X Games
What are the X Games?
When were the first X Games?
What sports were included in the inaugural Winter X Games?
What significant changes occurred in the ownership and format of the X Games in 2022 and 2024?
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The X Games are extreme sports competitions held twice a year. The Summer X Games typically feature skateboarding, BMX, and motocross, and the Winter X Games feature snowboarding, skiing, and snowmobiling. Athletes from around the world compete in these multiday events for a chance to win gold, silver, and bronze medals, along with prize money. In 2026 the X Games will change to a team-based format with multiple events for each season and will be called the X Games League.
Creation and history
The X Games were the brainchild of ESPN executive Ron Semiao in a bid to attract young Gen X viewers, a lucrative advertising demographic that had expressed interest in more wide-ranging sporting events beyond the traditional sports that were the network’s bread and butter. In 1994 ESPN announced that the first Extreme Games (the event’s original name) would be held in Rhode Island the next year.
The first Extreme Games, in the cities of Newport, Providence, and Middletown, took place June 24–July 1, 1995, and included competitions in skateboarding, windsurfing, BMX, bungee jumping, sport climbing, and skysurfing (think skydiving but with a board). The event drew nearly 200,000 spectators and was deemed a huge success by ESPN, which reportedly spent $10 million on the games. After receiving an enthusiastic response from the athletes, organizers, and the event’s seven sponsors, which included Mountain Dew, Taco Bell, and Nike, ESPN decided to hold the games every year instead of every other as originally planned.
In January 1996 ESPN changed the name to the X Games on the theory that the shortened name would offer better branding opportunities and be more appealing to international audiences.
- Yes, that was a thing. It started out as people racing down a snow-covered hill while sitting on a shovel with the handle between their legs. The “super-modified” part came in when soapbox derby-type vehicles were built around the shovel. The driver still needed to sit on the shovel, which had to touch the snow.
The inaugural Winter X Games, January 30–February 2, 1997, at Snow Summit Mountain Resort in Big Bear Lake, California, featured snowboarding, snow mountain biking, super-modified shovel racing, ice climbing, and a multisport crossover event. The games drew nearly 40,000 spectators and were televised in 198 countries and territories in 21 languages.
X Games through the years
The X Games continued to be successful and expanded to global locations, first in Phuket, Thailand, in 1998 and subsequently to such countries as Japan, Australia, Brazil, and Spain.
The sports in the X Games have changed over the years. Organizers were willing to experiment with newly developing sports, trying them one year and sometimes dropping them the next. For example, super-modified shovel racing was only in the first Winter X Games. Other eliminated sports include bungee jumping, in-line skating, street luge, surfing, wakeboarding, snow mountain biking, and ice climbing. Some events, such as snowmobiling, have been dropped from the games and then brought back because of fan interest.
History-making X Games moments
There have been many firsts over the years at the X Games. Summer X Games firsts include:
- Skateboarding: American Tony Hawk was the first to land a 900 (two-and-a-half rotations) in competition, in 1999. Sky Brown, who is British-Japanese, was the first female skateboarder to do a frontside 540, at age 11 in 2019. Australian Arisa Trew was the first female skateboarder to complete a 720, in 2023.
- BMX: American Dave Mirra was the first to land a double backflip, in 2000.
- Motocross: American Travis Pastrana was the first to land a double backflip, in 2006.
Winter X Games firsts include:
- Big air: Norwegian Torstein Horgmo landed the first triple cork, in 2011.
- Super pipe: American Kelly Clark was the first woman to do a 1080, in 2011.
- Snowmobile: American Heath Frisby landed the first front flip, in 2012.
Change in ownership and format
In October 2022 ESPN announced that it had sold a majority share of the X Games to MSP Sports Capital, a New York-based private equity firm. ESPN remains a minority owner and continues to broadcast the games.
- Key People:
- Rayssa Leal
- Tony Hawk
As a sign of the continued popularity—and profitability—of extreme sports, in June 2024 MSP Sports Capital announced that the X Games would move to a global team-based format in 2026. Called the X Games League, it will feature privately owned clubs of male and female athletes competing for points and prize money. Jeff Moorad, principal of MSP and executive chairman of the X Games, explained, “In essence, we’ve used Formula One as a model for this new X Games League.” The plan is for a summer season and a winter season, with four clubs competing in each season. In 2026 there will be three summer events, each lasting three days, and then three winter events will be added in 2027.