Austin To Host Summer X-Games 2014-2017 (Howe: school, live, price)

[woodinvilleguy]

I know my son is "totally stoked dude!" :-) We will be buying tickets for sure

[scm53]

Same weekend as UT graduation.

[scm53]

Originally Posted by buffettjr

I think they chose to leave for financial reasons. It sounded like the city was possibly demanding more money for use of the facilities than ESPN was willing to pay.

Couldn't come to an agreement with the current site:

Last year, ESPN put out a proposal request for new host cities after it could not reach a deal to extend an agreement with a Los Angeles-based partner that owns the Staples Center, according to news reports.

[Kosmonaut]

It looks as though ESPN wants a permanent home for the X games in SE Austin:


Already committed to Austin and the Circuit of The Americas through 2017, a top ESPN official said Wednesday the sports network’s popular Summer X Games event could stay here even longer

the likelihood of growing the sporting event into “something like a festival” was one of the reasons for moving it to Austin from its current home in Los Angeles.

"The master plan is to not pick this event up every few years and move it to another city,” he said. “When you come to a track like this it has a lot to offer that lets us cut costs and the event becomes lighter weight in its economic model. We’re both [incentivized] to grow this event and this [proposal] has terrific growth potential.”

ESPN X Games could call Austin home beyond 2017 - Austin Business Journal

[woodinvilleguy]

Originally Posted by scm53

Same weekend as UT graduation.

Is that really a huge conflict? I just am ignorant about how many come into town for Graduation yearly.

[scm53]

Originally Posted by woodinvilleguy

Is that really a huge conflict? I just am ignorant about how many come into town for Graduation yearly.

In the past, I've heard numbers as high as 25,000. There is usually between 8 and 10,000 grads, so that isn't seem out of line.

[Trainwreck20]

Yeah, a few show extra people in town, but they do a series of 'college' graduations, and a lot of students then skip the 'main' graduation, resulting in the attendance being a bit spread out. A lot of people do not stay the night, either. As far as conflicts go, it really isn't much.

[verybadgnome]

A little disappointing that the Moto X was cancelled, but all in all a great weekend. The BMX big air was not something I could ever have imagined doing with my Mongoose back in the day. A different, looser, younger crowd than F1, they even made the use of the pool to cool off. It was on the verge to being too hot to really enjoy so I say no later than early June for next years. And one more thing: You can save $20 by procrastinating and buying the ticket there thus avoiding the ticketmaster fees. This type of event can't sell out for general admission AFAIK.

[scm53]

Originally Posted by verybadgnome

A little disappointing that the Moto X was cancelled, but all in all a great weekend. The BMX big air was not something I could ever have imagined doing with my Mongoose back in the day. A different, looser, younger crowd than F1, they even made the use of the pool to cool off. It was on the verge to being too hot to really enjoy so I say no later than early June for next years. And one more thing: You can save $20 by procrastinating and buying the ticket there thus avoiding the ticketmaster fees. This type of event can't sell out for general admission AFAIK.

Attendance was 160K, well above last year's 92K in LA.

[gpurcell]

Looked like the venue was basically at/above practical capacity. I hope the event stays for many years.