pro skater?

[Guest dontcaretoomuchforcrap]

this may be a stupid question, but what exactly is a professional skater?

i know a lot of people like Huf and the workers at Supreme are pro skaters, but was / is that a job? some one like P Rod can make money at the x games and tony hawk can make loads of money, but besides free gear from sponsors, what defines a 'pro skater'?

[Tobe]

they also make money through board sales (pro models) and sales of videos/dvds of their sponsors.

I guess they collect footage most of the time for new videos and stuff, because it takes pretty long to finish a part of a skate vid.

abc 123

[arem]

Pro skaters are just like any other pro athlete, they are paid by their teams to skate for them. However, the teams are formed by the companies that equip them. The best skaters "play" for multiple teams, who pay them to skate this deck, wear that shirt and use these wheels whenever they do their thing. The team wins when kids buy the team's product because they think that, say Bam Margera is cool, so they buy stuff from the teams/companies he skates for. The skater wins by being good enough and popular enough that their teams make them signature products, designed by/for them, that the skater gets a share of the profits from in addition to their salary.

An amateur skater is one who is affiliated with a company, but does not have a contract guaranteeing them a salary from the company. Skaters make the jump from am to pro by proving that they will get the team the kind of exposure that will make people want to buy the stuff that skater uses. This is done by getting pics in mags, doing well in contests, making good video parts, etc. Am's may make some $ from doing things like travelling and contests, but they have no salary and no signature products that they make royalties from.

A step down from am is "flow", where a company gives a promising skater free gear to encourage them to keep improving but offers them no real affiliation with the company.

[Marcus]

Pro skater = someone who skateboards for a living

[russellh]

A professional skateboarder is someone who can just pick up a board, and skate anywhere at anytime. Basically, just doing there thing.

Now as for the pay... for professional, as stated "having a pro model, being on multiple teams, etc..." Right now, the X-Games are huge for sponsors. As having that access to television, people everywhere see that logo and are like "whoa, thats cool, I want it." For people like Koston, Rod, Getz, Hawk they just kept skating and got exposure (which is another huge part of being professional) so kids recognize them and there sponsors. Those are just some of the ways they come up with money.

[cheapmuthafukr]

pro skater- has their name on a board and sells high grade weed

amatuer- no board and sells cheap weed

denim is the new crack

[triniboy27]

Not that I remotely skate (haven't been on a board since I was 10) but I do remember this story about the 'extreme' athletes (skaters, bmx'ers, etc) wanting to form a union because when they participate in the X-games, etc, they actually don't get a ton of compensation as compared to other professional athletes whose events are televised.

When they compete in these events, their main source of income are the prizes (if they place) and as someone said before, their sponsorship money.

[cheapmuthafukr]

basicly they get paid to rep a company. ads make them money, and even non ad photos in mags as long as thier sponsers logo is visable, which is one of the reasons of the huge logo tees and shit like that. they also make royalties from board, shoe, wheel, clothing sales. in reality, contests are a very small part of it all. my friend clyde has been pro for something like 12 years and i dont think hes ever placed in a contest.

denim is the new crack

[witts]

so he sells high grade weed yeah?

[cheapmuthafukr]

i cant say...

denim is the new crack

[witts]

shitt i was after a pukka 8th

[cheapmuthafukr]

i know he dont ship to the uk

denim is the new crack

[witts]

aw shit. have to get bid-pay service to ship from japan get the bape X shiva bud

[mixedup]

Edited by mixedup on Jan 14, 2006 at 10:28 AM

[marksound]

Quote:

basicly they get paid to rep a company. ads make them money, and even non ad photos in mags as long as thier sponsers logo is visable, which is one of the reasons of the huge logo tees and shit like that. they also make royalties from board, shoe, wheel, clothing sales. in reality, contests are a very small part of it all. my friend clyde has been pro for something like 12 years and i dont think hes ever placed in a contest.

--- Original message by cheapmuthafukr on Jan 11, 2006 06:21 AM

So that's why you used his photo in the "what are you wearing today" thread? Good one... and now telling the world he sells weed- Just the kind of friend one needs.

KOOK.

[cheapmuthafukr]

i never said he did... thats just been my experience with pros... ive known more than a few. and all this shit was a joke anyways. i thought the photo was funny, and the exchange between witts and i was just some bored bullshit.

denim is the new crack

Edited by cheapmuthafukr on Jan 19, 2006 at 09:09 AM