The people who skateboard are salt of the Earth dudes, but they only really get by on endorsements not by any real "skill".

Skateboarding at a igh level takes years of practice, working up from basics to advanced techniques. This seems like pretty much the definition of a skill.

Any guy who trains enough can go up and down a ramp, or twist a board around at multiple angles. But it's a bit of a reach to have it as a sport, especially an Olympic sport.

This is an extremely simplified explanation of skateboarding.

And anyone can learn to slide around on blades and use a stick to slap a rubber circle between some posts but we still call that a sport.

I think it would be nearly impossible to define cycling, life, skiing, track or shooting as a sport in a way that excludes skateboarding.

The viewer doesn't really get anything out of the experience, unless the skateboarder gets good air or does some serious acrobatic flip, but again, that's all there is too it.

They get the same enjoyment out of it as gymnastics, figure skating, bobsled or high jump.

If you told me there was a snowboarding competition on TV, I would immediately grab the remote, because the stakes are higher, as are the jumps.

The jumps being higher doesn't make it higher stakes, in fact a skateboarder is doing tricks on concrete with less padding than the guy on snow.

Point being, with skateboards I think the person is probably more marketable than the board itself, especially in the social media age.

This is true for nearly every sport.