Sector 9 Sold to Billabong Surf

[drew]

I don't think Billabong buying Sector 9 is going to change anything. Longboards, specificially Sector 9's are already at many surf shops and malls, and have been for years. Longboards are already being ridden by people many who have never street skated before. It's not underground. Years ago Sector 9 shipped boards with generic trucks and cheap bearings, and over time have done nothing but improve. I don't think quality is going to suddenly decline, I doubt any signifigant changes will occur. Even if they did, who cares? Just buy something else.

[BigDaddy@TactisSkates]

I'd have to say that if you are a fan of any S9 boards, to get em' now! Before they'll be just a memory and the new, more streamlined, lesser quality boards come in to play. I'm not saying that this will happen, but it was my first thought when hearing the news. Other than that.. I could care less. Eat, drink, get laid, get rich and die. What else is there? Anyone? ... Anyone know????

You left out... love and be loved, creat something you are proud of... and go really, really fast... at least once!

Dano

[Warren]

Arby's recently bought Wendy's. Unless the folks at Arby's want to throw away a shirt-load of money, they'll let Wendy's keep doing what they were doing to make them attractive enough for a buy-out.

Now substitute Billabong for Arby's, and S9 for Wendy's.

Which means Arby's now owns TIm Hortons!
Best donuts on the planet!

[downhilljunkiedc]

Things will not change, anytime soon anyway. The only change that will happen is things will get bigger, not actually worse, maybe not totally better but bigger. If you're worried about other people riding longboard that you don't think "deserve" to becuase they don't know much about it or are young and impressionalbe, go Fhuck yourself. We were all that way at one point in our lives and the majority of people who don't know all about longboarding or are young will continue to pass the torch to the next generation. It's how it always has been, how it always will be. I can call you a Kook because you haven't been riding as long as I have, or haven't entered as many races as I have and then Chaput or the Rogers Bros could call us all Kooks becuase they have been riding for longer that 99 percent of all of us. And if you're scared that an 11 year old is trying to fight you, put on a big boy pair of britches and learn to ignore it. Sector 9 being involved with Billabong will never effect the vast majority of you in any way. I can see that the ones who it will actually effect are intrigued and are asking real quations and stating viable comments on the subject. Anytime I need a laugh, I'm just going to recolect on the folks here who think they know anything about anything that has to do with this industry. By the way, Gullwing trucks are not made in China, and Sector 9 did start from scratch. Hand made in back yards one at a time over 15 years ago. Here it comes, a huge back-lash of inane replies and personal attacks...

[corylewandowski]

Y would u fight a dumb ass kid that doesnt know #### about longboards and isnt even worth the time

I would be pissed, I probably wouldnt fight him, but I would be really pissed if someone called my Chinook a flimsy piece of crap. Ive fought kids for much less reasons than that. I would at least explain why his board is #### and why he doesnt know anything about longboards.

[mcgoon]

Hopefully, one day you'll grow out of those cumbersome insecurities. Don't you know baggage makes you slow!

[CL]

Sector 9 being involved with Billabong will never effect the vast majority of you in any way. Anytime I need a laugh, I'm just going to recolect on the folks here who think they know anything about anything that has to do with this industry.

Well said.

[098Mindstate]

if you can only read two posts from this thread make them the ones by mhm and warren on the previous page ftw*

[mrpauliepants]

if you can only read two posts from this thread make them the ones by mhm and warren on the previous page ftw*

What if I can only read one post? Then what do I do?

[AndrewDos]

People really need to think for themselves. Sector 9 isn't a bad company just because you dislike the stereotypical person who buys from them. The real "douche bags" are the ones who judge those who ride Sector 9 and are ignorant to how much the company has done for the sport.

As for me, I say good for them. They turned a huge profit on something they, I'm sure, enjoy intensely. Good for you Sector 9.

[dirtbag]

People really need to think for themselves. Sector 9 isn't a bad company just because you dislike the stereotypical person who buys from them. The real "douche bags" are the ones who judge those who ride Sector 9 and are ignorant to how much the company has done for the sport.

As for me, I say good for them. They turned a huge profit on something they, I'm sure, enjoy intensely. Good for you Sector 9.

mate,i reakon,if it's going to make it cheaper and easier to obtain longboard decks and parts,here in australia,i say BRING IT ON.
over the next few years,this little longboard community(as we know it) is just going to explode worldwide.
it's alright for all you guys in the USA,alot of the hardware & decks are made there.we have to pay an arm & a leg for decent wheels and bearings, and this merger is just going to make them more readily available around the globe.SWEEEEEEEET!

[skategeezer]

from my blog...hope it doesn't bore the #### out of you!

enjoy the 4th, folks!

Firstly, a confession. I sometimes get so overwhelmed by what is going on and what I am doing, that I forget what day it is. Yesterday I thought it was the 4th of July. When it comes to math, I am a total basket case. Don’t get me started on the subject of bookkeeping.

