Lably
Skip to content

X Games

Extreme sports tournament

  • 31 min read
  • 7 chapters

Related on Lably

Through Australia, China and Japan

Lab · Class 6–12Archaeology & Discovery

The X Games have been held all over the world and typically include sports such as skateboarding, BMX, freestyle motocross, skiing and snowboarding. Participants compete to win bronze, silver, and gold medals, in addition to prize money. X Games events also feature music and culture elements like live music performances, athlete autograph sessions, and interactive, family-friendly exhibitions.

The inaugural X Games were held during the summer of 1995 in Providence and Newport in Rhode Island. The competition often features new tricks such as Tony Hawk's 900 in skateboarding, Shaun White's Double McTwist 1260 in snowboard, Dave Mirra's double backflip in BMX, Travis Pastrana's double backflip in freestyle motocross, Heath Frisby's first snowmobile frontflip, Chuck Carothers's first body varial in freestyle motocross, Henrik Harlaut's first nose-butter triple cork in Ski Big Air, Gus Kenworthy's first switch triple rodeo in a ski slopestyle competition and Torstein Horgmo's first landed triple cork in a snowboard competition.

The X Games gained media exposure due to their big name sponsors, top-tier athletes, and consistent fan attendance. As the Journal of Sport Management (2006) explains, Generation X and Millennials are the two demographics most highly valued by marketers. This creates a broad approach on marketing towards that certain demographic, which is why the X Games marketing and economic outlook is so "out of the box". According to a 2008 report by ESPN, in 1997, the Winter X Games inaugural year, 38,000 spectators attended the four-day event. In 1998, the attendance dropped to 25,000 spectators. But just two years later, a record attendance of 83,500 people attended the Winter X Games East Coast debut.

As part of the X Games, there have been performances by various rock bands over the years, as well as a DJ being on-site at all events. The X Games have made it a point since its founding to stage an eco-friendly event. Such measures include using biodiesel fuel in their vehicles and organizing recycling campaigns.

Winter X Games

The first Winter X Games took place at Snow Summit ski resort in Big Bear Lake, California, in 1997. Overseeing The Sports Network's coverage of the inaugural 1997 Winter X Games, producer Paul Graham felt that despite low ratings at the time, "extreme sport is a statement", that it "[rebelled] against the sporting status quo", and "it's new and fresh and young".

The following two years, X Games was held at Crested Butte Mountain Resort in Colorado. The two years following that, Mount Snow, Vermont, hosted X Games. The X Games Aspen 2002 was the first time an X Games event was televised live and also had coverage by ESPN's flagship news program, SportsCenter. Viewership across the three networks that carried coverage of the event – ABC Sports, ESPN, and ESPN2 – exceeded 2001's household average by 30% according to Nielsen Media Research. The event also reached record highs in several demographic categories. To accommodate the first-time live coverage, nighttime competitions were added, resulting in record attendance for the Aspen/Snowmass venue in Colorado.

2002 was the first time X Games was held in Aspen at Buttermilk Mountain. X Games has been held in Aspen every winter since 2002. Also in 2002, ESPN announced the establishment of the X Games Global Championship. The Global Championship featured two distinct venues hosting competitions in summer and winter action sports simultaneously. It consisted of six teams of the world's top athletes, grouped together by their region of origin, to compete in the four-day event. The winter sports were held in Whistler Blackcomb Resort in British Columbia, and the events included snowboarding and skiing.

During X Games Aspen 2015, ESPN used camera drones to capture aerial views of the athlete's runs. This was a first for ESPN.

Sign in to keep reading

6 more chapters are free with a Lably account.

More in Sports, games and recreation

FIFAInternational governing body of association footballNational Collegiate Athletic AssociationNorth American athletic organizationMajor League SoccerProfessional soccer league in the United States and CanadaNASCARAmerican automobile racing companyCommonwealth GamesMulti-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of NationsNew York YankeesMajor League Baseball franchise