Dubai Creek Park opened its gates today to the region’s first ever ESPN X Games, presented by Mountain Dew. Professional athletes from six different countries put on their game faces today to welcome VIPs and official delegates from ESPN, DTCM, Pepsi, Orbit and Dodge to its new home, Dubai Creek Park, for the next three days. Featuring 14 of the world’s top athletes in Aggressive In-line Skate, BMX Freestyle, Skateboarding and Moto X, the ESPN X Games Dubai runs until Friday 9th December, with Orbit and MBC on site to capture the action.
In addition to the extreme sports action, winners of the regional rock and hip-hop talent competition, organized by ESPN, Orbit Music Now and Virgin Megastores, will be performing for the crowds each evening. With more than 30 bands submitting their tapes, the competition was intense last night at the auditions for the finalists. Twelve regional bands were selected by a panel of judges, who included representatives from MBC TV, ESPN, Dubai Desert Extreme and Orbit Music Now. There are four bands performing each of the three days of ESPN X Games Dubai. For more information on last night’s winners and music schedule, log on to http://www.orbit.net/promos/mn/.
“Dubai is the perfect host for the X Games – with great weather, a fantastic venue and a huge action sport following, we have no doubt the event will be on par with the success of past X Games events,” commented ESPN’s Executive Director, Jack Wienert, “The athletes are happy to be here, and there is no question you will see great performances from these world-class athletes.”
The ESPN X Games Dubai kicks off each day at 2.30pm, with acclaimed athletes from Australia, Brazil, Denmark, Spain, United Kingdom and USA performing the latest dare devil stunts for the crowds. Athletes will also be signing autographs for action sport followers at the Mountain Dew booth. The evenings will culminate with live music from the region’s freshest hip hop and rock talent.
Today the X Games and Winter X Games are the biggest action sports events in the world. As part of the ESPN Original Entertainment division, X Games, Winter X Games and All Access 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, and various X Games-branded retail products.
"We are very excited to partner with ESPN and bring the X Games for the first time to the Middle East. We are always looking for new platforms of growth for our brands and action sports are going to be a big focus area for us," stated Ken Newell - General Manager, GCC Business Unit, PepsiCo International. "Over the next three days X Games fans will
view some of the best action sport performances by world class athletes followed by exciting X Games programming aired on regional TV."
PepsiCo International and its Mountain Dew brand have been supporting the X Games throughout its 11 years of its existence and will extend their partnership with ESPN in the Middle East along with Dodge and DTCM. Sponsors also teaming up to make the event a success are Arab Media Group/Dubai 92/Emirates Today, Playstation PSP, Virgin Megastores, Dubai Desert Extreme, Rotana Group, Bayt.com. Admission to the event is free, with a DHS 5 charge to enter Dubai Creek Park.
