This weekend, the new MoonPay X Games League (XGL) will crown its first-ever champion at its final event of the season in New Orleans, Louisiana. From July 24-26, the best BMX riders, skateboarders, and motocross riders will take to the Crescent City to battle it out at the iconic Caesars Superdome.§
The event marks the League’s inaugural championship event after its first season in a team-based format. Before the season, athletes were split up into 4 co-ed, regionally-based clubs: XC Los Angeles, XC New York, XC Tokyo, and XC São Paulo. After stops in Sacramento, California, and Chiba City, Japan, the final XGL stop of the summer will crown the winning city-based club and the top-performing individual athletes over the three days of competition.
Marking the 78th edition of the X Games, the New Orleans championship will feature over 100 athletes battling for 54 medals across 18 medal events. At the same time, XGL is transforming parts of the nearby Champions Square into its X-Fest festival village, featuring nightly concerts headlined by Metro Boomin, J.I.D, Subtronics, and BUNT at the Smoothie King Center.
XGL uses a specialized point system to determine its winning clubs. The system awards placement points from 1st to 7th place at each event, with 100 points for first, 85 for second, and 75 for third. Points accumulate across stops to crown individual discipline champions and an overall club champion. If a club has multiple athletes in the same discipline, only the single highest-placing athlete’s points count toward the club’s total.
As it stands today, XC Tokyo and XC New York are tied in first place with 1770 points. XC Los Angeles and XC São Paulo are not too far behind with 1610 and 1510 points, respectively.
Athletes to Watch
With a League championship on the line, the competing athletes are sure to bring their A-game. These are some of the top athletes to watch.
SKATEBOARDING: There will be three skateboarding disciplines: street, park, and vert. The weekend kicks off with Women’s Skateboard Park, where Hokkaido, Japan’s 17-year-old Cocona Hiraki looks to add to her five X Games medals, including one gold. She will face off against 19-year-old Raicca Ventura from XC São Paulo, who claimed bronze as her first career X Games medal at Sacramento. For the men, XC LA’s Tom Schaar and XC Tokyo’s Moto Shibata will battle it out for medals.
On the men’s side of skateboarding street, 31-year-old Nyjah Huston of XC New York leads the charge with his all-time skateboarding X Games gold record of 15. Opposite Huston is 20-year-old Filipe Mota of XC São Paulo. In Women’s Skateboarding Street, 16-year-old Australian phenom Chloe Covell looks to further establish herself as one of the best street skateboarders in the world.
In the vert ramp, 19-year-old Asahi Kaihara from Osaka, Japan looks to claim victory among the women. XC São Paulo’s Gui Khury will look to do the same on the men’s side.
BMX: XGL New Orleans will feature three BMX disciplines: park, street, and dirt. In the streets, 31-year-old Kevin Peraza from Tucson, Arizona, will look to build upon his 15 X Games medals to help X Games Tokyo win a championship.
In the park, 16-year-old Miharu Ozawa from Gifu, Japan, arrives on the hottest streak in women’s BMX after claiming back-to-back gold at Sacramento and Chiba, becoming the youngest BMX gold medalist in X Games records along the way. She will face off against Kim Lea Mueller from Remscheid, Germany, coming off a bronze in Chiba. For men’s BMX park, 31-year-old Daniel Sandoval is bringing 11 X Games medals’ worth of experience to the table, going against Jose Torres, who holds three X Games medals.
On Saturday evening, men’s BMX Dirt will unfold with a heavy-hitting battle. Fresh off gold at Sacramento, 23-year-old Brady Baker will square off against BMX icon Ryan Williams of XC São Paulo, who finished with silver in Sacramento.
MOTOCROSS: XGL is bringing two motocross events to New Orleans: Moto X Best Whip and Moto X Best Trick. 30-year-old Julien Vanstippen from Ophain, Belgium, is hoping to claim his third consecutive X Games gold in Best Whip. In Best Trick, 25-year-old Ben Richards from Wagga Wagga, Australia, will look to extend his medal streak and add to his four X Games medals.
Where to Watch
Fans can catch the action live on the ESPN App, the Roku Sports Channel, YouTube, Kick.com, and Amazon’s X Games TV Fast channel. Broadcasts will also air on television in the U.S. on ESPN, ABC, and ESPN2 throughout the weekend of competition.
For those looking to attend, tickets are on sale now on the X Games website.
