SUMMER
Dew Tour
Description: The first action sports series. Launched in 2005 by Clear Channel and NBC, the vision was to develop a series of action sports events for BMX, skate and freestyle motocross in which athletes accumulated points and had a chance to win what amounts to a season championship.
Owner: NBC
Locations: TBD (Last year: Ocean City, Md.; Portland; Salt Lake City; Las Vegas)
Dates: TBD (Last year: June 21-24; Aug. 11-14; Sept. 8-11; Oct. 13-16)
Total attendance: 179,090
Average rating and viewership: 0.5, 786,000 (NBC, USA)
Marquee event: Dew Tour Championships, Las Vegas
Key executives: Wade Martin, Alli Sports president; Chris Prybylo, Alli Sports vice president of events; Rob Simmelkjaer, senior vice president of NBC Sports Ventures and International
X Games
Description: The original multisport action sports event. An annual spectacle featuring BMX, skate, motocross and rally cross. Athletes are invited to participate and given a chance to win Olympic-like gold, silver and bronze medals in their respective disciplines.
Owner: ESPN
Location: Los Angeles
Date: June 28-July 1
Attendance: 141,500
Average rating and viewership: 0.63, 1,038,970 (ESPN, ESPN2, ABC)
Key executives: Scott Guglielmino, senior vice president of programming and X Games; Mark Nolan, vice president of X Games sales; Tori Stevens, vice president of operations, X Games
Maloof Money Cup
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Maloof Money Cup
Photo by: Getty Images |
Description: A skateboarding only competition launched in 2008. Joe and Gavin Maloof created the event because they believed there was an opening for a pure skate competition. They allowed skaters to design the street course and offered the largest purse in skateboarding at the time. They have since expanded to Queens, N.Y., Washington, D.C., and South Africa.
Owner: Joe and Gavin Maloof
Location: TBD (Last year: Queens, N.Y.; Washington, D.C.; Kimberly, South Africa)
Dates: TBD
Total attendance: 113,227 event and village; 16,337 skatepark
Average rating and viewership: Not available (Shown live on Fuel TV, which is unrated)
Marquee event: Orange County Maloof Money Cup
Key executives: Tim McFerran, president
Street League
Description: A street skate tour launched in 2010 by skater and MTV personality Rob Dyrdek. A total of 24 pro skaters signed on to compete in the series, which uses instant scoring technology to determine a winner and keep spectators aware of what’s at stake during competition.
Owner: Rob Dyrdek
Locations: TBD (Last year: Seattle; Kansas City, Mo.; Glendale, Ariz.; Newark, N.J.)
Dates: TBD (Last year: May 8, June 12, July 17, Aug. 28)
Total attendance: 50,000
Average rating and viewership: 0.2, 298,000 (ESPN)
Marquee event: Street League Championship
Key executives: Rob Dyrdek, founder; Brian Atlas, general manager
ASP World Tour
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ASP World Tour
Photo by: Getty Images |
Description: The Association of Surfing Professionals’ premier series can be traced back to the 1960s. The men’s tour currently features 11 events across seven countries, while the women’s tour features seven events across five countries.
Owner: Participating surfers
Location: Bells Beach, Australia; Jeffreys Bay, South Africa; Santa Cruz, Calif.; multiple other locations
Dates: February to December
Total attendance: Not available
Average rating and viewership: Not available (Fuel TV)
Marquee event: Billabong Pipe Masters
Key executives: Richard Grellman, independent chairman of the ASP board
Nike US Open of Surfing
Description: The event was founded in 1994, but it has evolved considerably since Nike took over as title sponsor in 2010. It added skateboarding, BMX and longboard competitions to the nine-day surfing event.
Owner: IMG
Location: Huntington Beach, Calif.
Date: Early August
Total attendance: 500,000 (estimate over nine days)
Average rating and viewership: Not available (shown on Fuel TV, which is unrated)
Marquee event: US Open of Surfing
Key executives: James Leitz, senior vice president of IMG Action Sports
WINTER
Winter Dew Tour
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Winter Dew Tour
Photo by: George Grosland / Dew Tour |
Description: With the financial support of founding partner Mountain Dew, NBC in 2008 added a complementary winter action sports series. The series features ski and snowboard halfpipe and slopestyle events.
Owner: NBC
Locations: Breckenridge, Colo.; Killington, Vt.; Ogden, Utah
Dates: December to February
Total attendance: 103,800
Average rating and viewership: 0.5, 790,000 (NBC, USA)
Marquee event: Toyota Championships
Key executives: Wade Martin, Alli Sports president; Chris Prybylo, Alli Sports vice president of events; Rob Simmelkjaer, senior vice president of NBC Sports Ventures and International
Winter X Games
Description: The first event was held in 1997 and featured everything from ice climbing to snowboard slopestyle. Over the years, it has evolved to feature ski, snowboard and snowmobile competitions.
Owner: ESPN
Location: Aspen, Colo.
Date: Jan. 26-29
Total attendance: 114,200
Average rating and viewership: 0.6, 997,523 (ESPN, ESPN2)
Key executives: Scott Guglielmino, senior vice president of programming and X Games; Mark Nolan, vice president of X Games sales; Tori Stevens, vice president of operations for the X Games
Air & Style
Description: Founded in the mid-1990s, this competition brought snowboarding down from the mountains and into major metropolitan markets. Events feature snowboarders from all over the world facing off in big air and quarter-pipe competitions. The events are sanctioned by the Ticket to Ride organization, an umbrella nonprofit organization that sanctions six elite snowboarding events worldwide.
Owner: Air & Style Co.
Locations: Innsbruck, Austria; Beijing, China; Munich, Germany
Dates: December to February
Total attendance: 25,000
Average rating and viewership: Not available
Marquee event: Oakley and Shaun White present Air & Style Beijing
Key executives: Andrew Hourmont, founder
Burton Global Open Series
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Burton Global Open Series
Photo by: Shem Roose / Burton Global Open Series |
Description: The signature snowboarding company held its first international “Open” event in 1994 in Japan. Today, the Burton Global Open Series spans New Zealand, Europe, Canada and the U.S. The original Open event, the U.S. Open Snowboarding Championships, celebrates its 30th anniversary this March in Stratton, Vt.
Owner: Burton Snowboards
Locations: New Zealand, Europe, Canada, United States
Dates: August to March
Total attendance: 80,000
Average rating and viewership: Not available (U.S. Open shown on Universal Sports)
Marquee event: U.S. Open Snowboarding Championships, Stratton, Vt.
Key executives: Jake Burton, founder and owner; Nick Sargent, global director of partner marketing and strategic alliance
USSA Grand Prix
Description: U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s signature event was one of the first series of snowboarding events. Founded in the 1990s, the event helped the organization pick the first U.S. snowboard team for the 1998 Olympics. As freeskiing came into vogue in the last few years, it has been integrated into the tour. Every four years, the series will determine who will represent Team USA in snowboarding and freeskiing at the Olympics.
Owner: U.S. Ski & Snowboard Association
Location: Copper Mountain, Colo.; Canyons Resort, Utah; Mammoth Mountain, Calif.
Date: December to March
Total attendance: 24,500
Average rating and viewership: Not available (Versus, NBC)
Marquee event: Visa U.S. Halfpipe Grand Prix, featuring halfpipe snowboarding and freeskiing
Key executives: Calum Clark, USSA vice president of events; Eric Webster, USSA director of the Grand Prix
Note: Total attendance and rating and viewership figures are from 2011.
