X Games Collaborates with Street League Skateboarding

Elite Skateboarding Series Adds Foz do Iguaçu, Barcelona, Munich and Los Angeles to 2013 SLS World Tour. Street League Skateboarding (SLS) – the preeminent competitive series in professional skateboarding worldwide – has reached agreement with ESPN to be the official sport organizer for all Men’s Skateboard Street competitions at the upcoming X Games international events in Brazil, Spain and Germany along with the Los Angeles event in August. Additionally, those four events will be part of the seven-stop 2013 SLS World Tour, and televised on ESPN and ESPN2. Launched in 2010, SLS features 20 of the world’s best street skateboarders competing in an easy-to-follow, instant scoring format on one-of-a-kind concrete skate plazas with the largest prize purse in skateboarding history at $2 million. “The X Games and Street League collaboration will allow ESPN to provide continuity throughout the skate competition season and showcase the world’s best street skaters to all of the X Games events globally,” said Tim Reed, ESPN senior director content strategy.  “In addition, ESPN is thrilled to be the exclusive live platform for the Street League world tour and looking forward to documenting all of the stories and highlights year round on xgames.com.” The dates and venues for the 2013 SLS World Tour are: · Stop One: Street League at X Games – Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil (April 18 – 21) · Stop Two: Street League at X Games – Barcelona, Spain (May 16 – 19) · Stop Three: Sprint Center – Kansas City, Mo. (June 9) · Stop Four: Street league at X Games – Munich, Germany (June 27 – 30) · Stop Five:  Rose Garden – Portland, Ore. (July 14) · Stop Six: Street League at X Games – Los Angeles (August 1 – 4) · Championship: Prudential Center – Newark, NJ (August 25) “There is no better opportunity to elevate Street League globally than our new partnership with the X Games,” says Street League creator Rob Dyrdek.  “By launching a fully connected world tour, our pros now have six events to qualify into the Championship, with each tour stop utilizing the standard Street League format, course design, and prize money that has helped establish the series as the most elite tour in skateboarding.  This partnership not only gives more to our fans but also adds undeniable media support from ESPN to give the league a true global impact.”  2013 Street League Pros · Austyn Gillette · Bastien Salabanzi · Billy Marks · Chaz Ortiz · Chris Cole · David Gonzalez · Dylan Rieder · Ishod Wair · Luan Oliveira · Matt Miller · Mikey Taylor · Nyjah Huston  · Paul Rodriguez Jr. · Peter Ramondetta · Sean Malto · Ryan Sheckler · Shane O’Neill · Tom Asta · Tommy Sandoval · Torey Pudwill With this partnership, SLS is also launching the first-ever pro qualifier called the SLS Select Series. The SLS Select Series consists of 10 pre-qualified professional skateboarders and five local skateboarders from each X Games host city.  The 15 skaters compete on the same course used for Street League at X Games for a chance to compete in that Street League at X Games Pro Event.  The top two overall ranked athletes in the 4-stop SLS Select Series will qualify into next year’s SLS World Tour. The 2013 X Games season kicks off a new era, with the global expansion’s six-event schedule – featuring eight sports, 26 disciplines and new iconic venues -- Aspen, Colo., USA; Tignes, France, Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil; Barcelona, Spain; Munich, Germany, Los Angeles, Calif., USA – they will combine to offer the most wide-ranging program of sports and disciplines in X Games history.  The X Games will also see the addition of Mountain Bike Slopestyle and the return of BMX Freestyle Dirt. For general information, log on to www.xgames.com. Follow the X Games on Twitter at Twitter.com/XGames. About Street League Skateboarding (SLS) Street League Skateboarding (SLS) is a professional sports property with the mission of growing the popularity of skateboarding worldwide.   SLS elevates professional skateboarding via the SLS World Tour - the first true world tour featuring 20 of skateboarding’s biggest stars who compete in an easy-to-follow format for the largest prize purse in skateboarding history, aired live on ESPN/ESPN2.   SLS also focuses on educating newcomers to skateboarding via all forms of media and on the non-profit efforts of the Street League Foundation in constructing public skateboarding facilities globally.  For more information please visit www.streetleague.com