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Much like athletes off the last jump of the Slopestyle course, the future of the X Games at Buttermilk Mountain is up in the air.
As the games conclude the 2024 iteration on Sunday, the 23rd in Pitkin County, it’s unknown when and if action sports fanatics will see some of the top competitors in the world grace the slopes of Buttermilk again. X Games’ contract with Aspen Skiing Co. expires following this year’s competition, with no updates on a potential extension.
“We continue to have dialogue with the new leadership at X Games as what the future holds,” SkiCo Senior Vice President John Rigney said via email. “No update at this time but obviously we want to get this all sorted out soon enough so we can plan accordingly with our partners in the community for next winter.”
It isn’t completely uncharted territory for contract negotiations to linger — Rigney said that he thinks at least once before, X Games Aspen concluded festivities before a contract for the next competition was completed.
The last time the two groups organized a new contract was in 2019, for a five-year extension from 2020 to 2024. That deal was announced just days before the 2019 games, a year before the 2020 events were slated.
But no such luck this time around, leading to the swirl of rumors around the base of Buttermilk.
There are factors that fans of X Games in Aspen can lean on for optimism. X Games was sold from ESPN to MSP Sports Capital in October 2022 in a complicated acquisition that saw the 2024 games the first ones that truly showed some of the vision of new leadership; 2023’s games happened too soon after the purchase to really begin implementation of most — but not all — new ideas. The new identity of the brand is still a work in progress, evidenced by the changes even between the two games under MSP’s lead.
When MSP acquired X Games, it named Steven Flisler CEO of the competition. The former Twitch executive talked about restoring the games to their hey-day, implementing “X Fest,” a small festival with game booths and a main music stage with significant musical performances, headlined by rapper Yung Gravy.
But 2024 is a reversal of those themes in just a short time: Flisler stepped back to managing director in June according to his LinkedIn page; live music is out; and the narrative throughout the weekend has been a priority on the competition, the athletes and the creativity of the sport. It also put a heavy emphasis on sold tickets, with access to the base of events more or less restricted to paying attendees, and free viewers confined behind the divider for the snowmobile path.
It’s an organization that’s finding its direction and some extra time to finalize details may be warranted. But, alternatively, it’s an organization that is trying out new ideas, some of which are ambitious and focused on reaching broader audiences.
For their salt, SkiCo said that it not only wants the games back, but it doesn’t believe that X Games will find a better venue for its competitions. It’s been an economic driver, bringing at times tens of thousands of fans to the valley over the course of the event weekend.
Rigney said that “Aspen and X Games are synonymous at this point.”
“We’ve enjoyed the partnership every step of the way,” Rigney said. “We pride ourselves on celebrating athletic achievement and properly hosting the best in the world in Aspen Snowmass.”
Rigney said that getting the go-ahead in March or April is the ideal for ensuring the games can be set up, but said that SkiCo has done it enough times that the typical timeline can be shortened.
But to this point, Rigney said, there have only been “discussions” about the future.
At Thursday’s press conference ahead of the X Games, now six-time men’s snowboard SuperPipe champion Scotty James after his Friday night victory — and advisor and recent investor — said that the future of the event is global, whether that be in Aspen or not.
“It’s been here for so long and I think all of us athletes really enjoy coming back here. The atmosphere is always incredible,” James said. “To say that it can go around the world, I think honestly whether it’s here or it’s in Europe, it’s in China, it’s in Australia, the scope of X Games is huge. And for me, my priority that I would like to see: the business and X Games is to go global wherever it is: more events, more exposure, giving communities more of an opportunity to be a part of it.
“So I think the opportunities are huge whether it’s here in Aspen or elsewhere. I think the only way that we can really go from here is up and forward and the business is doing that and I’m really excited to see it do that.”
There is precedent for X Games expanding while still keeping the Aspen event, too. X Games announced a deal to host an additional winter games in Calgary, Alberta from 2020-22, but those were canceled after the Canadian province pulled its funding pledge of $13.5 million, according to the Calgary Herald.
Winter X Games Europe started in Tignes, France, in 2010 and ran through 2013. The games went to Norway from 2016-2019. These events did not disrupt the Aspen event.
There have been at least seven contracts/extensions agreed to between X Games and SkiCo since the partnership began. Only time will tell if there will be another.
X Games representative Scott Guglielmino did not respond to requests for comment for this story before deadline.