The X Games is a commercial Private television or commercial broadcasting is the U.S.A first model of television born in the 1920s, antithetical to the "public television" model born in Europe in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s and dominant worldwide except the United States up until the 1980s. Today it is the historically global and dominant model of television annual sports event, controlled and arranged by US sports broadcaster ESPN Entertainment Sports Programming Network, almost always referred to by its initialism ESPN, is an American cable television network dedicated to broadcasting and producing sports-related programming 24 hours a day, which focuses on extreme action sports An extreme sport is a popular term for certain activities perceived as having a high level of inherent danger, and that are counter-cultural. These activities often involve speed, height, a high level of physical exertion, and highly specialized gear or spectacular stunts. The inaugural X Games was held in the summer of 1995 in Rhode Island The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island ( /ˌroʊd ˈaɪlɨnd/ or /rɵˈdaɪlɨnd/), is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area. Rhode Island borders Connecticut to the west and Massachusetts to the north and east, and it shares a water.
The Winter X Games are held in January or February (usually in January) and the Summer X Games are usually held in August, both in the United States ^ b. English is the de facto language of American government and the sole language spoken at home by 80% of Americans age five and older. Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language. Participants compete to win bronze, silver, and gold medals, and prize money. The competition often features new tricks such as Tony Hawk's Anthony Frank Hawk, better known as Tony Hawk, is an American professional skateboarder and actor. Hawk gained significant fame for completing the first 900 as well as his licensed video game titles distributed by Activision 900 A number of opinions exist about pre-1999 900s. The most prominent of these is the argument that Danny Way landed the 900 in 1989, and it appears in an early Santa Cruz film. In response, Tony Hawk has said: in skateboarding Skateboarding is the act of riding and performing tricks using a skateboard. A person who skateboards is most often referred to as a skateboarder, or colloquially within the skateboarding community, a skater, Anthony Napolitan with the first double front flip on a bicycle, Travis Pastrana Travis Alan Pastrana is a motorsports competitor and stunt performer who has won championships and X Games gold medals in several events, including supercross, motocross, freestyle motocross, and rally racing's double backflip in Freestyle Motocross Notable Freestyle motocross events include Red Bull X-Fighters, NIGHT of the JUMPs, the X-Games, Gravity Games, Big-X, Moto-X Freestyle National Championship, and Dew Action Sports Tour Freeriding is the original freestyle motocross. It has no structure, and is traditionally done on public land. Riders look for natural jumps and drop-offs to, and Levi Lavallee's double backflip in Freestyle Snocross. Concurrent with competition is the "X Fest" sports and music festival, which offers live music, athlete autograph sessions and interactive elements. The location of the Winter X Games is in Aspen The City of Aspen is an affluent Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the city population was 5,804 in 2005. Founded as a mining camp in the Colorado Silver Boom and named because of the abundance of aspen trees in the, Colorado Colorado is nicknamed the "Centennial State" because it was admitted to the Union as the 38th state in 1876, the centennial year of the United States Declaration of Independence. Colorado is bordered on the north by Wyoming and Nebraska, on the east by Nebraska and Kansas, on the south by Oklahoma and New Mexico, and on the west by Utah through 2012, while the location for the Summer X Games is in Los Angeles Los Angeles is the second largest city in the United States, and with a population of 3.8 million is the largest city in the state of California and the Western United States. Additionally the city spans over 498.3 square miles (1,290.6 km2) in Southern California and is anchored to the world's 13th largest metropolitan area with 17.7 million through 2009. The X Games also has international competitions and demos around the world that are held at varying times throughout the year. The games are shown live on television. The Winter X Games is, as described by ESPN (2008), a competition compiled of the greatest winter action sport athletes from around the world competing on an annual basis. The competition contains day and evening events including skiing, snowboarding, and snowmobiling. The first Winter X Games took place at Mountain Resort in Big Bear Lake, California, in 1997. The following two years, the Games were held at Crested Butte Mountain Resort in Colorado. The two years following that, the Games were held in Mount Snow, Vermont. And since 2002 the Winter X Games have been held at Buttermilk Mountain in Aspen, Colorado, and according to ESPN they will continue to be held there through 2012.
