After all his talk about how competitive skateboarding has never been done correctly, it was a bit of shock to find out on Friday, (July 2, 2010) that Rob Dyrdek had signed a two-year DC/Monster Energy Drink Street League deal with ESPN, the company many blame for doing things wrong in skateboarding for years.
In an interview with ESPN/Action’s Micah Abrams (Dyrdek is already working the hype machine) Rob explains exactly why a long-term television deal is important for skateboarding and the Street League.
I want to build an elite property, and TV is a part of that. It needs to be built with partners who believe in the long term; it couldn’t just be someone who wanted to put it on TV. That’s why I chose a multiyear deal as opposed to just going out and getting the thing on TV.
Read the rest of the interview for the details of P-Rod and Chris Cole not appearing in the X Games, but skating on ESPN for the Street League. The ESPN TV deal seems a little messy, but guess those are the kinds of deals to make if the goal is turning skateboarding into Supercross? One one thing we can be certain of–Dyrdek will get paid.
Click the link for the interview or follow the jump for the entire Street League/ESPN press release.
[Link: ESPN/Action]
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 .
About ESPN
ESPN, Inc., The Worldwide Leader in Sports, is the leading multinational, multimedia sports entertainment company featuring the broadest portfolio of multimedia sports assets with over 50 business entities. Based in Bristol, Conn., ESPN Plaza includes more than 700,000 square feet in more than a dozen buildings on 116 acres. The company is 80 percent owned by ABC, Inc., an indirect subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. The Hearst Corporation holds a 20 percent interest in ESPN.
About Street League Skateboarding ™
Street League Skateboarding™ is the first sports entertainment property that gives professional street skateboarding its very own league for individual competition. Street League™ features the exclusive participation of the world’s best professionals, the most prize money in skateboarding history with a $1.2 MM purse, and real skate plaza course design inside world-class arenas. Driven by the need to enhance the experience of live professional street skateboarding, Street League™ utilizes real-time scoring and a proprietary format that makes every trick count. Street League™ is created and hosted by twenty-year professional skateboarder and entrepreneur, Rob Dyrdek. More information is available at www.streetleague.com.
hmmm, it’s actually ESPN2, not ESPN. HUGE difference.
same damn conn. company, same office space.
this is too much, not into this clown and circus skate act. quit wal-marting skating.
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