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Josh Ball

The MoonPay X Games League will hold its inaugural winter draft this week, ⁠betting that a team-based format and ⁠closer ties with the Olympic movement can build on ⁠strong audience growth for action sports, CEO Jeremy Bloom said.
Eileen Gu, the most decorated freestyle skier in Olympic history with three golds and three silvers, is expected to be selected first overall.
The draft follows the debut of the X Games Summer League, which featured teams representing Los Angeles, New York, Sao Paulo and Tokyo competing ‌across events in California; Chiba in Japan; and New Orleans.
The title race went down to the final event in New Orleans, where New York secured the championship and a US$500,000 prize for its athletes after injured BMX rider Daniel Sandoval delivered a fourth-place finish that proved decisive.
“It was a walk-off win for New York,” said Bloom, describing the dramatic finale as evidence that athletes had embraced and helped shape the league concept.












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The summer series drew 18.3 million television viewers in the US, up 78 per cent from ⁠a year earlier on linear television, Bloom said, while generating more than 200 million video views globally.
The winter format presents different challenges, including ‌staging events at ski resorts rather than in more controlled urban venues. But Bloom said the X Games’ established brand, which has run for three decades, gave it confidence that fans would respond.
This ‌year’s Aspen X Games attracted 15.3 million US television viewers, up 43 per cent year-on-year. The event sold out in ⁠three weeks and drew almost ⁠50,000 spectators over the weekend, while also featuring music performances from artists including Gunna, Disco Lines and Kaskade.
The Winter League will begin with a draft on Wednesday, with athletes ‌to be allocated to teams rather than competing primarily under national flags.
Bloom said the approach would distinguish the X Games from the Olympics, where national representation remains central, while allowing the ‌two properties ‌to complement each other.
Action ‌sports once sat outside the sporting mainstream when the X Games launched in 1995. Now, its core disciplines are Olympic events, with ⁠skateboarding and BMX set to appear in their third Olympic cycle at the Los Angeles 2028 Games.
The Olympics can turn athletes into global ⁠stars during a concentrated period of competition, while the X Games can sustain their profiles, stories and commercial appeal during the four years between Games.
“The more that we can help build global icons, the better their ratings will be and ‌vice versa,” Bloom said.

In addition to ‌Gu, who was born in San Francisco but represents China, Bloom highlighted snowboarders including Mark McMorris as well as skier Alex Hall.
The Winter League is scheduled to include stops in Aspen, Calgary and Ruka in Finland, combining competition with live music and festival programming.
Bloom said that mix would remain core to the X Games identity.
“The X Games has done more to shape youth culture than it has done in even snowboarding and BMX,” he said.


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Eileen Gu

Multiple Olympic gold medallist Eileen Gu of China is one of several winter sports stars highlighting the winter series of the X Games League. Photo: Reuters

Mark McMorris competing in the snowboard Big Air final at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Photo: Reuters

Freestyle skier Eileen Gu sustained an injury following a “very terrible accident” while training in New Zealand about one year ago. Photo: Handout

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Draft follows debut of X Games Summer League, with both events aiming to cement ties with Olympic Games, build on strong audience growth


Draft follows debut of X Games Summer League, with both events aiming to cement ties with Olympic Games, build on strong audience growth.


X Games League to hold first winter draft, with Eileen Gu expected to be top pick

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Draft follows debut of X Games Summer League, with both events aiming to cement ties with Olympic Games, build on strong audience growth

Draft follows debut of X Games Summer League, with both events aiming to cement ties with Olympic Games, build on strong audience growth