Why are Professional Skateboarders Broke?

Only thing that I can’t see a way around is skating needs advertising and idols to keep the sport alive from a marketing standpoint. I see less and less people skate as I get older…

This was a great video.

think you going to get me on these FUMs Ricky, I will be sure to use your affiliate code

I used to love viva la bam when I was kid. I loved the whole energy of the skate scene during those days.

People who sell furniture or electronics can charge a lot because EVERYONE needs those things. Not everyone needs skateboarding. Thats why skaters dont get a lot of money. Theres only so many times you want to pay to see someones skate video. Whereas you will sit on a couch every day for years. Its just sadly how the economy works. Im a skater myself but i understand how the economy works and sure its sad but its a part of life.

Is skate stunts still a good way to promote my new label of garments ?

yooo man teach me skating

This is all very depressing

"THATS WHAT I WAS SAYIN!"
mans pissed off for him lol

It's quite similar to many other fields. Artists, for example, face a similar situation. Only the top 2% earn a great living. Even professional artists often just scrape by, earning a salary comparable to a standard entry-level job. Most artists need to find other ways to make money. For them, it's a passion pursuit, much like it is for skateboarders and many others.

7 more likes to 1000 likes

They are broke cause scammers like Aaron Kyro use them and sellout

The job of a pro skater is and has been to make skating look cool so that people see them and go buy skate gear. It is not a competitive sport by nature and consequently winning does not pay: X-Games winner: 50k, Snooker World Champion: 600k, Tennis US Open: 3M. Skating is just a way of life. Enjoy that you at least get something in return other than fun.

The industry itself has been decimated and with it the pro skaters and with them the entire subculture of skateboarding. I'm going to rant but the culprit is Nike SB and the Olympics and other mega-corporations. All those kids who predicted this were 100% correct.

When I was growing up skating in the 00s, I would walk into a skateshop to buy, let's say, skate shoes... And on the wall I would see Lakai, éS, Etnies, Fallen, Globe, DVS, DC, Osiris, Emerica, Circa, Supra, Ice Cream, Vans, IPath, Adio... I am sure I am leaving some out too. A whole wall of them, multiple different styles and colors of each company. Now in 2024 I go into a "skateshop" (which is hardly a skateshop but a major chain like Zumiez that sells 4-5 brands of boards in about 2-3 board sizes in the dusty back of the shop... because the actual skateshops have all closed) and I see rows of Nike, Nike, Nike, Nike, Nike, Nike, Nike, Adidas, Adidas, and New Balance. This isn't just about shoes of course but it is emblematic of the entire problem.

All those kids who said things like "Nike SB is going to ruin skateboarding" "the Olympics is going to ruin skateboarding" and trashed all these other big-budget monsters coming into skateboarding were all called "gatekeepers" but they were 100% correct. There is hardly a skate culture anymore.

Like I said it's not about shoes, I just point this out because all of those companies employed entire pro teams and fostered a rich culture around skating, releasing ads in magazines like Transworld and Thrasher, releasing full video parts, featuring in video games, then there were all the board companies, the trucks companies, the clothing companies... all of that. You could essentially tell who a skateboarder was just by looking at them because they had shoes no one else wore with the toe rippped off and the Matix sweater and the Krew pants and the Alien Workshop sticker on their laptop...

It's not just companies like Nike getting involved, it's other things too like SLS and the Olympics and TikTok and social media... There's no longer a recognizable culture, there is no such thing as a "skater" anymore, it's just people who happen to skateboard sorta but are just like anyone else r the subculture is dead, the parks are empty, but there's hardly any progression because there is no hope of sponsorship for anyone anymore. I knew multiple kids with sponsorships growing up... That sounds crazy in 2024, when only about 25 pros (the ones lucky enough to get into SLS or ride for Nike) even make anything off their progression. This entire situation has made the quality of skateboarding go down. These megacompanies push every other skate company out of business, even long-respected companies, and now skateboarding is more of just another obscure olympic sport like curling. Sad.

Great video! Another aspect is the 'sellout' judgement. I remember a lot of people hating on P Rod and Sheckler for taking sponsorships from Nike and other big non-skateboarding brands. But that's where the money is...

i think it´s just skaters back then are better marketable cause the interest in skating was bigger. these days nyjah should be like the "richest" skater but in comparison to tony hawk he dont have that much. and every big financial skater got the money not from skating (tony from the games movies etc, bam from his shows, rob dyrdek from his shows and he was a succesfull buisness man and ryan sheckler the same) and if you have that big of a name like them a shoe company wanna get you way more and is willing to pay way more cause it´s likely they make more revenue.
if we would ask some stranger what skater do you know they almost always know tony some bam some ryan and a few rob, but u wouldn´t hear too many say nyjah huston felipe gustavo etc.

and in sports the amount of money u can generate is always depend on how much money u bring in and how many sponsors u got how much these sponsors are willing to pay, if we take shoe companies its quite obv nike has nyjah but u can´t expect nayjah selling the same amount of shoes like lebron christiano ronaldo or something so why would nyjah get the same deal like them.

