Street League Skateboarding (SLS) is an international skateboarding tournament series. The league features professional street skateboarders competing for the largest monetary prize in the history of skateboarding, and was founded by professional skateboarder and entrepreneur

Rob Dyrdek Robert Stanley Dyrdek (born June 28, 1974) is an American entrepreneur, actor, producer, reality TV personality, and former professional skateboarder. He is best known for his roles in the MTV reality and variety shows ''Rob & Big'', ''Rob Dyrd ...

. Thrill One Sports and Entertainment currently owns Street League Skateboarding, with the SLS brand sitting alongside

Nitro Circus ''Nitro Circus'' is an "action sport collective" led by Travis Pastrana, featuring his friends and him traveling around the world riding dirtbikes, BASE jumping, and performing stunts. Co-founded in 2003 by Pastrana, Nitro Circus has become a m ...

, Superjacket Productions (producers of Ridiculousness, Dude Perfect Show, Deliciousness, The Explosion Show and

Crashletes ''Crashletes'' is an American sports television program that premiered on Nickelodeon on July 5, 2016. The program is hosted by Rob Gronkowski, Brandon Broady, and Stevie Nelson. Premise Brandon and Stevie, along with a guest host from the worl ...

) and

Nitro Rallycross Nitro Rallycross (Nitro RX, abbreviated to NRX) is an American rallycross racing series. Created by rallycross driver Travis Pastrana and the ''Nitro Circus'' production in 2018, its inaugural season began in 2021. The championship is sanctioned ...

. Jerusalem Skateparks designs and builds the SLS courses.

History

The idea for SLS first arose when

was dissatisfied with the state of professional street skateboarding competitions. Dyrdek proceeded to develop the SLS concept to improve upon the flaws that he identified. In 2010 he was quoted saying, "It has been a dream of mine to create a professional tour that bridges the gap between true street skateboarding and contest skating, which to date has been fragmented and misguided. Street League™ is more than just a new contest series; it will redefine the way skateboarding competitions are done." The inaugural year of SLS featured a four-stop arena tour that began at the Jobing.com Arena in Glendale,

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

on August 28, 2010. The other venues for the inaugural tour were the

Citizens Business Bank Arena Toyota Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Ontario, California, United States. The arena hosts local sporting events and concerts and is suitable for indoor events, including basketball, ice hockey, ice shows, boxing, graduation ceremonies and con ...

Ontario, California Ontario is a city in southwestern San Bernardino County in the U.S. state of California, east of downtown Los Angeles and west of downtown San Bernardino, the county seat. Located in the western part of the Inland Empire metropolitan area, ...

on September 11, 2010, and the

Thomas & Mack Center The Thomas & Mack Center is a multi-purpose arena located on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in Paradise, Nevada. It is home of the UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball team of the Mountain West Conference. History The facility was ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

on September 25, 2010. The 2011 Super Crown World Champion was

Sean Malto Sean Malto (born September 9, 1989) is an American professional skateboarder. Early life Malto is from Lansing, Kansas. He is of Euro-American and Filipino descent. Malto started skateboarding at the age of 10 at the hands of the inspiration o ...

, who upset the competitive domination of

Nyjah Huston Nyjah Imani Huston (born November 30, 1994) is an American professional skateboarder. With numerous sponsorships and competition prize winnings, Huston is one of the highest paid skateboarders in the world. Huston won gold medals at the SLS Supe ...

for his first Street League win and the US$200,000 first place prize. Huston won the US$200,000 Champion's prize in 2012, in addition to a championship watch and ring set from

Nixon Watches Nixon is an American watches, accessories and audio brand, founded in 1997 in Encinitas, California, United States. Focused on the youth lifestyle market. Currently sold in 80 countries worldwide, Nixon maintains stand-alone retail stores in Be ...

, and a

Chevy Sonic The Chevrolet Aveo ( ) is a subcompact car (B-segment) marketed by General Motors since 2002. Originally marketed as the Daewoo Kalos, takeover of Daewoo Motors by General Motors (GM) also saw the car being marketed under seven brands ( Chevrol ...

vehicle. In May 2013, the GoPro camera company was announced as the official camera sponsor of the 2013 SLS international tour. GoPro, which sponsors SLS contestants

Ryan Sheckler Ryan Allen Sheckler (born December 30, 1989) is an American professional skateboarder and entrepreneur, and was the star of the MTV-produced reality television series '' Life of Ryan.'' He also starred in four seasons of the short-format video se ...

and Malto, was used to feature the broadcasts of the domestic American events, including course previews and real-time impact highlights. As of May 19, 2013, Huston had won more prize money than any other skateboarder in history. The 2013 Super Crown World Champion, Chris Cole, also earned his first career SLS win earlier in 2013 at the Street League at

X Games The X Games are an annual extreme sports event organized, produced and broadcast by ESPN. Coverage is also shown on ESPN's sister network, ABC. The inaugural X Games were held during the summer of 1995 in Providence and Newport, Rhode Island, ...

