The X Games are saying “later dude” to Southern California after years of gnarly action and heading north to Sacramento for the next three years.
The extreme sports competition will celebrate its 30th anniversary at the California State Fairgrounds from Aug. 22 to 24 next year, X Games organizers announced Thursday. The games, which include skateboarding, BMX and motocross, had been based in the Southland since 2021.
The X Games were last in Northern California in August 2000 when skateboarder Bob Burnquist won a gold medal and Eric Koston took the top spot in skateboard park, a competition that has largely been adopted by the Summer Olympics.
Bob Burnquist of Brazil flips during warm-ups for the skateboard big air event at the 2012 X Games in Los Angeles.
(Grant Hindsley / Associated Press)
“Some of the biggest moments in X Games history took place in the San Francisco Bay,” X Games Chief Executive Jeremy Bloom said in a statement. “Twenty-five years later, we’re thrilled to bring X Games back to Northern California to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the brand.”
The X Games were created by ESPN to provide a TV platform for extreme sports and premiered in Rhode island in 1995. Over the years it has been where athletes such as skateboarding and BMX legends Tony Hawk and Dave Mirra have debuted new tricks, and where, in 2012, a competitor performed the first snowmobile front flip.
Los Angeles first hosted the Summer X Games in 2003 and has hosted multiple times since then, including in 2021, when COVID protocols prevented an audience from watching the games in person. The most recent games were held in Ventura County this summer. Aside from a handful of years, Southern California has hosted more Summer X Games than any other part of the country.
Next year’s games will take place at the former Raging Waters site at the Cal Expo/California State Fairgrounds in Sacramento. The games will feature music and competitions with over $1 million in prizes, according to the organizers.
“I grew up right outside of Sacramento, so this really is a dream come true for me,” five-time X Games BMX athlete Bryce Tryon said in a statement that accompanied the announcement. “X Games has always been a huge part of my life, so I’m stoked to feel like I’m playing host to a competition that has given me so much over the years and show my hometown the best that action sports have to offer.”