X Games To Leave LA

For the first time in 10 years, the extreme-sports showcase X Games will not take place in Los Angeles. Four other cities beat out all Southern California bids to stage the games in 2014, including AEG’s bid.

Chicago, Detroit, Austin and Charlotte, N.C., are finalists to host the games in 2014, according to ESPN. The winning city will host the X Games for at least three years.

“There is no question there is Southern California DNA in the X Games,” said Scott Guglielmino, a senior VP of programming for the X Games. “Southern California is the home of the board sports and the motocross sports. There will always be Southern California DNA in the X Games, wherever they are held.”

Pasadena’s Rose Bowl was interested in wresting the X Games from AEG and L.A. Live, but ultimately did not submit a bid, according to L.A. Weekly.

“We had a great experience in Los Angeles,” Guglielmino said. “AEG showed they had a passion for the X Games. They had great vision for transforming downtown Los Angeles and they were a great role in helping us. We feel it is the right time for us to leave.”

The decision comes at a rough time for AEG, which had been for sale and then pulled off the market, losing its longtime president/CEO, Tim Leiweke, in the process.

Efforts to bring a pro football team to Los Angeles appear to have stalled, and the world is currently being treated to the spectacle of its concert unit, AEG Live, on trial for negligence in the hiring of a doctor who was convicted of manslaughter in the death of Michael Jackson.

The X Games are an important revenue generator, bringing in about $8 million a year in tourism revenue, according to the Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board.