The X-Games are almost upon us.
Since 1995, athletes from around the world come to compete annually in the summer X-Games for a chance to represent their hometown and country on top of the podium.
Since then, the X-Games have evolved with added events/disciplines, rule changes, and hosting cities. For the past 20 year,s the summer X-Games have been held in cities from San Diego and San Francisco and Los Angeles, to Philadelphia, and most recently Austin. There is also a Winter X-Games, which were added in 1997.
For the first time ever, US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis will be the home of X-games for 2017 and 2018, with hopes of making enough of an impact to be the permanent home for future games.
The Twin Cities will also play host to the Super Bowl coming up this February, and the X-Games have a similar city selection process. According to Tim Reed, The Vice President of ESPN X-Games, the selection follows a highly competitive bidding process and Minneapolis came out on top for 2017 and 2018:
“We are thrilled to bring the X Games to Minneapolis next July,” said Reed. “We believe that teaming up with the City of Minneapolis, Minnesota Sports Facility Authority (MSFA), SMG and Meet Minneapolis and the truly impressive new, state-of-the-art U.S. Bank Stadium will provide an extraordinary opportunity to grow the X Games in a new region of the country and in a city that’s quickly becoming recognized as a premier sports and entertainment destination.”
“It was a very competitive bid process and we feel privileged to have had such great interest and thank the multiple cities that participated in the process. Ultimately, the combination of resources, support, fit and passion from the Minneapolis team brought us here and we couldn’t be happier.”
(Source: ESPN Media Zone: ESPN Selects Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Host X Games in the U.S., credit: Grace Coryell)
The Minneapolis X-Games are to host a series of events from July 13-16. These will include various skateboarding, BMX, motorcycle, and motocross events. US Bank Stadium plans to host these events within the stadium as well as the adjacent Medtronic Plaza and Downtown East Commons. For a full schedule, visit their website.
Athletes from around the world will fly into Minneapolis to compete in the 2017 X-Games. Men and women from various countries, age groups, and disciplines will challenge each other to climb, grasp, or fly their way to the top. There will even be a few athletes from Minnesota competing. Depending on the event and discipline past contenders have ranged from the young age of 12 years old all the way to 50+.
On top of all the extreme sport competitions occurring during the games each day there will be a different musical headliner each night. Friday night will kick off rocking with A Day To Remember, Saturday follows with Grammy-winning EDM artist Flume, and to finish off the weekend and competition on Sunday the Minneapolis hometown hip-hop artist Atmosphere takes the main stage.
For more information on tickets, events, schedules, artists, and athletes visit: xgames.espn.com/xgames/minneapolis
