Once dismissed as nuisances far removed from mainstream sports, skateboarders, off-road bikers and motocross riders have hit the big time.
And now they have a league to prove it.
Despite inclement weather most of the weekend in Louisville, Ky., a new series of events kicked off, featuring athletes in the three sports in six competitions. The Panasonic Open was the first of five events in the Dew Action Sports Tour.
Next up on the tour is the Right Guard Open at the Pepsi Center parking lot on July 7-10.
“Fans in Louisville and across the country were treated to the highest levels of competition in action sports this weekend,” Dew Action Sports Tour general manager Wade Martin said. “This was a great start for the tour, and the athletes and fans are excited about the Right Guard Open in Denver next month.”
There will be competitions monthly, ending in Orlando, Fla., in October.
But to the athletes, it’s just another few days of skating or riding.
“It’s just what I normally do,” 15-year-old skateboarder Ryan Sheckler said. “I don’t think about it. I didn’t even know where it was, I just came.”
The tour will have a cumulative point system, building up to a prize of $3.5 million, not including a custom Toyota truck, and personal deals with sponsors, including Panasonic, Vans shoes, and Mountain Dew. NBC and the USA Network are carrying the event live during the four days.
Just don’t call the sports “extreme.”
“Everyone in America is using that word,” freestyle motocross rider Beau Bamburg said. “Everything’s extreme. You’ve got extreme toothpaste.”
The athletes prefer to call the events action sports.
For the first stop on the tour, the University of Louisville basketball court in Freedom Hall was transformed into a skate and bike park. An aging football stadium at the state fairgrounds was covered with 10,000 tons of dirt, organizers said, and converted to a BMX and FMX track.
The parking lot at the Kentucky Fair & Exposition Center was turned into a festival village, with a music stage and sponsors’ attractions.
BMX rider Allan Cooke is happy to get as much exposure to the sports as possible. He said critics who think the street sports have gone too corporate should give it a try.
“Not everybody’s going to agree with the way we feel,” he said. “But I think you’ll find that people who don’t agree with it, don’t know about it. There’s no legitimate reason not to like it. … It’s ignorance. They haven’t been here.”
Only a few years ago, an organized tour was a lot harder sell to action athletes. In 1999 a top BMX rider walked out of a meeting with Martin and NBC executive Kevin Monoghan, after Monoghan suggested, among other things, that the athletes wear uniforms, Monoghan said.
More input from the athletes was one of the keys to success, Monoghan said. Former and current action athletes and judges helped design the courses that will be used on the tour.
“In the subsequent years, I think we’ve done a really good job of listening,” Monoghan said. “You really have to give something back to the sport, show the athletes you’re willing to listen.”