But numbers and dates are important and I spend a huge amount of time thinking about dates as they relate to change.
Specifically, I have a theory about change within skateboarding and I call it the 7+4 theory. Here’s how it works

There are certain catalysts (somebody or something that makes a change happen or brings about an event) that have taken place within skateboarding that are so enormous that they stand as a marker. If we start in 1974 (the year that urethane wheels really started to hit) and add 4/7 years, an interesting pattern emerges.
Here goes

1974 – Urethane wheels hit
1978 - skateboarding is HUGE

1981 – Thrasher hits (74 + 7 = 81) (skateboarding in a slump)
1985 – skateboarding is HUGE again

1988 – World Industries is started – Rocco is the joke of the industry
1992 – the entire skate industry is shaken…world industries is the #1 company!

1995 – X Games hit (skateboarding in a slump)
1999 - skateboarding HUGE again

2002 – the film Dogtown and Z Boys is released to wide acclaim
2006 – vert and Longboarding grow – older skaters return – a lot of changes occur but they are not formally documented in the skate media

Now if you take 2002 and add 7 years, the next catalyst should hit in 2009. Except that it came 6 months yearly. Hey, I told you I wasn’t great with numbers.
Yep, that Billabong acquisition of Sector 9 is a key turning point. The following comes from the skull and bones forum from a gentleman who goes by the name Buck Toff:

“I think this corporate move is important, not for the companies involved, or even so much for longboarding specifically. What it represents is that the skateboard industry dynasty built almost entirely on street trick skating for the past 16 or 17 years is finally crumbling.”

That’ a sweeping statement, but I believe it is true. This deal represents vastly different things to those who work in the skate industry.

If you work at a skate company where the focus has been street skateboarding, this deal might freak you out somewhat. Billabong has huge marketing resources and they will no doubt be able increase the awareness of Sector 9 longboards. Significantly increase. Let me step back for a moment and say something blunt to these street companies. For years I heard “there was no market” and “these things aren’t skateboards.” I kept telling folks “if there is no market, why is Sector 9 selling so many?” The other thing I found (and continue to find) is that as soon as I let fellow skaters try my longboards, they are hooked. They want to know where to buy one. For something that many in the skate industry ignored and even mocked, it’s great to finally feel some validation. No one is laughing now. Well, that’s not exactly true. There are still some folks that think this is all one giant kooky deal. You know what? I don’t flipping care and neither do the millions of people who enjoy skateboarding (in all its facets).

Will Mystery or Toy Machine start making Longboards? Hard to tell. The fact is that most street skateboarding companies have a distinct reputation as being street companies. Sure, they can make completes (like World Industries does with Speed Demons) but the fact is that if they want to play in this world of Longboarding, they must be careful not to jeopardize their brand name. Chances are you will see shortboard companies try and emulate what Sector 9 has done, but I sense it won’t amount to much. There are three other paths:

• A company like Mystery (Black Box distribution) starts up an entirely new company devoted to Longboarding. That requires a great deal of money and effort. Resources at many short board companies are tight right now and the payoff may or may not come.

• A street company BUYS a Longboarding company outright. This is not a bad idea and it could work. But then again, if you are emerging Longboard brand, why sell out now when the market is just getting heated up?

• Do nothing but keep selling street skateboards. This is probably the strategy that most will adopt. The fact is that street is still the dominant part of skateboarding – but it’s become increasingly difficult to compete. Blanks and shop decks are two problems. But I sense the biggest issue is the enormous marketing budgets that are required to keep the engines rolling. There is a lot of clutter out there in the land of street skateboarding. To cut through the noise, you need an enormous amount of money and power. That now generally rests in large corporations like Billabong, Burton, Nike, Quiksilver, the skate shoe companies and the gang that owns World Industries. To put it another way, street hardgoods companies are getting hit from below (very small, local skate companies, blanks and shop decks) and above (huge multinational corporations). It’s a tough slog.

My counterparts at the other skate magazines have ignored the growth of Longboarding.
In fact the silence from the print skate media on Longboarding has been deafening. Yes, they deserve acknowledgement for the following:

Slap: featured Tony Hawk riding a Gravity Longboard on the cover,

SkateBoarder: published a slide sequence of Sergio Yuppie

Transworld: the buyers guide does have a Longboard section in it

So, it will be interesting to see what they do now. They are going to have to tread carefully on this. If the inject variety into their magazines, they might upset the vast majority of readers looking for mostly street skateboarding. Then again, this Billabong deal is big and it will have reverberations. They might have to slowly tip toe around the elephant in the room (as they have done for years) but my gut tells me that elephants have a way of stomping around if they don’t get their way. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t? Not a position I’d like to be in.


