Transworld Skateboarding

American international skateboarding magazine

Transworld Skateboarding (TWS) is an international magazine on skateboarding that was based in Carlsbad, California, United States. The publication also ran an accompanying website and video production company. In February 2019, the publishers of Transworld magazine, The Enthusiast Network, were purchased by American Media, Inc. In March 2019, the print edition of Transworld magazine was discontinued. It continues as a digital brand. A satellite edition, Transworld Skateboarding Japan, is published in Japan.

Transworld Skateboarding was founded in 1983 to rival Thrasher magazine with a slogan of "skate and create" as opposed to "skate and destroy". For example, a December 1982 Thrasher article, "Skate and Destroy", written by C. R. Stecyk III under the pen name "Lowboy", was criticized. A February 1983 advertisement for Independent Trucks featured a topless female model with the brand's decals displayed on her breasts. The public release of Transworld Skateboarding occurred under the ownership of Peggy Cozens and Larry Balma, owner of the Tracker Trucks brand. Initially, the magazine's editorial teams were known collectively as the "United Skate Front", and Balma later spoke of the magazine’s beginnings as a reaction to Thrasher, explaining in a 2003 Union Tribune interview: "They were pretty harsh, sex and drugs and using four letter words and all that and in the early '80s, the sport started growing and [Thrasher] wasn't the best magazine for young kids".

In 1997, the magazine was sold for 475 million to the Times Mirror in 2000. Jefferson, whose seminal mentor was Brittain, revealed in May 2012:

"So, in 2004, we were all working at Transworld with Dave Swift (photographer), Grant Brittain. I think I'd gotten to the point—you've done everything you kinda could. And, with that magazine being bought and sold that many times, and being corporate owned, a lot of things had changed. Even when I started working at Transworld, it was just owned by the Balma's; it was independently owned. It was just different, it wasn't the same. There was a lot of things that became very corporate about it. And that was just it is so hard to do with skating. There were so many things we couldn't justify. So we decided to break off and start out own magazine, The Skateboard Mag, in 2004." Jefferson's view was reinforced seven years earlier in an interview that Brittain participated in with the Union Tribune, whereby Jefferson's mentor stated, "We did not like the whole corporate deal, not knowing what was in every issue ad wise. It wasn't about skateboarding anymore."

In February 2019, Transworld Skateboarding was acquired by a360media, formerly American Media.

In 2022, The Arena Group acquired Transworld Skateboarding.

The Bonnier Corporation associated the magazine with charities such as the Tony Hawk Foundation, Texas Skate Jam, Make A Wish, and Elemental Awareness, identifying the publication as a regular contributor to such programs.