work.

[i used to skate]

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i couldnt give 2 shits if my favorite pro had to get a job, i have to work, so shuold they. ive been skating for ten years havent gotten 1 free board that was actually good. i am just as good at skateboarding as pretty much any pro out there and i dont get coverage cause i dont have some sick underground flannel wearing pussy ass personality. so fuck them they're paycheque can lick my choad/chode.

[close]

I've seen your footage, you're about as good at street skating as an 80's vert pro who tried to adapt to the hip new thang.  So yeah, maybe you should be pro, you could ride for Zorlac.

[close]

i wanna see his footy, can you post some?