Street League has got together a deal with ESPN to broadcast the 2010 events. This extends Street League’s reach to 198 countries and gives a prime time slot on the U.S. for the unique skate event. Rob Dyrdek, the man behind the new tour, said, “With this deal, competitive street skateboarding will finally move from afternoon programming on the weekends to consecutive primetime slots so the audience finally has a chance to tune in and watch the same time every week.” There’s a full release below on the deal… Damnit, I wish I had cable TV!
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PRESS RELEASE:
Street League DC Pro Tour fueled by Monster Energy Secures Domestic and International Distribution With ESPN, Inc.
LOS ANGELES, CA (July 2, 2010) – Street League Skateboarding™ announced today that they will be entering a multi-year partnership with ESPN for worldwide distribution in more than 198 countries. The 2010 Street League DC Pro Tour fueled by Monster Energy is a prestigious, invite-only, three-event series featuring the top 24 pros in the world. Founded by twenty-year professional skateboarder and entrepreneur, Rob Dyrdek, Street League™ raises the bar of competitive professional skateboarding with the most prize money in skateboarding history, skate plaza course design in world-class arenas, and an instant-scoring format that makes every trick count.
“What Dyrdek has done for skateboarding with the creation of Street League is right in line with the quality sports programming that is the cornerstone of ESPN,” says Chris Stiepock, ESPN X Games’ Vice President for content and sponsorship. “We are excited to broadcast competitive street skating with the world’s best pros in a package that is both compelling and new for our audience.”
“ESPN is an absolute perfect fit for Street League,” adds Dyrdek. It is undeniable that they have helped lay the groundwork for televised skateboarding 16 years ago with the launch of X Games and have stayed with it ever since. With this deal, competitive street skateboarding will finally move from afternoon programming on the weekends to consecutive primetime slots so the audience finally has a chance to tune in and watch the same time every week.”
Street League™ will air the first stop of the tour beginning Wednesday, September 15 at 8p.m. PT on ESPN2 and will continue its coverage of each stop every Wednesday at the same time slot through September 29th.
Street League™ features the exclusive participation of 24 of the best street skateboarders in the world. To assist their transition into the league, each pro has been given the option to compete in two non-sanctioned wildcard events until the end of 2010. Beginning in 2011, the pros will compete exclusively in the Street League™ series and other Street League™ sanctioned events worldwide. Street League™ will work in conjunction with ESPN to allow Street League™ pros to participate in ESPN-owned events for the duration of the partnership. Using real time scoring and an exciting proprietary competition format, Street League™ will tell a compelling story about each skateboarder’s performance and will have fans on the edge of their seats from the first trick to the very last. The inaugural year of Street League™ features a three-stop arena tour beginning at Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, Arizona on August 28th; Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California on September 11th; and the final stop in Las Vegas at the Thomas & Mack Center on September 25th. The skaters will be competing at each event for a total purse of $1.2 million. For more information please visit www.streetleague.com .
