INAUGURAL NITRO WORLD GAMES ANNOUNCED FOR JULY 16, 2016
Salt Lake City Utah’s Rice-Eccles Stadium to Host the
Biggest and Most Revolutionary Action Sports Competition
of All Time — Airing Live in the U.S. on NBC
SALT LAKE CITY, UT (Tuesday – December 8, 2015) – Nitro Circus (www.nitrocircus.com), NBC Sports, Utah Governor Gary R. Herbert and the Utah Sports Commission today announced the inaugural Nitro World Games coming to Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah on Saturday, July 16, 2016. The biggest event in the history of action sports, the Nitro World Games is a riveting three-hour experience – airing live in the U.S. on NBC during prime time – that marks a revolutionary transformation of action sports competition. Created by extreme sports icon Travis Pastrana with Nitro Circus CEO and Creative Director Michael Porra, the Nitro World Games will feature the best athletes from across the globe in action sports’ most exciting and popular disciplines, including freestyle motocross (FMX), BMX, skate, inline, scooter and more.
Footage from the Nitro World Games press conference is available here: https://youtu.be/5s2aTN2ZZgc
The Nitro World Games will host the world’s biggest stars and the most accomplished athletes in action sports. It will also feature new disciplines, formats, tricks and all new ramps along with a Nitro-invented live scoring system ensuring fans can totally engage with the competition during every single minute of the Games. Each event will be a final round with everything on the line. Riders will attempt awe-inspiring — and in many cases brand new — tricks, all of which will create intensity on the track, energy in the stadium and must-see television for viewers. Independent and legendary veterans of each discipline will judge the fierce competition with pre-agreed degree of difficulty for every trick, ensuring the fairest and easiest to understand scoring system ever developed.
The Nitro World Games events will include 7 Gold Medal events:
– FMX
– FMX Biggest Trick
– BMX Best Trick
– BMX Triple Jump
– Skate Best Trick
– Scooter Best Tricks
– Inline Best Tricks
“Action sports is about progression, pushing the envelope to go bigger, faster and farther than ever before,” said Pastrana. “When it comes to competition, I expect to see the best of the best going head to head, attempting tricks no one has ever seen before. With the Nitro World Games, we wanted to create an event that raised the bar and took action sports to the next level.”
“This is a passion project for Travis and for myself as well. We have worked tirelessly for three years with one goal in mind: a total reinvention of action sports competition. This is absolutely essential for the industry’s growth,” said Porra. “Nitro Circus was created right here in Salt Lake City and it remains our spiritual home. It also hosted the tremendously successful XIX Olympic Winter Games in 2002. I can’t think of a better location for the Nitro World Games.”
“We are thrilled to bring this new and innovative event to prime time television,” said Rob Simmelkjaer, Senior Vice President, NBC Sports Ventures. “The Nitro World Games will feature many of the world’s best action sports athletes competing in an entirely different format than anyone has ever seen before.”
“Sports are an indispensable part of Utah’s ‘Life Elevated’ experience,” Gov. Herbert said. “We are pleased that Nitro Circus has selected Utah to host the inaugural event. Sports bring a community together and provide a universal language we can all share and celebrate.”
“Action sports have been a key part of Utah’s sports infrastructure, and we look for opportunities to grow this space,” said Jeff Robbins, president and CEO of the Utah Sports Commission. “Partnering with Nitro Circus on this major international event continues to highlight Utah as an action sports destination, while providing significant opportunities for economic impact and exposure for the state.”
Every action sports athlete in the world is eligible to compete in the Nitro World Games. Riders can attempt to qualify through preliminary events to be held at the Nitro Circus Academy of Excellence at Woodward West and at Travis Pastrana’s “Pastranaland” complex in Maryland U.S.A. Finalists will participate in the epic main competition at Rice-Eccles Stadium on July 16.
Also, Pastrana will lead an old school FMX throwdown in the Travis Pastrana No Rules Freestyle Legends Event. Pastrana’s brainchild, this goes back to the core of FMX, where riders challeged each other to hit any terrain and jump off any object, simply to see who could land the most outrageous trick. Pastrana will personally design the course and select the competitors from among the biggest icons in the sport. A panel of judges will rate each run. They will not give out scores, but rather simply decide who will earn the honor of the gnarliest rider on the planet.