Ok, what happens if you own/work at a Longboard company? Well, this deal validates things. A $600 million company just wrote a hefty paycheck to your biggest competitor. By the way, Sector 9 is not just the biggest Longboard company in the world, they are more than likely the biggest skateboard company in the world – based on hardgood sales. This is significant, but I am digressing. Billabong’s announcement that they purchased Sector 9 got picked up and broadcast around the skateworld. Hell, even skatedaily mentioned it! The fact is that when a company like Billabong puts the hammer down, it sends reverberations throughout an industry. You don’t think Quiksilver or Nike will sit up and take notice of this? Of course they will. That’s how corporations operate. If a competitor makes a play into a new market (ie Longboarding) then they must see VALUE and DOLLARS in that market. This is a signal and as I have told many people, this is all just a warm up for what is about to come. I predict good things…for lots of companies and for skateboarding in general. That’s what has happened with EVERY catalyst.

As an aside, if you ask people what a billabong is, most have no clue whatsoever. The answer might surprise you.
From wikipedia:
Billabong is an Australian English word meaning a smallish lake, specifically an oxbow lake, a stagnant pool of water attached to a waterway[1Billabongs are usually formed when the path of a creek or river changes, leaving the former branch with a dead end.


There is a heavy duty metaphor here – and for those of you who are puzzled, I will explain.

Skateboarding changes because it gets stagnant. It takes many paths, but eventually, one path emerges and folks milk the hell out of it and then things dry up. It happened in the 80’s with vert and it’s happening now with street. We need diversity within skateboarding. Longboarding has injected a healthy dose of variety within skateboarding and one of the key architects of this change has been Sector 9. Billabong, a company who is no stranger to diverse acquisitions (they own Element, Von Zipper and Nixon watches) recognized this and is setting sail on a new course. Pretty ironic isn’t it?

If you don’t want to wind up like a billabong (small and stagnant) you must think and act like Billabong.

[Firefox777]

that is frickin awesome

[098Mindstate]

Well I can forsee a change in that some kids will be crusing and carving to have fun instead of doing failed kickflips and ollies off curbs and cursing the pavement. Let's just hope that they don't turn into the same douchebags on longboards like they were on shortboards.

[Slim]

Michael, the thing is... "longboarding" is so different from street/vert skateboarding that they are almost separate activities, with separate types of participants, with separate goals. I'm not going to say they are as different as rollerblading and skateboarding, but that's the kind of difference I'm talking about: the equipment may look similar, but that's the end of the connection.

If this is true, then nothing that takes place in the longboard "scene/market" is going to have much of any impact on the regular "core" skateboard scene. It doesn't want/need to be saved in the way that longboarding and other "skate for fun/fitness" proponents like yourself have been championing for the last decade.

Anyhow, on the sector 9 thing all i have to say is "whatever." I just don't understand the motivations for "growth" and getting bigger and making more money and all that stuff. I just don't see the need for any of it. It's just not attractive to me and I'm pretty sure it's some kind of neurosis. Or what you religious folks out there would call "sin" (four of the biggies in fact: gluttony, greed, envy, and pride).

Now, if the owner of a big, successful skate company would have announced that they were no longer interested in chasing the dollars and were dropping out of typical big business/consumer society and that therefore every dollar profit over the $24k a year it would take them to maintain a simple, low-consumption lifestyle worthy of surfing/skating would be donated to cancer research or feeding the poor, or something, then I'd be clapping my hands. But when one merely sells out for the almighty dollar, it's nothing special. It's the same sickness that inflicts most Americans. It's always a bit more surprising when it pops up in the surf/skate world because we aren't as materialistic as the larger society, or at least we didn't use to be. But I guess even that is changing, and the longboard riding, republican voting (no offense Stubbs!) public is leading the way.

Oh well, I guess it doesn't change my life one way or another. Just sad to see all the cheerleading about "profit".

Milehigh Mark: thought you were a fan of Gang of Four?!

[skategeezer]

Slim

as always, some unique insights and food for thought.

i guess my feeling is that when Billabong makes a move like this, it has an affect. time will tell what the affects are and how deep they run, but no one wants to be left in the dust. there will be a clamouring for some of these dollars.

the one interesting thing i found about longboarding is that it is some sort of gateway to other types of skateboarding...i know folks who NEVER skated, picked up a longboard and now ride vert. that is fascinating...and a positive thing

variety is key...that's what i push for in skateboarding...when i am not pushing my skate

hope the arm is healing fast!

[sweetbroo]

QUEENSLANDER!!!

yeah suck crap america.....

[Firefox777]

QUEENSLANDER!!!

yeah suck crap america.....

yeah at least we dont tawk funny yew aussie brown eyed mullet. now get out before i crack a fat at your cook. rack off ya whacker

austrailin slang is cool

[C4NDYSP4NKS]

ohmy god i havent heard the term "prep" in about 8 years . core will stay core posers will stay posers . and stupid kids tht wanna argue and fight about the brand of the skate board they ride will continue to do so. moral of the story? dont be a douche to people because of what board they ride.

sry bout the term prep but most of the people who ride near me who has a sector 9 are either little 9 year olds or just total jerks that think their all that...

I am not saying that all sector 9 riders are like that but its just a sterotype in my area

[longboardorific]

cant believe i missed this
there is so much hate in this thread
im not surprised