This is Weird
We’re a small crew of lifelong skaters here at The Boardr, that have worked together for decades in all facets of skateboarding business: retail, logistics, event consulting and execution for large brands, skater management, skatepark design/build, and more.
One “side hustle” that has always existed is the business of running our own events that we own. Those are the all ages contests and amateur series events in skateboarding we like to think of as “the little league of skateboarding.”
Somehow, as much as skateboarding has grown, it has never really had a good organized, national, and industry-supported path like that for kids that are just discovering skateboarding and our unique culture and scene.
Ryan Clements and I met 30+ years ago at a skateboarding contest we weren’t even skating in. We were both there just to be around other skaters and watch people who are “good.” Before long, we were working together at SPoT, doing those same kinds of contests with that good ole kumbaya feeling. We’re recreating countless lifelong friendships like ours through these events we’re doing for young skaters and getting them hooked for life on this fountain of youth activity.
From being kids to having kids to trying to make kids into skaters
From SPoT All Ages contests, to Tampa Am and Tampa Pro, then to Damn Am and SPoTlight Productions, before we eventually broke off on our own in 2013 to start The Boardr, it’s always been “events for the kids” that we put effort into whether they made money or not.
Over the last decade, we tried all different ways to make it economical: free entry, free for first timers, women skate free, free for anyone who asks, back to entry fees when sponsors disappeared, back to free, free for homies, etc. Our most recent update for 2026 was “this has to be a participant-funded activity to survive,” so we implemented the $99 membership. We’ll report on all the revenue numbers for that soon.
Anyway, some years we did well (anyone remember Marinela!?!?). In others, particularly in the last few years, not so well, but still had a good time. We’d funnel money from all the other business segments into paying for the little league of skateboarding which was the Grind for Life Series and The Boardr Series of today.
Thanks to everyone and every brand that has supported us. The most support came from not a skateboard company, but this snack company.
If you’ve been following along, you know my numbers brain has been overanalyzing the trends for years. We saw noticeable declines starting to happen in contest participation right before the pandemic. A small pop followed post-pandemic, then it was, “hmm, this decline is continuing.”
Then last year, yep, more declines. It was across the board, too, not just our events. Tampa Am, 3rd Lair, World Skate, everyone. We thought that had to be the bottom after average numbers at an event went from the high 100’s to 70 or 80 kids.
This year, it’s kind of comical as I default to humor to deal with things I feel like I can’t control as we’re finding contest after contest out there hitting new record lows for participation.
- SPoT’s all ages contest in May, the School’s Out Jam:
- They’ve been doing it for decades
- 60 kids skated it
- That’s tied for the lowest ever participation back in 2018
- It’s a 30% drop from last year’s already awful participation
- It’s a 60% drop from the all time high back in 2013 which was 148 kids
- And here’s the numbers that backup skateboarding being all uncs these days
- Only 14 kids were under the age of 13
- Only 8 of them skated the 13 to 15 Division. Prior to 2013 when we worked there, we had to cap that division due to overcrowding
- Not a surprise. We saw this coming a while back. See our presentation from 2025 on how all the skaters out there are old.
- 3rd Lair’s Annual Twin Cities Open all ages contest in May
- They started it after the pandemic and it quickly took off
- It’s had a 45% decline in just four years
- Bowl has declined by 63%!! From 48 skaters in 2022 to just 18
- Street decline is 37%: 101 skaters in 2022, 64 this weekend
- In 2022, there were 73 teen and pre-teen skaters in the contest
- Today, there are 22, a 70% decrease!!?!
Sandy, Oregon’s stop #8 for The Boardr Series had just 7 people signed up going into the weekend. We made the decision to cancel the event. We’ve never had to do that before. What a weird ass feeling. We know new stops always have low interest and participation, but that one broke through a new floor. The staff could spend a much needed weekend at home after being on the road so much so we called it.
Stop #9 and #10 are on for sure. That’s Fontana, California on August 21 - 22 and Des Moines on September 25 for the Championships.
Makin’ Business Moves
Now, let’s get into the things we did to help raise awareness. While we’re hard workers here, we’re not the best marketers, so we know we need to focus on that. In the past, we’ve been lucky enough to get those stellar numbers without even really trying. These days are different.
Are the skaters out there and they don’t know we’re doing this? Or are there no skaters? Or are there skaters and they don’t care that we’re doing this? Are we giving them a product they don’t want?
To narrow down the answer, first, we needed to eliminate the awareness variable. We can’t rely on regular social media pushes since it’s a pay-to-play advertising platform in disguise of course.
So, we’ve been paying to reach eyeballs. A couple thousand dollars in on social ad spending resulted in tons of exposure, and just about zero results.
From all that awareness, five signups across several stops happened. ??
I’ve never seen a Facebook ad campaign perform so poorly that the “low results” alert pops up.
Before we committed to this 10 stop national series and the costs and work involved, we got commitments from several brands in the industry to support and back our efforts financially. There’s also the added benefit of the industry brands talking about The Boardr Series and contributing to the awareness for those new skaters out there (or at least we hope are out there).
Anyway, most of the brands pulled back completely on their financial commitment made in late 2025, too. Oh well, we know it’s tough out there. We’re still doing this, except for the Sandy, Oregon stop.
Another area of awareness we thought would help was a handshake non-financial partnership deal with USA Skateboarding.
In the past, partnering with USA Skateboarding on promotions would provide a noticeable bump in participation.
That didn’t happen at all in 2026. Another oh well, nice try.
At our Open House on October 15th in Tampa, we’re going to break down the full finances of operating the Series. From the revenue generated by your memberships and entry fees, to the costs of staffing, travel, promotions, and all that.
I could talk forever on this stuff. I gotta sign out for now.
See you out there on the wood and wheels.
Rob
