ESPN will debut three new
disciplines at X Games 14 this summer in Los Angeles – Skateboard and BMX
SuperPark and BMX Street. SuperPark will be a 100 percent transition-focused
design – blending a variety of terrain and obstacles into one seamless course.
The SuperPark disciplines will highlight the all-around abilities of the world’s
best transition skaters and BMX riders. This will mark the first time ever that
X Games will not have a stand-alone vert ramp. In addition to Skateboard and BMX
SuperPark, BMX Street will be added to X Games where it will follow the same
template as X Games mainstay Skateboard Street. The concept is simple, raw
street features such as stairs, rails and ledges replicated in an arena setting.
For X Games 14 at The Home Depot Center and STAPLES Center, these new
disciplines will join the other Skateboard and BMX competitions of Skateboard
Street and Skateboard and BMX Big Air. Fourteen hours of live X Games
programming on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC – all showcased in high definition – will be
aired July 31 – August 3, as well as on ESPN International, EXPN.com, ESPN
Classic, ESPN360.com, SportsCenter and ESPN2’s X
Center.
"We are constantly striving to
present new sports and disciplines at the X Games that accurately reflect the
state of action sports and participants,” said Chris Stiepock, X Games General
Manager. “Skateboarders and BMX riders still enjoy vert features, but most are
doing so at skateparks rather than on stand-alone vert halfpipes. The
proliferation of public skateparks has fostered new athletes who excel on large
park features, leading us to develop the SuperPark
discipline."
BMX legend Mat Hoffman, the sport
organizer for X Games BMX events, said: “The very core of BMX is to explore and
be creative. This new format will promote this progression, providing the
opportunity for the best riders to expand Park and Vert to new
dimensions.”
In addition to the currently-named
discipline of SuperPark, X Games 14, the premier action sports event in the
world, will feature athletes from across the globe competing for medals and
prize money in the following sports: BMX Freestyle, Moto X, Skateboard, Surfing
and Rally Car Racing.
Details on sports schedules, venues
and athletes will be forthcoming and available on www.expn.com.
ESPN, ABC AND ESPN INTERNATIONAL TO
TELEVISE EVENT LIVE
Last year, nearly 38 million fans
tuned to X Games 13 on TV – up 7% from 2006. Overall, X Games 13 averaged a 1.0
rating on ESPN. It was
ESPN’s most-viewed X Games ever, and among Men 12-17, 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54.
In addition, fans around the world were then able to watch the entire broadcast
streamed live on EXPN.com. Both EXPN.com and ESPN360.com streamed 40 hours of
live X Games 13 coverage.