stop in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, Germany. At the championship,

Cole Cole may refer to: Plants * Cole crops of the genus ''Brassica'', especially cabbage, kale, or rape (rapeseed). People * Cole (given name), people with the given name Cole * Cole (surname), people with the surname Cole Companies *Cole Motor ...

earned US$200,000 for his win, along with the custom Nixon championship watch and ring. Huston an
Luan Oliveira
placed second and third respectively. Paul Rodriguez won his second SLS stop in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

in July 2013. In March 2014, SLS signed a broadcasting deal with

Fox Sports 1 Fox Sports 1 (FS1) is an American pay television channel owned by the Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. FS1 replaced the motorsports network Speed on August 17, 2013, at the same time that its companion channel Fox Sports ...

. In 2018, SLS announced a partnership with

World Skate World Skate is the only governing body in the world for all sports performed on skating wheels. The organisation is the successor of the Fédération Internationale de Roller Sports (FIRS) founded on the 21 of April 1924. Due to the 2022 Russi ...

, under which it became the body's official world tour series and world championship through 2020. The SLS World Tour also became the main qualifying path for skateboarding at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

. The move was criticized by Tim McFerran, president of the World Skateboarding Grand Prix (who had been attempting to negotiate his own body, the World Skateboarding Federation, as the sanctioning body for Olympic skateboarding), citing the invitational nature of the events, and concerns that they would hold a near-monopoly over professional skateboarding and the athletes who compete at the Olympics. In May 2019, it was announced that skateboarding would be dropped from the

2019 Pan American Games ; ay, Taqinipuniw anatt’apxtanxa'' , nations participating = 41 , athletes participating = 6,680 , events = 419 in 38 sports , opening ceremony = July 26 , closing ceremony = August 11 , officially opened by = Martín Vizcarra , to ...

, with

Panam Sports The Panam Sports (Formerly Pan American Sports Organization; es, link=no, Organización Deportiva Panamericana; pt, link=no, Organizacão Depórtiva Panamericana; french: Organisation Sportive PanAméricaine) is an international organization whi ...

citing SLS and World Skate's decision to schedule a World Tour event in direct conflict with the Games schedule, and not have the Pan American Games be a qualifying event for the Olympics. Panam Sports argued that these decisions diminished the quality of the field, and showed a "lack of respect" on behalf of the entities.

Overview

The SLS contestants accumulate points at each pre-championship stop and only the top eight ranking contestants compete in the championship event. Each event's final features eight finalists in 90-minute heats. The SLS prize purse is the largest in the history of competitive professional skateboarding, and was worth US$1.6 million in 2011.

SLSF and SLSCSP

In 2013, the Street League Skateboarding Foundation (SLSF) was established with the goal of increasing global participation in skateboarding. The Foundation assists municipalities and non-profits with the design, development, and construction of legal Skate Plazas, as well as assisting with the creation of community and educational programs that promote skateboarding. An extension of SLS, "Street League Skateboarding Certified Skate Parks" (SLSCSP) built three plazas in 2013. The plazas will eventually become the locations for SLS amateur and televised qualifier contests. Locations include Erie,

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

; the Kennesaw Skatepark in

Kennesaw Kennesaw is a suburban city northwest of Atlanta in Cobb County, Georgia, United States, located within the greater Atlanta metropolitan area. Known from its original settlement in the 1830s until 1887 as Big Shanty, it became Kennesaw under its ...

, Georgia; and Lake Havasu City,

SLS World Tours

2021 SLS World tour

Street league Skateboarding Super Crown, Men's: Jacksonville, FL, USA

:''November 13-14, 2021.''

Street league Skateboarding Super Crown, Women's : Jacksonville, FL, USA

:''November 13-14, 2021.''

Street league Skateboarding, Men's: Lake Havasu, AZ, USA

:''October 29-30 2021.''

Street league Skateboarding, women's: Lake Havasu, AZ, USA

:''October 29-30 2021.''

Street League World Tour, Women's: Salt Lake City, USA.

:''August 28 2021.''

Street League World Tour, Men's: Salt Lake City, USA.

:''August 28, 2021''

Street league unsanctioned 2

:''April 26 2021.''

2020 SLS World Tour

Street league unsanctioned

:''December 28 2020.''

2019 SLS World Tour

Street league world championships, Men's: Sao Paulo, Brazil

:''September 19-22 2019.''

Street league world championships, Women's: Sao Paulo, Brazil

:''September 19-22 2019.''

World Skate Street league Pro tour, Men's: Los Angeles, USA

:''July 24-29 2019.''

World skate Street league pro tour, Women's: Los Angeles, USA

:''July 24-29 2019.''

Street league World skate, Men's: London, UK

:''May 25-26 2019.''

Street league World Skate, Women's: London, UK

:''May 25-26 2019.''

