Minneapolis Awarded 2017 and 2018 X Games

ESPN has chosen Minneapolis as the North American host city for the X Games for 2017 and 2018. The event will be staged at U.S. Bank Stadium July 13–16, 2017, and July 19–22, 2018. Minneapolis was one of several cities bidding for the event after ESPN announced it would leave Austin, Texas, where the games have been staged since 2014.

“We are thrilled to bring the X Games to Minneapolis next July,” said Tim Reed, vice-president, ESPN X Games. “We believe that teaming up with the city of Minneapolis, Minneapolis Sports Facility Authority, SMG and Meet Minneapolis and the truly impressive new, state-of-the-art U.S. Bank Stadium will provide an extraordinary opportunity to grow the X Games in a new region of the country and in a city that’s quickly becoming recognized as a premier sports and entertainment destination. It was a very competitive bid process and we feel privileged to have had such great interest and thank the multiple cities that participated in the process. Ultimately, the combination of resources, support, fit and passion from the Minneapolis team brought us here and we couldn’t be happier.”

ESPN anticipates that the majority of the competition will be hosted at U.S. Bank Stadium, at both the indoor stadium that will be home to the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings and the adjacent Medtronic Plaza and Downtown East Commons. It will be the first multi-day sporting event held at U.S. Bank Stadium.

“We are very excited that the X Games will be the first large-scale event in the stadium,” said Michele Kelm-Helgen, chair of the Minneapolis Sports Facility Authority. “We intend to put on such a great event that we hope they consider making U.S. Bank Stadium their permanent home.”

Melvin Tennant, president and CEO of Meet Minneapolis, said the city was ready to welcome the event. “The Games will showcase our creativity, energy and passion for action sports, and U.S. Bank Stadium and the Downtown East Commons give us an unbeatable venue in the heart of the city,” he said. “Bringing major events to town can’t happen without cooperation from many partners, and our city has developed a strong relationship with ESPN through this process. We can’t wait to welcome athletes, fans and media to the X Games in Minneapolis next summer.”