Why is anyone broke now... Skateboarding will come back when culture does . Also danny has gotten annoying

Moose ruined his own career with addiction

Stubborn

I’ve never watched Danny before but my god props for the way he just DIVES into those questions lmao

yeah only way to make money is to do it the way Supreme does it or Palace..make it about the clothing and etc..and yeah also when u get hurt pretty bad, its over

This video is funny to me as a Martial Arts Tricker

It’s as brutal as skating I survived for 22 years and made more than a lot of pro skaters but there’s nothing to do I didn’t make it as a stunt man so I’m just starting life at 40

I think you are 100% correct.

drugs and booze duh

Back in the day when skateboarding was not popular, we had a "skate or die!" or "skateboarding is not a crime!" attitude. Now that skateboarding is popular and mainstream, we have a "skate and get paid!" and "sellout and skate!" attitude.

Here is the answer ask Tony Hawk the Illuminati.

Interesting take. I cannot help but to wonder why only a couple of Pro skaters talking about how skating has financially failed them. If this issue is widespread, can you interview more cases? Two people just seem like a singled out situation.

I used to skate

Skateboarding is a lifestyle not a fashinable TV sport.
The ones make a killing are marketable or found ways to be. For the ones making millions there are hundreds behind them that struggle to continue to skate at a high level and have a place to live and plenty of food.

Basically it boils down to antiquated $2 royalty sales from boards aren't enough for current inflation rates. But you also have a lot fewer younger kids skating in 2024 because of modern tech. Toddlers literally grow up with screens and internet. If you have fewer younger participants you have fewer board sales. The older dudes like me (37 years old) I throw my money around in skateboarding for sure, but how many of us are there. I doubt there's that many. Most dudes my age that are skateboarding are collecting decks to put on walls only. Meaning a lot of eBay purchases or other secondary markets.

Not possible to make money with board sales since the market is insanely oversaturated. The shoes used to be the saving grace off pro careers but even that is getting smaller and smaller. We used to have 10 shoe brands making decent money selling skate shoes and merch to skaters and non skaters. Pro's who skated for brands like Es,Emerica,Etnies,Lakai,Circa,DVS,Osiris,Supra,Fallen,Globe,Adio,Ipath and few others were making money. And all the deserving pro's were on one off those companies.

Now that pie got cut into just 4 slices. Vans,Adidas,Nike SB and New Balance. That's all you see out there. So all that money get saturated into just 4 places so you have skaters making good money if they skate for those brands and if they are not on those brands they are probably having a hard time. I knew from the start that this was bad for skating.

I love the shoes these brands make but I knew it was gonna be bad for such a small industry like skateboarding. I also don't see a way out. If you get good enough to get on top off thsoe brands then you made it. If not,get ready to have a job while skating 3 hours a day.

My 29yo brother has £100 wheels! All together, his set costs around £250

it's not really enough to just be good at skateboarding. for better or worse, you're a walking billboard for the brands who sponsor you. i never understood the hate for the guys who have more mainstream sponsors - energy drinks, etc

i'd guess the olympians/sls skaters are probably doing ok

Back in the day, I remember seeing the same skaters in every month of Thrasher Magazine. It's like they say, "it's not what you know, it's who you know".

For skaters to get more money they need to bring more eye balls and numbers 3 times a week.

Lemme explain something to you.....
Back in the 90s, pro skaters made money like dudes with a decent factiry job, and could very much support a fair middle class lifestyle as long as they didnt splurge or have substance abuse problems, same with any normal hard working American.
But, since idiots didnt biycott Nike Adidas red bull and now even worse companies like new balance (😅😅 new balance) the big companies figured out how to maximize corproate alesrnigs even more, leaving less profits for the skaters.
If youre not sponsored by said evil bug corporations, you will wind up worki g at Lowes , like Moose.
Its the skaters faukt for not listening to us over 20 years ago about why big corporate names shoukdnt be in the industry.
Its not hard dude.

lmao i love how the interview is at lowes

Corporate greed keeps pro skaters broke. You put a lot more on the line to become a pro skater. We wouldn't even make 100th of the pay of like NBA players.

big chanel rick, keep grinding

Facts

love your videos ❤

I've been bodybuilding for 12 years and like skate boarding we take everything to the extreme to win a contest and at the end of the year if your of the elite 1% you maybe win 30k a year. It's shitty becuase on the other hand we have stupid shit like football, tennis, basketball etc and I'd 100% would rather watch some skate a 12 stair and hit some fat tricks then watch someone run with a ball down the field.

Danny Mullen sounding like a C.I.A Investigator when asking those questions 😅😅😅

I am skater but more Rollerblader. Don't hate me 😅 and rollerblading is almost since my first years 2003 not full of money in the industry. The best of the best get some money but never was rich. And now skateboarding almost too 😢 but I think it's more auf a world who has other interests...

But as we see the people love the sport even there isn't much money! 🖤 And that's why I love skating and rollerblading is

This is why I’m a fan of you Ricki! You are not afraid of stepping out of the box!

I can't even tell what makes a pro anymore. Things pros were doing in the 90s and 00s you can see going down at the park by an amateur. I think it's just too many great skaters, the trick tips made so many great skaters. So you need something besides just skating to set you apart

watching this to see how the FPV drone scene will turn out, very similar things