Steve Berra and Blank Decks

Maybe I need a section dedicated to the blank deck debate. Here’s something from a recent Steve Berra interview that I want to talk about. Partly because Steve says some things I haven’t heard and would like to understand better, and partly because I’ve always respected Steve and feel like he’s one of the more “thoughtful” pros out there.

Steve Berra: There will always be negatives to any field, to any part of life and really, I think we’re all aware of them. But some of the things that stick out? Obviously, blank boards. But that’s a touchy subject. I understand the dilemma as I was a poor kid growing up. I really do. I don’t, rather, I can’t support blank boards by the shear fact that I’m a professional and it’s directly affected my sales and taken money out of my and my friend’s pockets that could feed our families…

Steve Berra continued… Now, when I say money, I’m not talking about that much either, because we don’t make that much, but it’s enough to where every pro has felt it. I’ve read things where kids are saying that the pros and the companies are just greedy. I think if they really knew how little profit margin there was in boards and how little we, as professionals actually get, they might not speak with so much hate about us and our sponsors. And when I say they, it’s really on a handful of really bitter guys that make it seem like everyone feels that way so maybe it’s not really worth mentioning, but I guess I will anyway. Put this up against the guy who is actually selling the blank boards to the shops, I tell ya’, those guys are the ones making the money. And quite a bit of it. But, you know, that’s capitalism. That’s a free enterprise. Like I said, it’s a touchy subject and I’m sure there will be people on the internet calling me all kinds of things.

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Ok, let’s talk about what just happened. First of all, I’m not a hater on pros, companies, or the like, before anybody assumes I’m one of the “pros don’t deserve anything and anybody who disses on blanks is an idiot” type of people. I really want to understand all sides of the debate, and I’m merely putting forth my views and trying to promote an open discussion. Whenever new information comes along I’m happy to consider it, which is the case here. And here’s what I don’t understand but would like to.

1. How much do pros really make and how does that compare to 15+ years ago? I don’t just mean from decks, I mean from everything. Does the average pro bring in $50K per year? $100K? I’ve heard rumors of hot ams getting paid $50K, let alone decent pros. I know of at least one mediocre and not very well known pro who was making $50K per year, which leads me to believe that any pro whose name is out there makes at least $100K per year.

As for the second part of the question, how much were pros making circa 1990? I’ve heard of pros like Jason Jesse, Matt Hensley, and of course Tony Hawk making over six figures for at least one year sometime between 1987-1993. If that’s the case I would assume it was the same for a healthy number of other pros like Jason Lee, Mark Gonzalez, Hosoi, Lance Mountain, etc. But I would also assume these pros were the exception to the rule, and the average take was probably around $20-30K if a pro were lucky.

Why is this question important? First, because I want to know if pros are really having trouble feeding their families. When kids see skateboarders’ houses on MTV Cribs, pros driving nice cars, and pros flying on corporate jets, it’s hard to believe skaters are having a tough time feeding families. Maybe they are, but it’s just hard to believe.

Second, if the average pro today makes more than the average pro of 15 years ago, where’s the problem? Skateboarding, at least in my opinion, was healthy 15 years ago. In some ways I think it was better. Maybe skaters weren’t getting rich, but us kids knew they enjoyed it. We knew they were doing it because they were having fun and not because they wanted endorsements. If skaters were making money back then it was a surprise to the normal skater to find that out. Today most skaters would be surprised to find out if a pro weren’t making $100K. If the blank deck issue is merely going to bring skateboarding closer to what it was 15 years ago then why should I care? I’m not being flippant, I’m asking somebody to give me a logical reason for caring. I really want to know why I should be concerned about pros losing money to blanks if even with the pinch of blanks they’re making 2-3 times what pros did 15 years ago.

