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Aspen may have to pay big bucks to keep Winter X Games |
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Wednesday, December 14, 2011 20:43 |
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A snowboarder flies high above the pipe in practice, January 2010. Dena Rosenberry, The Gazette file
By Carolyn Sackaraisin, The Aspen Daily News
In what appear to be 11th-hour negotiations to keep the Winter X Games in Aspen, the community likely will be asked to buck up more support for the event.
John Rigney, Aspen Skiing Co. vice president for events, met with Aspen City Council on Monday night in a closed-door executive session to discuss strategy in negotiating a new contract with ESPN.
Officials are trying to convince ESPN to keep its annual Winter X Games in Aspen beyond the upcoming January event, which is the last under the current contract. The X Games have been held at the Buttermilk Mountain Ski Resort since 2002.
Rigney said the discussion was more of an update to council on the status of the negotiations and what the challenges are in terms of competition from cities across the globe that are vying to host the winter action-sports event.
ESPN is asking "for a significant increase in support," Rigney said.
Read how much Aspen has been paying to help keep the X Games at Buttermilk and what's at stake in the Daily News story.
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