Detroit Bids To Host Summer X Games
DETROIT (WWJ) - It's not the Olympics but Detroit could play host to a major sporting event next year -- the Summer X Games.
Two metro Detroit natives, 27-year-old Kevin Krease and 26-year-old Ian Studders, are leading the effort and have submitted a preliminary bid to ESPN, the broadcaster and founder of the event. They are pushing for three consecutive Summer X Games.
Susan Sherer, Executive Director of Detroit's Super Bowl XL Host Committee in 2006 is mentoring the two men.
Krease says the response has been great.
"We just started talking to people about it," Krease told WWJ Newsradio 950's Rob Sanford. "We started putting some plans together, scouring the internet for any amount of detail we could for ESPN early safety forms about how this works and everyone loved it."
The X Games were started in 1995 and is a competition featuring things like skateboarding, BMX Bikes and other sports that attract a different type of competitor.
The Detroit Free Press reports an announcement is coming on Monday on whether Detroit will be among a dozen finalists in the running to host the games. It's not cheap, however. If Detroit is among the finalists, then $7 million in financial commitments will be needed by an early April deadline.
Potential sites include Ford Field, Corktown, Eastern Market and the Cass corridor.
The X Games began in 1995 as the "Extreme Games." Most years the Summer X Games have been held in Los Angeles and the Winter X Games in Aspen, Colo.
