Calgary has the opportunity to become the first Canadian city to join the X Games lineup if corporate sponsorship can be secured to bring the event to the city.
The province, city and tourism officials gathered at the Stampede grounds on Wednesday morning to make the announcement.
“I am pleased to announce the Alberta government’s funding support that has secured the exclusive rights to host the first, ever X Games in Canada,” said Minister of Culture and Tourism Ricardo Miranda. “These games are an investment in our future, both in tourism, culture, sports, development and diversifying our economy. Bringing the X Games to Calgary will boost the city’s and Alberta’s legacy as a winter sports destination.”
Officials say exclusive Canadian rights have been secured by the city to host X Games for a minimum three year run and the city is hoping to hold events in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
The deal is contingent on securing corporate sponsorship and officials say they are talking with potential partners.
X Games features the world’s best action sports athletes and it’s estimated that it could bring in about 75,000 spectators and $75 million annually.
“The economic spin-offs are significant,” said Mayor Nenshi. “This supports travel and tourism, it supports economic development, it supports spin-off businesses like restaurants and hotels through the community.”
“Not only would the games introduce a new audience to Calgary, it would also inspire the next generation of athletes watching from the grandstands. The X Games features more than 200 world-class athletes, many of whom live and have trained here in the province, competing in a variety of skiing and snowboarding events and many of the young athletes, both on the slopes and on the stands, will go on to represent Canada at Olympic Games and beyond,” said Miranda. “This investment will bring significant economic benefits to the Calgary region and Alberta.”
“We are particularly proud of the Canadian athletes that train here in Calgary at WinSport, using those Olympic legacy facilities who’ve gone on to achieve great success at the X Games and at the Winter Olympics,” said Nenshi. “It’s really a very, very big part of who we are and this is a great way to be able to continue that incredible legacy.”
Tourism Calgary says it has been working to bring X Games to the city for almost a decade and the Alberta government has committed $13.5 million over the next three years to the project.
Hosting concepts have been approved for venues at Stampede Park and WinSport.
Tourism officials say the events will support about 540 jobs annually and that securing the Canadian rights is the first step in bringing X Games to Canada.
ESPN’s X Games was started in 1995 and host cities include; Aspen, Shanghai, Oslo and Sydney.
For more information on X Games, click HERE.
