Munich Bids for Global X Games

The biggest action sport event in the world from 2013 to 2015 could take place at the Olympic Park  Olympic Park Munich is bidding to host the 2013 to 2015 Global Summer X Games. Munich would thus become the European host of the biggest and most influential action sports event in the world. The Summer X Games represent such youthful and attractive sports as skateboarding, Freestyle Motocross and BMX, with an emphasis on contemporary staging. A victory at the X Games means just as much for action athletes as winning at the Olympic Games. "This bid means a great deal to us. When you see the rate at which the X Games have grown into THE action sports competition and the potential that this event has, it is a given to want to bring it to Munich at the Olympic Park. We can offer an optimal environment for an event of this calibre and standard of quality in every respect," said Olympic Park Managing Director Ralph Huber in regard to the bid. The organizer of the event, ESPN, wants to kick off the Global X Games Series by expanding into Europe and Asia, beginning in 2013. In addition to the existing event locations of Los Angeles, USA (Summer X Games), Aspen, USA (Winter X Games) and Tignes, France (Winter X Games), there will be two new locations announced outside of the U.S. in both Asia (for the Summer and Winter X Games) and also a European venue for the Summer X Games, which the Olympic Park Munich is bidding for. The X Games, which were first held in 1995, are a kind of Olympics for action sports such as skateboarding, Freestyle Motocross, BMX, mountain biking, snowboarding and freeskiing. The main organizer and rights-holder is ESPN, the largest sports channel in the world. Now in its seventeenth year the X Games, which started as a smaller action sport event, has become the ultimate event for action athletes and a worldwide phenomenon, boasting for example over 2.3 million fans on Facebook. "It's not just the impressive numbers that make the X Games so interesting. They are also a sports spectacle representing both the present and the future, which appeals primarily to a younger audience in style and presentation", said Huber. He then continued to say: "The Olympic Park is the ace that Munich has up its sleeve compared to other cities. Only a few of the other candidates are in the same league as us when it comes to experience in hosting large events. In addition, through hosting such sports events in recent years as for example Air & Style in the Olympic Stadium, or Red Bull Crashed Ice at Coubertinplatz, the park has clearly proven that it is not only an optimal venue for classical sports, but also and especially so in terms of action sports and contemporary sports, as Munich has an enthusiastic young audience." ESPN will decide next year which cities will host the Global X Games from 2013 to 2015, alongside Aspen, Los Angeles and Tignes. The deadline for bidding projects is January 2, 2012. The first event would take place in Summer 2013.