In order to accommodate the estimated 35,000 people
"expected to show up each day during next month's Summer X
Games" in S.F., Mayor Willie Brown announced Tuesday that
the city and X Games sponsors are setting up a waterfront
village for fans, according to Jim Herron Zamora of the S.F.
EXAMINER. The village will be located near Pier 30-32 on
S.F. Bay and "feature specialties from local restaurants,
music and entertainment, and a half-pipe and climbing wall
where spectators can test their own skills." Admission to
the village and all X Games events will be free. The
concept is modeled after the NFL Experience and NBA Fan Jam.
Brown said that he wants to make the city a "permanent home"
for the event. Last year, the Games "pumped an estimated"
$20M into the local economy (S.F. EXAMINER, 7/12).
OPENING NEW DOORS: ESPN's inaugural Great Outdoors
Games, which take place in Lake Placid, NY, and air from
July 27-August 4 on ESPN/ESPN2, are profiled by AD AGE's
Kate Fitzgerald, who writes that the net is "targeting" men
ages 25-54, "not just the younger" demographics who watch
the X Games. ESPN/ABC Sports VP & Dir of Event Marketing
Tom Hagel: "Women and families will be among our viewers,
but we're mostly targeting men, the kind of people who watch
NASCAR." Sponsors for the competition include Castrol, Land
Rover, Lowe's, Pep Boys, Stihl and WorldCom's 1-800-COLLECT.
ESPN "expects more than" 50,000 spectators to attend the
event, "thanks to local publicity, with broad sampling and
marketing opportunities for sponsors" (AD AGE, 7/10 issue).
The official Great Outdoors Games Web site, a joint venture
between EIG and Times Mirror's Field & Stream and Outdoor
Life launched yesterday at www.greatoutdoorgames.com (ESPN).