EDITORIAL: Let’s Get the X Games Back to Rhode Island
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
As GoLocal first reported, Rhode Island is in the game to bring the X Games back to Rhode Island.
If you have lived in Rhode Island over the past two decades, you may remember the X Games and Gravity Games. The experience was tremendous for Rhode Islanders and for showing off Rhode Island to people around the country and the world on television. And the events attracted hundreds of thousands of new visitors to the state.
According to those close to the effort to bring the games back, Rhode Island has developed a competitive package, including a financial commitment of $1.1 million to help lure ESPN to Providence. Other cities are in the mix, however. An article in the Sun-Sentinel reports, "Fort Lauderdale is bidding to be a host city for ESPN's popular X Games summer events beginning in 2017, which could potentially have a $74 million economic impact, the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau announced Thursday."
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe amount of the commitment for Rhode Island seems reasonable and a expenditure that could bring back 70 times more in economic impact.
Equally important, the television and online exposure will be worth tens of millions. Now, fifteen plus years after the last games were here, the explosion of social media may mean even more than the television coverage. The Internet, mobile exposure via apps, video and enhanced content will create deeper relationships with a far greater number of extreme games enthusiasts than ever before.
This is a game Rhode Island wants to win and should win. Let's do this, Rhode Island.
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