2. How much profit margin is in a pro deck? I happen to have a friend who is one of the guys manufacturing blanks and I know what they cost wholesale. He claims his decks are being manufactured in the same factory as some pro decks (I’m not sure which exactly). I’m inclined to believe him because I ride his decks all the time and they seem to be just as good as any pro deck I’ve ridden. I don’t know what the exact price is, but let’s say it’s around $12 per blank, which I know is pretty close. If he’s getting decks in relatively small quantities for $12 bucks, then large companies are getting decks for that price or less. Now companies do have some other expenses to take into consideration before the pros start making any money. They’ve got advertising and marketing and all the other stuff that goes along with running a skateboard company. So let’s say when you add all that stuff on it brings the price of a deck (for the company) to $20. The deck gets sold to a skateshop for around $35. That means the skateboard company has $15 left over to pay the pro and then they can contribute the rest to profits. I don’t know what a pro gets paid per deck, but in the old days it was $1 per deck until Rocco came along, created World Industries, and started paying pros $2 per deck. Let’s say it’s up to $5 per deck today. That would still leave $10 for the company, or roughly 28% profit margins on decks. That’s a pretty good margin as far as businesses go, especially manufacturing businesses.

Now, perhaps my numbers are wrong somewhere. If they are then somebody tell me where I’m wrong, because I’m not here to pump out something that is completely false, I’m just telling it as I understand it and as I believe other kids see it, which explains why kids don’t feel sorry for pros, but maybe there’s something about the process that kids don’t understand. If so, let’s get the facts out there.

3. What’s the solution? You can’t guilt-trip people into buying something. You might get a few, but you’re pushing against the tide. You can’t force blanks out of the market without reverting to socialism. Actually, with Democrats wielding power in Congress and the Senate that might not be such a long shot. There are only two ways pro decks can compete against blanks. They either have to be better quality, they have to drop in price, or they have to be perceived as being better.

I’ve seen a lot of innovation lately in deck manufacturing. I’m not sure if any of these new types of decks are any better than the normal deck, but it’s nice to see someone trying to make a deck that lasts longer, is lighter, and that has other superior qualities. That might be the answer, but I doubt it. For one, I fail to see how somebody can make something that is so much better than a blank as to justify paying $50 vs. $15. In addition, whatever innovation comes out is only keeping the companies one step ahead. It’s only a matter of time before the people making blanks start innovating as well.

When a product become a commodity then prices tend to drop. We haven’t seen that yet, and I’m not sure why, and it makes me suspect that perhaps pro decks really do cost a lot more to make and sell than blanks. But if there really is a healthy margin in decks as my math above suggests, maybe companies need to drop the price. If they could sell to shops for $25 instead of $35, and shops would only sell decks for $40…well, that would still make it tough to compete with a $15 blank deck. So maybe that isn’t the solution either.

Finally, the companies could make a graphic deck seem better than a blank. I don’t mean they trick kids into thinking it will last longer or flip better, I mean they make kids want to have a pro deck because it’s a pro deck. When I was a kid, I wanted pro decks because I liked the graphics, and skating the pro deck made me feel like I was that pro. Today, I don’t care. Is that because I’m a grownup and care more about money, or is it something else?

I’ll tell you some things I’ve noticed that are different today than when I was growing up. 15 years ago pros used the same graphics for years and the graphics were easily recognizable. Today, pros have three sets of graphics at the same time. 15 years ago, pros always rode their own decks. Today, pros ride the deck of anyone on their team, and sometimes you even see a pro riding a…gasp–blank deck, or a deck that is so covered with stickers that you can’t tell whether it’s a pro deck or a blank. In my day, pros were legends. They were the best of the best. Today, pros are the guys who are washed up. The ams are the ones pushing the envelope. How can I get that excited about buying the deck of a pro who is being blown away at the demo by the 13 year old kid on flow who I’ve never heard of and who may or may not be riding a recognizable pro deck themselves?

Maybe some of the problems can’t be solved. Maybe it’s just the way things are and pros and companies will need to adjust accordingly. Maybe there is something they can do. But a few centuries of well-recorded business history suggests that guilt trips won’t work.