Joe Maloof Interview

Maloof Money Cup chairman, Joe Maloof is most well known for his high-profile business ventures—most notably the Palms Casino in Las Vegas and the NBA's Sacramento Kings. Neither of which is the least bit related to skateboarding. So we wanted to know what drives Joe to put on the richest skateboard contest out there, and he was more than happy to tell us all about it. 

FUEL.TV: What got you guys into skateboarding? Why not surf or snow or any other sport?
JOE MALOOF: We used to do a basketball camp in Sacramento, my brothers and I, and it got a little bit stale. So I wanted to do something different, and every time I looked out the window I saw skateboarding. I found out that right now skateboarding’s more popular than Little League Baseball, over 12 million kids. I just wanted to be involved, it looked like a lot of fun. We wanted to do a camp, and from there people said “Why don’t you do a contest?” So, that’s how it became. We said “Ok, if were gonna do one we gotta do it Maloof style, we gotta do it the best.” Everything we try to do is first class. So, we put on a first class event and let the skaters tell us what to do.  

FUEL.TV: Who was helped make the Maloof Money Cup a reality?
JM: Etnies and Monster, they were the two biggest, and Carl’s Jr, they came in right away. World Industries, Vitamin Water the list goes on and on. But really, Etnies, Monster and Carl’s were the one’s that said “Go for it, try it. See what you can do.” They gave us all the confidence in the world to go for it, and helped us, and it’s been a great success.

FUEL.TV: Being the most skate specific company in there, what kind of role did Etnies play?
JM: Etnies played a huge role. First off they introduced us to a lot of the skaters. Told us what we should and shouldn’t do. What was the right way and what was the wrong way. They were very active and very involved, they were fabulous.

FUEL.TV: Who are you outside of what the public sees? What are some of your interests?
JM: Well, as you know our family has been involved in the hotel business, banking business, the Sacramento Kings. Outside of that, I just love all kinds of sports. I’ve been playing tennis my whole life. Unfortunately I don’t skateboard, I tried it once and I had a tough ending. I was one of those guys that didn’t get up and do it again. I said “Hey that’s not the sport for me.” But I love watching it, it’s fun.

FUEL.TV: How’s this year’s contest gonna be different from last?
JM: I think we made it better this year. Rob Dyrdek designed the course last year and he did a tremendous job. We brought Geoff Rowley in this year, he wanted to do it, did it for free, just wanted to put his name on it. He did an unbelievable job. We’re gonna have about nine obstacles, all famous skate spots from around the world and we’re gonna implement that into the street course that he designed. The vert was designed by Bob Burnquist and PLG. It’s gonna be a mini-mega ramp that goes into the vert ramp. It’s gonna be dynamic.

FUEL.TV: Who are your favorite skaters to watch?
JM: I have a little sentimental value toward Jake Brown, that’s how I really got interested in skateboarding. I saw the fall that he had and it really upset me. I said “How do we get a hold of this guy? I wanna help him somehow.” So, I got to meet Jake through Monster and we just became great friends. He introduced me to all the guys. I respect them all and I like them all. It’s hard to just mention one. Brandon Biebel’s from Sacramento and he goes to every single Kings game. He’s a season ticket holder. And we sold his jersey, I actually had Kings jerseys made with his name on the back, and they sold out. They killed it. In fact I’m gonna do that again this year.

Be sure to tune into our live HD webcast of the Maloof Money Cup Saturday July 11th from 6:30pm PT to 9:30pm PT, and Sunday July 12 from 1:00pm PT to 7:15pm PT, right here on FUEL.TV.