Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
- Salt Lake City will host the X Games for the first time in June.
- The event will feature over 100 top action sports athletes competing for over $1 million in prize money.
- Officials expect 100,000 attendees and significant economic impact, with possible plans for future events.
SALT LAKE CITY — Erin Mendenhall remembers the first X Games in 1995. Seeing the high-flying action inspired her and her brother to build dirt jumps and use their rollerblades to grind on the curbs outside her old elementary school, hoping to recreate the excitement they saw on TV.
Thirty years later, she's now the mayor of Salt Lake City, which will host a major X Games event for the first time in late June.
The action sports giant plans to hold a three-day event at the Utah State Fairpark, X Games CEO Jeremy Bloom announced during an event at the facility on Thursday. The event — taking place June 27-29 — will mirror a pair of other global events already announced for Oaska, Japan, and Sacramento, California, this summer, as the brand looks to expand beyond its yearly format.
It will bring over 100 of the top BMX, Moto X and skateboarding athletes in the world in an "invite-only" format, who will compete for more than $1 million in prize money. The list will include skateboarding legend Ryan Sheckler, who has been sidelined with injuries. Sheckler flew in from California to announce he plans to compete in the event, ending a multiyear hiatus from the sport.
"We're going to bring back a lot of the legends, people who helped shape this iconic brand," Bloom said, standing in the Grand Building while a few children in attendance clutched the skateboards they brought with them. "We know this community will embrace this because there's such a great amount of action sports athletes here, and fans of our sports."
Tickets will go on sale next month.
He added the three-day event is expected to draw in about 100,000 people, but it'll also be broadcast nationally through its partnership with ABC and ESPN. Salt Lake County officials estimate that it will generate "tens of millions of dollars" in economic impact.
A growing sports scene
Thursday's announcement was about a decade in the making. Larry Mullenax, CEO of the Utah State Fair Corporation, said X Games was on a list of major events that the Utah State Fairpark had circled about nine years ago as a must-have event to host.
Mendenhall said it's a "phenomenal time" to be a sports fan in Salt Lake City, as the X Games event joins last year's addition of the NHL and the Winter Olympics are slated to return in 2034.
It's not the only major event coming to Salt Lake City in June. Red Bull announced on Wednesday that it will host one of its soapbox derby events in Salt Lake City for the first time on June 14. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox called that an example of how Utah is quickly becoming a "state of extreme sport."
A new golden era for the X Games?
Thursday's announcement also comes as X Games enters the beginning of a "new golden era" in action sports, said broadcaster Brandon Graham.
MSP Sports Capital — the owner of the Formula One McLaren Racing team and multiple global sports franchises — acquired the X Games from ESPN in 2022. Its new owners are in the process of turning a one-time annual event into a series of global events, including an expansion to Utah for the first time. Bloom said Salt Lake City will be a "really important jumping-off point" in the process.
It's really exciting because we have a global fanbase, but we haven't taken our sport to our global fanbase since 2013.
–Jeremy Bloom, X Games CEO
Part of the plan is getting kids "excited" about action sports again, much like the first event did for Mendenhall, Sheckler said. He said he's stoked to return to action later this year, hoping it can inspire the next generation of athletes. He also believes it can help people learn how to overcome challenges and failures.
"For me, I've always been trying to get people to understand that they can apply that to their everyday life," he said. "They can use skateboarding as an outlet to benefit and enrich their life."
The event will also include locals and soon-to-be locals. Hannah Roberts, a six-time world champion BMX competitor, as well as an X Games and Olympic medalist, said she's in the process of moving to Salt Lake County. She's thrilled to compete close to her new home later this year.
As it stands, the June event is a one-time deal. However, Sen. Scott Sandall, R-Tremonton, who also leads the Utah Fairpark board, said he hopes to make it a regular occurrence. Bloom said those conversations are ongoing, but X Games is interested.
He told KSL.com that Salt Lake City could also be an option for a new multiteam league format that the organization plans to launch next year.
More details about the event are expected to be released next month, but it will feature teams based in different cities that will compete at various worldwide events similar to many team sports formats. All the top summer and winter athletes will also go into a draft pool to be selected for team owners for their team, which will then compete in multiple events across the world for a championship.
"It is a new chapter for X Games," he said. "It's really exciting because we have a global fanbase, but we haven't taken our sport to our global fanbase since 2013."
