The X Games is out to show there are riskier moves in action sports than flying upside down above a halfpipe. The name that put action sports on the map, then turned it into big business that eventually landed in the Olympics with its risk-taking, counterculture vibe, will debut its multimillion-dollar reboot with nothing less than the future of one of the sports industry’s best-recognized brands at stake.

New Team Concept

Sports like snowboarding, skateboarding and BMX biking that were founded on a spirit of devil-may-care individuality are becoming team enterprises. Those same sports that were founded on the idea that it was more about hanging out and doing cool stuff than medals, money and winning are now building franchises that organizers say are selling as part of eight-figure transactions.

The debut of the new team concept, scheduled to cover both the upcoming summer and winter seasons, is set for Friday in Sacramento, California. Among the headliners are skateboarding’s Nyjah Huston, Garrett Reynolds and Chloe Covell. Eileen Gu, Chloe Kim, Mark McMorris and Scotty James are among those signed up for the winter portion.

Future of Action Sports

Jeremy Bloom, the Olympic freestyle skier and former NFL receiver who was hired by MSP Sports Capital, said, ‘I love working on big ideas, and this is a big idea.’ The X Games hopes to build a season-long race for a title, with summer and winter teams that hold drafts. Both seasons will run over three events, with the summer league going to Tokyo and New Orleans after the debut in Sacramento.

Original reporting: Texarkana Gazette — read the source article.