Los Angeles -- ESPN X Games, the premier action sports competition in the world, today announces a series of enhancements to its 10th anniversary event this year.  Now in its second consecutive year in Los Angeles, X Games X will take place August 5-8, 2004.  Enhancements for this year's event include:

· X Games X will be telecast LIVE across ESPN and ABC, with consistent programming windows at 9 pm ET / 6 pm PT on ESPN and a Sunday night primetime window on ABC.
· SportsCenter, the leading sports news and information program, will report live from X Games X and will be hosted by anchor Linda Cohn.
· The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. will serve as a new venue, joining STAPLES Center (both AEG owned and operated venues) and additional Los Angeles-area sites.
· Each event will feature \"the best of the best\" - showcasing maximum starting fields of 10 athletes in Finals only competitions.*
· The lineup of sports has been refined.  Among the changes, it includes the addition of Skateboard Big Air and Moto X SuperMoto.

\"For the past decade, evolution and progression have defined action sports and in turn the X Games,\" said Ron Semiao, senior vice president, ESPN Original Entertainment. \"These distinguishing enhancements are designed to clearly identify the X Games as the signature action sports championship.  With new sports, venues and formats, plus complete live programming and SportsCenter on-site, we will create the most significant event to date in this special milestone year for our athletes, fans and affiliate and advertising partners.\"

X Games X Programming
For the first time in X Games history (summer), the event will air fully LIVE on ESPN and ABC.  X Games X will feature 14 hours of original programming from August 5-8, with consistent programming windows at 9 pm ET / 6 pm PT on ESPN and a Sunday night primetime window on ABC.  In addition, ESPN2 will present daily late-night highlight programs from August 6-9, resulting in 18 total hours of original programming for X Games X. 

After a successful debut at Winter X Games VIII in January, SportsCenter, ESPN's flagship daily news program, will report live from X Games X August 5-7.  Each of those nights, the 11 p.m. ET SportsCenter will contain live event coverage.  SportsCenter anchor Linda Cohn, who reported live from Winter X Games VIII, will also report from Los Angeles.

Home Depot Center
The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. will serve as X Games' newest venue and will be home to the Moto X Freestyle, Moto X SuperMoto and Bike Stunt Dirt competitions.  STAPLES Center in Los Angeles will continue to serve as X Games' primary venue.  X Games X will also return to Huntington Beach Pier for Surfing and to Long Beach Marine Stadium for Wakeboard.

The Home Depot Center is a 125-acre development featuring state-of-the-art stadiums and facilities for soccer, tennis, track and field, cycling, volleyball, baseball, softball, basketball…and now action sports.  Designated as an \"Official U.S. Olympic Training Site,\" The Home Depot Center is the nation's most complete training facility for Olympic, amateur and professional athletes.  The soccer stadium will serve as the site for X Games X competitions.  

Competition Format
X Games X will have a finals only format consisting of the 10 best action sports athlete per sport discipline.  *The only sports that will feature more than 10 athletes will be Moto X SuperMoto (a race event) and Surfing (two teams of 10).

Sport organizers will assemble committees to determine the athletes who will be invited to compete at X Games X.  Each sport is unique; therefore, the invitation criteria will vary per sport like they have over the past nine years.  Editors Note:  See the X Games X schedule located at the end of this release.

X Games X Sports
X Games X will include 17 world-class competitions - including the new Skateboard Big Air and Moto X SuperMoto - in six sport categories, including Aggressive In-Line Skate, Bike Stunt, Moto X, Skateboard, Surfing and Wakeboard.  The following sports and disciplines will be included in X Games X, followed by new sports announcements:

 
Aggressive In-Line Skate
· Vert
Bike Stunt
· Dirt
· Park
· Vert
Moto X
· Best Trick
· Freestyle
· Step Up
· SuperMoto (NEW, announced 4/5/04)

 

Skateboard
· Big Air (NEW)
· Men's Street
· Women's Street
· Men's Vert
· Women's Vert
· Vert Best Trick
Surfing
· The Game ä
Wakeboard
· Men's
· Women's

 
The listing of athletes participating in X Games X will be announced at a later date.

Skateboard Big Air
An emerging discipline, Big Air is the newest member to the X Games Skateboard sport category.  Skateboard Big Air consists of a jump that has a 60-80-foot takeoff ramp, followed by a gap jump, landing and quarterpipe at the bottom.  The gap jump set-up is much like a snowboard big air jump.  In this judged event, the athlete jumps the gap and executes tricks.  Big Air gained its notoriety through skateboarders like Danny Way, who has been leading this movement and can be seen in The DC Video by DC Shoes.  The Big Air competition will be held at STAPLES Center.

ESPN, The Worldwide Leader in Action Sports, first developed its X Games franchise in 1995.  As part of the ESPN Original Entertainment division, X Games, Winter X Games, EXPN 2Day and X Games Global Championship are just some of the original action sports programming currently shown on ESPN and ESPN2. The brand has also grown to include international X Games events, EXPN.com, EXPN Radio, the large format film ESPN's Ultimate X, X Games Skateparks and various X Games-branded retail products.

X Games X Competition Schedule
Note - All times listed are Pacific Time Zone. This schedule is subject to change.  A full detailed schedule is forthcoming and will be listed on www.expn.com.

 
Thursday, August 5th
Skateboard Vert Finals   STAPLES Center
Moto X Best Trick Finals  STAPLES Center

Friday, August 6th
Skateboard Street Finals  STAPLES Center
Bike Stunt Vert Finals   STAPLES Center
Moto X Step Up Finals   STAPLES Center

Saturday, August 7th
Aggressive In-Line Vert Finals STAPLES Center
Wakeboard Women's Finals  Long Beach
Surfing The Game™ Finals  Huntington Beach
Wakeboard Men's Finals  Long Beach
Bike Stunt Park Finals   STAPLES Center
Skateboard Vert Women's Finals STAPLES Center

Skateboard Vert Best Trick Finals STAPLES Center
Moto X Freestyle Prelims  Home Depot Center

Sunday, August 8th
Skateboard Street Women's Finals 
STAPLES Center
Skateboard Big Air Finals  STAPLES Center
Moto X SuperMoto Finals  Home Depot Center
Bike Stunt Dirt Finals   Home Depot Center
Moto X Freestyle Finals   Home Depot Center

MEDIA: Please visit www.espneventmedia.com for X Games press materials, event photos, credential information and more.

Media Contact: Melissa Gullotti, 860-766-7216, melissa.c.gullotti@espn.com
Maria Elles Scott, 310-642-1509, maria.elles.scott@espn.com