US pay-television broadcaster ESPN has said it will continue to distribute rights to the US events of its X Games extreme sports franchise around the world after announcing the end of the series’ international events.
ESPN, which owns the X Games, has decided to close its events in Barcelona, Spain; Munich, Germany; Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil and Tignes, France. The company said that the “overall economics of these events do not provide a sustainable future path.”
The International X Games had been broadcast on ESPN’s main US channel and its sister channel, ESPN 2.
ESPN said: “The company remains fully committed to the X Games brand and its full-scale competitions in Aspen, Colorado and Austin, Texas – its newest host city – and we will continue to distribute these premier events around the world.”
ESPN had initially announced the international expansion of the X Games in 2011. It organised the events for one year and had two years left on its contract.
The Reuters news agency said that the announcement would result in ESPN cutting an unspecified number of jobs related to the International X Games.