Street league World Championships, Men's: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

:''January 10-12 2019.''

Street league World Championships, Women's: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

:''January 10-12 2019.''

2018 SLS World Tour

Street league pro open, Men's: Huntington beach, USA

:''December 16 2018.''

Street league pro open, Men's: Los Angeles, USA

:''July 7 2018.''

Street league pro open, Men's: London, UK

:''May 26-28 2018.''

Street league pro open, Women's: London, UK

:''May 27 2018''

2017 SLS Nike SB World Tour

SLS Nike SB Pro Open: Barcelona, Spain

:''May 20–21, 2017.''

SLS Nike SB World Tour Stop One: Munich, Germany

:''June 24, 2017.''

SLS Nike SB World Tour Stop Two: Chicago, Illinois

:''August 13, 2017.''

2016 SLS Nike SB World Tour

SLS Nike SB Pro Open: Barcelona, Spain

:''May 21–22, 2016.''

SLS Nike SB World Tour Stop One: Munich, Germany

:''July 2, 2016.''

SLS Nike SB World Tour Stop Two: Newark, New Jersey

:''August 28, 2016.''

SLS Nike SB Super Crown World Championship: Los Angeles, California

:''October 2, 2016.''

2015 SLS Nike SB World Tour

SLS Nike SB Pro Open: Barcelona, Spain

:''May 16–17, 2015.''

SLS Nike SB World Tour Stop One: Los Angeles, CA

:''July 11, 2015.''

SLS Nike SB World Tour Stop Two: Newark, NJ

:''August 23, 2015.''

SLS Nike SB Super Crown World Championship: Chicago, Illinois

:''October 4, 2015.''

2014 SLS Nike SB World Tour

SLS Monster Energy Pro Open: Los Angeles, California

:''May 17–18, 2014.''

SLS Nike SB World Tour Stop One: Chicago, Illinois

:''June 29, 2014.''

SLS Nike SB World Tour Stop Two: Los Angeles, California

:''July 27, 2014.''

SLS Nike SB Super Crown World Championship: Newark, New Jersey

:''August 24, 2014.''

2013 SLS World Tour

SLS at X Games Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil

:''April 18–21, 2013.''

SLS at X Games Barcelona, Spain

:''May 16–19, 2013.''

SLS at Kansas City, Missouri

Highest Scored Trick Presented by Monster Energy: Nyjah Huston https://web.archive.org/web/20140116101632/http://streetleague.com/archives/kc-monster-highest-scored-trick-nyjah-huston/

SLS at X Games Munich, Germany

:''June 27–30, 2013.''

SLS at Portland, Oregon

:''July 14, 2013.''

SLS at Los Angeles, California

:''August 1–4, 2013.''

SLS Super Crown at New Jersey

:''August 25, 2013.'' 2013: Overall Winner, Super Crown World Champion - Chris Cole Highest Score Trick Award, presented by Monster Energy - (9.9) Shane O'Neill, Switch Double 360 Flip Highest Score Trick Clip http://streetleague.com/ondemand/?__mr_id=67930 2013 Street League Awards:''
Street League Skateboarding Awards

2012 SLS World Tour

SLS at Kansas City, Missouri

:''May 19, 2012.''

SLS at Ontario, California

:''June 16, 2012.''

SLS at Glendale, Arizona

:''July 15, 2012.''

SLS at Newark, New Jersey

:''August 26, 2012.'' 2012: Overall Winner - Nyjah Huston

2011 SLS World Tour

SLS at Seattle, Washington

:''May 7–8, 2011.'' Halfonso scored 104.6 points at the first stop in Seattle, Washington.

SLS at Kansas City, Missouri

:''June 11–12, 2011.'' The second stop in Kansas City, Missouri, was won by Huston, who scored 72.6 points for his second win of the year.

SLS at Glendale, Arizona

:''July 16–17, 2011.'' The third stop, in Glendale, Arizona, was won by Huston, who scored 77.8 points; the victory was Huston's fourth.

SLS at Newark, New Jersey

:''August 28, 2011.'' Malto, scoring an 81.2, became the 2011 Street League Champion by winning stop 4 of the year. 2011: Overall Winner, Super Crown World Champion - Sean Malto

2010 SLS World Tour

SLS at Glendale, Arizona

:''August 28, 2010.'' Nyjah Huston placed first at the first ever Street League contest in Glendale, Arizona, scoring a 116.0

SLS at Ontario, California

:''September 11, 2010.'' First place for the 2010 Ontario, California, stop was awarded to Sean Malto, who scored 120.4 points

SLS at Las Vegas, Nevada

:''September 25, 2010.'' Shane O'Neill, scoring 146.0 points, won the final 2010 stop in Las Vegas, Nevada. 2010: Overall Winner, Super Crown World Champion - Nyjah Huston

References

{{Reflist, 30em Skateboarding competitions Sports leagues established in 2010 Fox Sports 1 Professional sports leagues in the United States