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Economics
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 Generation X, commonly abbreviated to Gen X, is the generation born after the baby boom ended, ranging from 1961 to 1981 and Generation Y Generation Y, also known as the Millennial Generation, Generation Next or Net Generation, describes the demographic cohort following Generation X. Its members are often referred to as Millennials or Echo Boomers. As there are no precise dates for when the Millennial generation starts and ends, commentators have used birth dates ranging somewhere are the two 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 EXPN (2008); The Winter X Games inaugural year, 1997, was televised to 198 countries and 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. The X Games and Winter X Games continue to grow with the popularity of action sports and the athletes who compete in them.
The Interactive X Fest Village
The Interactive Village is described by ESPN (2008) as the designated X Games Sponsor Booth area. It is usually located by the main entrance of the event and it offers activities for attending fans. Activities include scheduled autograph signings, giveaways for spectators, athlete demos, climbing walls, video game experiences, and the chance to try new and upcoming products that are presented by sponsors. This area exists at both the X Games and Winter X Games.
Snowskate Park
The Snowskate Park is an actual layout provided by the Winter X Games sponsors in order to provide real-life interaction for all spectators. The Snowskate Park posts a schedule so that fans can enter the park in order to “play” around or show off their skills. The schedule usually includes: Open Park for the Public, Invitational Practices, Special Kids Events, Experienced Snowskate Sessions, and Competitive Sledding.
Musical performances
Throughout the Winter X Games live music line-ups are prepared in order to give fans the non-stop action that they came to see. Some performing music acts are up-and-coming bands/artists that are looking for serious exposure, but well-known talents perform at the Games as well. DJs are a fixed piece of the X Games, you can find them spinning the tracks during each athlete's run. Snow skating has died out a lot in the few years, leaving a couple of underground brands.
Environmental impact
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X Games Environmentality (XGE), is an environmental green program that focuses on reducing waste through recycling and compositing greenhouse gas emissions through the use of alternative fuels. Disney (2008) explains that the X Games use biodiesel fuel, biofuel-powered RFTA shuttles, and 100% post-consumer recycled paper. In 2006, nearly 70% of event waste was diverted from Aspen-area landfills to be processed at specialized facilities. Each year improvements in waste reduction and recycling are met. Educational outreach for fans, staff and vendors are also conducted that will include opportunities to contribute to XGE’s efforts.[1][2]
Get Caught Recycling
Get Caught Recycling is a program created by the XGE in order to encourage recycling. Environmentality (2008) explains that the program works as follows: Fans who get caught recycling during the Games will be rewarded with tokens that they can redeem for valuable prizes at the TRASHed Recycling Store. The program produces solid results with voluntary recycling by fans in exchange for fun, environmentally-friendly prizes.[3]
Growth
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The Winter X Games are the leading winter action sports competition in the entire world and it has demonstrated extraordinary growth since it's beginning. ESPN has documented this growth since 2008 which includes ratings, attendance, and participation, since the early years.
In the Games’ first year, 1995, the actual attendance of the event was strong at 38,000 people. Just three years later in 1998 attendance dropped to 25,000 people (note these values are estimations) attributed to its move to Crested Butte. Crested Butte offered a unique ski environment where new sports events were introduced such as free skiing, SnoCross, and SkiBoarding. Women’s Free Skiing was introduced a year later and attendance showed an increase at its second stay at Crested Butte.
A year later, the Games moved 2000 miles east, to Mt. Snow, Vermont gaining a record attendance of 83,500. The Games added the Snowboard SuperPipe event. Once again, held in Vermont in 2001, the Games posted another great fan turnout along with the addition of the Moto X Big Air event.
Publication
Winter X Games VIII in 2004 marked the first time that an X Games event was televised live and also featured 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 last year'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.
Winter X Games 2002
The 2002 Winter X Games were a huge year for ESPN and the X Games. It was the first year that the games were held in Aspen Colorado at Buttermilk Mountain. The Games continued to add new events including the Ski Slopestyle event and the Ski SuperPipe event. The most memorable incident of the 2002 Games was when the entire 2002 U.S. Olympic Freestyle Snowboarding Team showed up to compete in the Winter X Snowboard SuperPipe event, just weeks prior to the Salt Lake City Olympics. 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.
Volunteers
ESPN Event Media (2008) states that all volunteers must be 18 years of age or older, commit to at least two days, and attend orientation. The X Games provides free gifts, snacks, meals, refreshments, and raffles for their volunteers.
History
Summarized from EXPN.com [4]
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