Street League Skateboarding: The Challenges Facing a New Sports League
2015
| Case No.
E551
| Length
23 pgs.
In 2010, Rob Dyrdek launched a new skateboarding league called Street League Skateboarding (SLS) with the goal of raising the profile of street skateboarding around the world. Dyrdek had excelled within the world of professional skateboarding for more than 20 years, during which time he amassed he amassed a large following of international fans. In 2006, Dyrdek gained further fame through his starring role in the MTV reality series Rob & Big, which reached more than 70 million viewers in its first season. On the show, Dyrdek often discussed his many entrepreneurial pursuits and creative passions. Among these pursuits, Dyrdek imagined recreating the world of professional skateboarding through the creation of a new, innovative skateboarding league.
Learning Objective
Some of the main issues highlighted in the case include: guaranteeing consistent participation and competition among the world’s top skateboarders; ensuring that casual fans could easily understand the sport; developing a “season” in an individual sport; creating compelling content across a variety of media channels; establishing and negotiating the right partnership deals to foster growth; scaling event operations; and securing sufficient financing to allow the nascent league to achieve its mission of spreading street skateboarding around the world.
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