Skateboarding and BMX: a niche no longer
The Action Sports World Tour attracts fans of all kinds
Rick Bratman can’t pinpoint the exact date the extreme went mainstream. But the president of action sports event and television production company ASA Events says that it’s become a multi-billion dollar industry with a multi-generational fan base today.
The Action Sports World Tour which comes to the 2018 PNE is a perfect example of the “mainstreamization” of what used to be a niche market for teens who like to skateboard and BMX bike ride.
“In some ways, we have three generations deep who adore this kind of sport,” said Bratman.
“And why not? It’s extremely entertaining to watch these world class athletes do the things that they do, whether you are a grandparent or the kid who just took up skateboarding.”
The ASA event features some of the top names in extreme sport pushing themselves to attain the highest air, pull off the raddest moves and not bash themselves silly in the process. With two performances daily for the run of the fair, these are some crazy fit individuals.
Here are five things Bratman told us know about the show:
1 WORLD CLASS PERFORMERS
“The biggest challenge is the balancing act to insure that we have a stellar field out there in all the events we do, because we only use people that are ranked top 20 in the world. That is a somewhat small talent pool, so a lot goes into putting a tour together.”
2 VANCOUVER ROSTER
“You guys get people like Australian BMX star Vince Byron and last year’s X-Games silver medallist Paul-Luc Ronchetti (skateboarding) on your tour.”
3 POPULAR CULTURE
“When I started doing this in the mid 1990s, the first thing we had to do was explain what action sports was, and that we weren’t just a bunch of punk kids. Today, you can have the class valedictorian or football quarterback who also rips it up on a skateboard, or is a biker, or boarder or surfer. It’s as popular as baseball, hockey or football now.”
4 FUN AND EASY
“There is an inherent wow factor in watching these events because of what the athletes are doing. It’s not complicated, it’s easy and fun.”
5 LIVE WITHOUT A NET
“When you see these guys hitting these impossible heights off a ramp, there isn’t a bunch of padding on them or at the bottom of the run to soften the landing if you miss. These are some really tough performers, and that gets through to people on an emotional level.”