Skateboarding is About to Change Forever

How do you scale culture without killing its soul?

Skateboarding was built in empty pools and back alleys on cracked pavement with DIY ramps. That’s the magic of it - raw, rebellious, and authentic. Which is why every attempt to professionalize it has always felt like bottling lightning. The result? Boring and sterile (Olympics, anyone?).

But...NBA vet Gary Payton II is betting he can change that. He’s launching the Skate Board Association, a coed, six-team league paying salaries, offering ownership stakes, and running a draft like traditional pro sports. Bold move! Maybe inevitable? Niche sports are no longer niche, and brands are the sharks circling.

Hip-hop made itself a global empire, but in the process alienated the purists who built it from nothing. Purists say the charts aren’t hip-hop. Record execs say…well, nothing (service is spotty on their yachts).

The tightrope: can you preserve culture in the face of commercialization? 

If the SBA leans into skateboarding’s narrative power, its style, personalities, anti-establishment ethos, and builds a media engine around it, they might strike the balance.

Because I don't think skateboarding fans are asking for this. But if they can see themselves in the evolution, the SBA just might have something.

So, will skateboarding retain its soul while chasing scale?