Summer X Games Decide to Go Long With L.A.
Southern California, a hotbed of action sports, will be the long-term home of its grandest annual competition.
ESPN is expected to announce today a contract extension with Anschutz Entertainment Group that will keep the network’s popular Summer X Games in Los Angeles through 2009, with Staples Center and the Home Depot Center as primary venues.
It had previously been announced that the Summer X Games, which were in L.A. in 2003 and 2004, would return for a third year. They will be held Aug. 4-7. The extension confirms speculation that ESPN had been seeking a long-term deal for its showcase of skateboarding, bicycle motocross, freestyle motocross, surfing, wakeboarding and in-line skating.
Mark Liberman, president of the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the economic effect of the 2004 X Games was estimated at about $70 million.
More than 10,000 hotel-room stays were logged by ESPN’s production staff of 2,500, and by athletes, fans and media. “And this will grow as the popularity of the X Games has grown dramatically,” Liberman said.
The Summer X Games, in their 11th year, are ESPN’s single largest production. They have been held in five cities, but Los Angeles clearly is the most attractive location. On-site attendance over the four-day period last year was 170,471, with a Saturday crowd of 79,380 setting a single-day record.
Last year’s broadcast, on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2, was seen in an estimated 996,074 households, representing a 47% increase from 2003.
“Selecting Southern California enables ESPN to offer consistency to marketers and fans alike,” said David M. Carter, a Los Angeles sports marketing consultant. “Now that the games are so well-regarded and established, the need to build the X Games brand by hosting them in other regions has been diminished.”
Aspen has been the site of the Winter X Games since 2002, and ESPN last year signed an extension with Aspen Skiing Co. that will keep the games there through 2007.
News of the contract extension between ESPN and L.A. comes when the Dew Action Sports Tour, an NBC production that will include a points system and produce champions in various disciplines of skateboarding, BMX and freestyle motocross, is gearing up for its inaugural campaign.
The five-stop Dew Tour, which debuts in June and will showcase many of the same athletes, will not appear in Los Angeles, its organizers choosing to avoid possible conflict with ESPN and the X Games.
Given that circumstance alone, said Gregg Bennett, a University of Florida professor of sports management, “It makes even more sense to have a more permanent host for X.”