Munich's Olympic Park "will, together with Red Bull, put on its own action sports event including BMX, motocross and skateboarding after ESPN announced the X Games will not return to the park," according to Julian Galinski of ABENDZEITUNG MÜNCHEN. The news that the X Games "will not return to Munich was a hard blow to the Olympiapark GmbH, which is the company operating the park." The inaugural event during the summer attracted 120,000 spectators. When ESPN announced the cancelation of X Games Munich in October, Olympiapark Communications Head Arno Hartung said, "We can't simply come up with an alternative." However, it now "has become clear they can." The Olympiapark will put on a big action sports event in '14. This time, it will be in cooperation with Red Bull instead of ESPN. Hartung said, "Either on July 12-13 or July 18-19. We will release a schedule in January." The decision to partner with Red Bull "was an easy one for the park as its options were either with Red Bull or not at all." Hartung: "You need strong economic partners." In addition to Red Bull's financial support, the Olympic Park "receives a huge marketing machine and several top athletes, which are part of Red Bull's network." The new event "is expected to become part of a series and not just a one-off thing." Hartung said that "Red Bull has come to stay" (ABENDZEITUNG MÜNCHEN, 12/12).