As fans would expect from Nitro Circus, the Nitro World Games will feature a massive production, with over 15 different ramps – including Nitro Circus’ trademark 50-foot Giganta Ramp and the biggest setup in the history of FMX Big Air – filling the stadium floor, plus pyrotechnics, state of the art replay screens and more. Fans both in the stands and at home will be blown away.
NBC Sports will present three hours of live coverage of the Nitro World Games in the United States, with the telecast starting at 8 p.m. ET on NBC. All coverage shown on NBC will also be streamed on NBC Sports Live Extra, NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices, tablets and connected TV’s. Outside of the U.S., NBC will distribute the Nitro World Games on leading networks globally via tape delay.
NBC Sports Ventures and Nitro Circus recently formed a multi-year strategic alliance. Nitro Circus programming, including compelling specials and the all-new docu-series, “Nitro Circus: Crazy Train,” now airs regularly in the U.S. on NBC and NBCSN and also streams on NBC Sports Live Extra. The Nitro World Games is the next phase of this partnership, combining NBC’s broadcasting excellence with Nitro Circus’ bold brand of action sports entertainment.
The Nitro World Games will also be a marquee destination event. Fans wanting to experience all of the excitement in person can purchase tickets to all of the action. To go behind the scenes at the Nitro World Games, the Nitro Club VIP package is the next best thing to an All Access pass. Just $79 each (plus applicable service fees), these exclusive passes include the best seats in the house as well as a pre-event track walk. Nitro Club pass holders will also receive a souvenir lanyard.
Tickets to the Nitro World Games will be available starting Tuesday, December 8 at 9:00am MST. To purchase tickets and for the latest Nitro World Games updates, go to nitrocircus.com. Follow Nitro Circus on Twitter: @nitrocircus and Facebook: www.facebook.com/NitroCircus.
Over the past five years, Nitro Circus has electrified stadiums across the planet with incredible live shows and barrier-breaking world firsts. Now it will bring that same energy and innovation to the competitive arena with the biggest event ever in action sports.
For Nitro World Games press materials go here.
About Nitro Circus:
Recently named by Forbes magazine as one of America’s Most Promising Companies, Nitro Circus continues to position itself as the world’s leading youth action sports & entertainment brand. From humble beginnings in 2003 – with Jeremy Rawle, Gregg Godfrey and extreme sports superstar Travis Pastrana producing DVDs from a Utah garage — to a smash TV series which has aired in over 60 countries, Nitro Circus has exploded to global popularity. In 2012, Nitro Circus: The Movie 3D, featuring cast members from the hit television series, was released in cinemas worldwide. In 2015, Nitro Circus announced a partnership with NBC Sports Ventures. The multi-year strategic alliance will feature TV specials and series programming airing nationally in the U.S. on NBC and NBCSN as well as streamed on NBC Sports Live Extra.
The TV show was transformed by current CEO and action sports industry guru Michael Porra into a must-see live event in 2010, creating the global touring phenomenon that is Nitro Circus Live. Since its inaugural Australian trek five years ago, the show has travelled the globe, obliterating box office records and cultivating a legion of diehard fans. Nitro Circus has now rolled across five continents, blown away over two million fans and sold-out shows in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, the Middle East and South Africa. With close to 100 shows globally in 2015 and a packed 2016 touring schedule visiting even more cities still to be announced, Nitro Circus is the world’s most successful action sports touring brand.
About NBC Sports Ventures:
The NBC Sports Ventures Unit, a division of the NBC Sports Group, is charged with acquiring and developing new and existing sports properties for NBC Sports, NBCSN and Golf Channel. Properties under the NBC Sports Ventures umbrella include the Dew Tour, Red Bull Signature Series, Reebok Spartan Race, and Nitro Circus.
About the Utah Sports Commission:
The Utah Sports Commission is a not-for-profit, 501c3 charitable organization created to foster national and international amateur sports competitions to be held in the state of Utah, which will enhance the quality of life of all Utah citizens and strengthen Utah’s presence in the worldwide sports community.
