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Nike has a huge skate team these days (Koston for example). It's like any major sport now - there's money in it so the big companies have joined in. I'm sure it's great for the skater's incomes and the Nike SB shoes are really quite good. Can't comment on Adidas, but they've been in the game for quite a while now.

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Interesting.

I'm a long-time rock climber, and a handful (or two) of years ago, Adidas jumped into that market by purchasing a well-respected shoe maker (Five Ten). They continue to produce shoes under the Five Ten brand, but Adidas also sponsors a bunch of professional climbers.

There is some cultural backlash in climbing, but mostly around the increasing commodification of the sport (which has always been seen as anti-establishment). Even those folks who rue big climbing competitions and big "shows" (the Dawn Wall climb) still wear Five Ten.

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