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Burnside Sees Increase In
Prize Money From Last Year
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After meeting with ESPN Exec VP/Content John Skipper on Wednesday and Thursday, the Action Sports Alliance (ASA) secured a larger share of X Games prize money, as well as “increased television exposure for women’s events at future X Games” and “input in the running of women’s skateboarding events,” according to Peter Yoon of the L.A. TIMES. While women’s vert riders were scheduled to split a purse of $14,000 this year, with $5,000 going to the winner, ASA President Cara-Beth Burnside was awarded $15,000 for winning the competition Thursday. The total purse for the men’s vert final was $108,000, with the winner taking home $50,000. Burnside’s prize marks a $13,000 increase over last year’s first prize. Burnside also “hinted that women’s surfing could be added to the X Games as soon as next year.” Burnside, on the ASA: “Now were going to be even more united. Things are only going to get better from here.” All the competitors in Thursday’s women’s vert competition wore ASA T-shirts. Skipper said in a statement, “Just as we have grown women’s sports in general and for Winter X, we plan to do so with Summer X” (
L.A. TIMES, 8/4). Burnside: “A lot of girls don’t have a lot of sponsors that can really help them. By having [the women’s events] televised, it’s going [to] help everyone and help the sport grow for the girls” (
AP, 8/4). ESPN indicated that it was “too late to change the television coverage” for ’06 (
N.Y. TIMES, 8/4).
