THE TRUTH ABOUT THE X-GAMES! (A Roll Minnesota Video Essay)

WE CRASHED THE X-GAMES: • WE CRASHED THE X-GAMES...
THE RETURN OF ROLLERBLADING: • THE RETURN OF ROLLERBL...
For many inline skaters, the X-Games serves as a target of resentment and scorn, due to the perceived mistreatment and industry bias the X-Games has demonstrated towards rollerblading over the last two decades. But is the X-Games truly responsible for blacklisting our industry and condemning it to a visibility death-sentence or is it just another scapegoat, redirecting attention from the internal issues that once existed within our sport. I’m Butch Lehman of Roll Minnesota, and I invite you to join me as we seek to uncover the truth about the X-Games.
In this video essay, we will explore the earlier beginnings of the X-Games, its ascent into pop-cultural relevancy, and its over-saturation, leading to the removal of inline skating and many other action sports competitions. After the 1999 X-Games, and the infamous Tony Hawk 900, ESPN pursued a number of new business opportunities including the Winter X-Games televised qualifiers, the Tony Hawk Gigantic Skatepark Tour, The X-Games Music Awards, X Games Global, and a number of other events that saturated the extreme sports market, resulting in diminishing attendance and TV ratings. Sports like skysurfing, street luge, bungy jumping, mountain biking, and surfing all faced a similar fate as the X-Games over-extended itself and consolidated its base to skateboarding, BMX, and freestyle moto-x.
This year, X-Games was cancelled, and with their contract expiring here in Minneapolis, it remains to be seen what impact this will have on the event both financially and organizationally. With X-Games already struggling to retain its current audience and appeal to new demographics, I am hopeful that X-Games with reevaluate its approach and broden it’s reach, adding new sports like scootering, and reintroducing legacy sports like inline skating. I’ve even heard some talk about X-Games exploring esports and video games, but who knows what they do.
I’m excited for the future and what it has in store for rollerblading, and if you want to be part of the comeback here’s how you can help.
Butch Lehman (Roll Minnesota)
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