The X Games has never been a quiet entity. It's king- and queen-maker. A contest that has beamed directly into living rooms since 2002. It's gone through plenty of iterations in its tenure, from multi-stop global competition to two events, summer and winter, as it currently exists. Different disciplines have come and gone. But the cache of an X Games medal remains as brilliant every year. X Games is an evolving thing--a place that is just as likely to foster NBDs from athletes as it is to take chances in event, format, broadcast, etc. Some initiatives go great (Knuckle Huck's introduction to the event in 2019, the return of a rail event in 2024). Others falter (the influencer-studded broadcast in 2023). But a big event featuring big competition with a big platform means that big swings are necessary for existence.
To this end, X Games just announced a new, big swing, X Games League.
The new endeavor, X Games League , is a year-round competition modeled after traditional sports, featuring teams, a draft, and competitions that are connected, allowing teams to earn points. Athletes from different sports will be grouped together on teams, though from early communication it sounds like winter and summer sports will be kept separate.
X Games explains that XGL drafts off the concept of Formula 1 racing. From the official press release:
"In essence, we’ve used Formula One as a model for this new X Games League,” said Jeff Moorad, Executive Chairman of X Games and Principal of MSP Sports Capital. “To that end, we are creating a year-round calendar and introducing new commercial opportunities to accelerate the overall growth of X Games. These opportunities will provide a secure and sustainable future for our most important stakeholders – the athletes. By leveraging the incredibly valuable X Games brand, we will create a durable, global business that will be good for athletes, fans, investors and sponsors.”
X Games' hope is that utilizing conceits from motor and traditional sports will engage new audiences, bolstering viewership and through that (this is over-simplified, of course), advertiser and brand support, resources for athletes, resulting in the overall bettering of action sports. It's a tall order to accomplish all of these things, but X Games is an entity with the firepower to initiative such change.
X Games provided a helpful FAQ with more info about how X Games League will work.
Comments on the posts about X Games League are positive. Marcus Kleveland and Todd Richards chimed in, offering excitement as well as a question about The Hunger Games . (We'll let you figure out who said what.) In the official press release, Scotty James, who is a strategic advisor for X Games, said:
As both an active athlete and an advisor for X Games, I’m excited about the opportunities this new format presents. The long-term vision not only aims to grow action sports on a global level, but also provide athletes with greater security than ever before. For the first time, we will be able to focus on performance while benefiting from a stable and sustainable career path in action sports.
Notably, there is a revenue model that has never been done in snowboarding, and this is where the comparison to Formula 1 is clear:
MSP and X Games will secure investors for these new teams. Team investors and XGL athletes will have a platform from which to build and generate additional revenue streams via sponsorships and team-specific merchandise. In an industry first, XGL athletes will be provided with a level of stability that includes guaranteed compensation as well as new commercial opportunities.
Overall, the "rising tide raises all boats" mentality of this new proposition is definitely positive. Enabling athletes to be more secure in their careers is awesome. Providing more resources for riders as well as the industry, in general is awesome. Welcoming new fans to enjoy these sports is awesome.
As X Games League won't start until 2026, there's time for more details to be unveiled, but one of the interesting questions is how XGL will affect other events. X Games says they will work with schedules to accomodate other competitions, for example the Olympics, but thinking about leagues in mainstream sports and how they comprise most, if not all, of an athlete's schedule for a given year, we're interested to see how this plays out. The winter season is short (but there's always Southern Hemi and snowdomes) and many riders that are in X Games cross over to Dew Tour, Laax Open, World Cups, not to mention rail events like Heavy Metal, and of course, Natural Selection. This winter, the newly announced multi-stop Rockstar Energy Open will debut, too.
How will all this fit together? In a dream scenario, the contests that currently compete for calendar space would all work together in one grand schedule that would make things easiest for athletes, while providing all of the career security and support for competitors that creates buoyancy for the whole industry. Are we jumping ahead too much? Maybe, but maybe not. The big players are making moves and we're excited to see the what happens.
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