ESPN, which has set its first-ever X Games Global Championship May 17 through
21, announced Wednesday that it has booked three major, or "gold" sponsors, and
two lesser, or "associate" sponsors.
This event for the first time presents the summer and winter action of
extreme-sports competitions simultaneously -- 12 hours apiece will originate
from San Antonio (for the summer X Games), and from Canada (for the Winter X
Games).
ESPN-ABC Sports customer-marketing and sales president Ed Erhardt said
AT&T Corp.'s 1-800 CALL ATT, General Motors Corp.'s Chevrolet and McDonald's
Corp. will be the gold sponsors. The latter is a first-time sponsor of the X
Games franchise, he noted.
PepsiCo Inc.'s Mountain Dew LiveWire and Universal Pictures' The Hulk
will be associate sponsors. The Hulk premieres in late June.
The coverage will be spread across ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC Sports, with the
latter network due to air a one-hour highlight special May 25.
All told, 126 athletes will compete, grouped into six regions: United States,
Canada, Asia, Australia, Europe and South America.
ESPN said that with this event, it will have one action-sports franchise in
each of the first three quarters -- the Winter X Games (first quarter), X Games
Global (second) and X Games (third).
