The Mass Marketing of Skateboarding

This week, I got into an argument with one of my favorite pro skateboarders of all time. It was all online, so I didn't mind telling him that I dislike his friend's effort to sell skateboarding to a wider audience. (If you watch MTV, you would know his friend from the show Rob and Big - hint: it's not Big).


Basically, our argument was about a new effort to remake professional skateboarding into something akin to the NBA or NFL, a league with high-stakes competitions that are broadcasted on major networks. The first Street League was Thursday, and although the $150,000 prize was paltry compared to the salaries of NBA stars, it only portends a greater corporate influence in skateboarding.

I think this is bad for a number of reasons, from the basic and sort of selfish - I don't want a lot of kids crowding the spots - to the speculative - I think that as more major corporations get involved, it will become difficult for small shops to stay in business. How will RAW, the best local shop, be able to compete with Target, which has already signed a sponsorship contract with Paul Rodriguez? How will my favorite street skateboarders be able to compete against people like Chris Cole for board sales?

Finally, I am afraid that the aesthetics of the sport will change, from raw and gritty to something that is more polished and boring. It will move from the streets of major cities to indoor, air-conditioned arenas. Even the new logo of the Street League is a bland rip-off of the NBA and MLB logos.

I don't know. Am I making to much of this? Are Nike shoes and Target decks a bad thing? Does it matter that ESPNX exists? My instincts tell me yes.

There is one good thing I can think of that might come of all this. Some day, I may be able to participate in sports chatter around the water cooler. "Did you see P-Rod in the finals last night?" Maybe then this blog post wont seem so nerdy and eccentric.