Many decades ago, skateboarding was simply a hobby. One wouldn’t even dare call it a sport back then. It basically involved bored surfers and kids skating on broken up scooters or wooden boxes with wheels and other rudimentary skateboards.
The first manufactured skateboards were created in a California surf shop by Bill Richards. Seeing an opportunity to cash in on this hobby, he produced the skateboards and sold them to surfers looking for ways to improve their balance and have a few kicks. By the mid 60’s, skateboarding had stopped being trendy and virtually died out.
A little over a decade later, skateboarding exploded back on the scene and has become a significant part of our culture. Now you will find numerous skate parks in almost every city, with more than 15 million kids and adults being active participants. Skateboarding is no longer considered a hobby, but a competitive sport.
Many young kids dream of being a pro skateboarder like Tony Hawk, Jake Brown and Danny Way. Depending on the popularity of the skater, they can easily earn hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Most skaters make money through a combination of product endorsements, competitions and sponsorships.
Product endorsements can be quite lucrative for many popular skaters. Essentially the skater will attach his or her name to a product and endorse it to the public. Then the company will advertise through television and print media, hoping the popularity of the skater helps them to sell more of the product.
A skater can also earn money by placing highly in skateboarding events. The more popular the event, the bigger the purse and the better chance the skater has of attracting a sponsor.
Most pro skaters are striving for a sponsorship. The sponsor will pay many of the skater’s expenses, including travel, food and supplying them with free merchandise. The more the skater wins, the more lucrative contract they can stand to earn.
Since skateboarding is such a high risk sport, may skaters don’t compete much past the age of 30. The sport can wear their bodies down and the injuries all add up over time. This is why most pro skateboarders try to earn as much money as possible while their short window of opportunity is still open.
