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  • 5 months later...

Announced today... Charlotte is one of four finalists to host the 2014 X-Games! Other finalists are Austin, Detroit and Chicago. Announcement on the host city should happen sometime this summer. 

 

http://www.wbtv.com/story/22119291/charlotte-named-finalist-to-host-x-games-starting-in-2014?clienttype=generic&mobilecgbypass&buffer_share=ded5c&utm_source=buffer&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Buffer%253A%252BWBTV_News%252Bon%252Btwitter

 

EDIT: It's actually for a 3 year contract to host the games starting in 2014. So that's an even bigger deal.

Edited by wend28
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I think it'd be kind of lame in Charlotte if it is held at the speedway like the article indicates.

There is simply no other place that could accommodate many of the events, and I guarantee that most of the other cities will be using a similar outside of town venue. I'm sure you'll still see some street courses erected in view of downtown and whatnot, but there are lots of motorsport events and larger races that take LOTS of space. 

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Chicago has the lakefront parks to accommodate this with an awesome backdrop, Austin has a large arena just south of the river/DT and a lesser but still nice backdrop, I know nothing about Detroit, and finally Charlotte, the Speedway would be as boring as it could possibly get, surely we could put up a better site...

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Personally, I think Austin is the front runner. It has the kind of quirkiness that would do the X Games well. The only downside there is how flippin' hot it will be in Texas in the summer. I've been there in July and August. I'll take the humidity of the southeast to be honest. It will be interesting to see how it turns out. Remember nobody thought Charlotte had a chance at landing the DNC. 

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^ Then we better think about having it in the actual streets of downtown, perhaps with the Panthers and the completed Knights stadiums as the southern bookends, else I agree Austin probably has it, it has a culture pretty closely matching that of the X games (I was pretty big into mountain biking when I lived there, some great courses).  But not sure Austin has anything on us in the summer heart department, NC has notably heated up in the past ~20 years IMO.

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The whole country has a love affair with Austin right now, whether it is warranted or not is another discussion.  But it'll probably get it.  Though I would bet we have the best facilities to accommodate it at the speedway.  It also doesn't hurt that we have an ESPN presence in Charlotte.  I'd love to see it here, I guess we will know soon enough.  

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The whole country has a love affair with Austin right now, whether it is warranted or not is another discussion.  But it'll probably get it.  Though I would bet we have the best facilities to accommodate it at the speedway.  It also doesn't hurt that we have an ESPN presence in Charlotte.  I'd love to see it here, I guess we will know soon enough.  

Austin does have a formula 1/moto track which I'm sure would come in handy, though our speedway probably has the better seating situation for a variety of events. I wonder how much of an advantage our airport gives us here?

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Meanwhile in real sports (<-- mostly a joke) it sounds like the Belk bowl may inherit the Chickfila bowl SEC-ACC matchup in 2014 thanks to reshuffiling for the playoff format.

That game would sellout -every- year.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/05/06/4026540/college-football-bowls-set-for.html

Edited by kermit
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Meanwhile in real sports (<-- mostly a joke) it sounds like the Belk bowl may inherit the Chickfila bowl SEC-ACC matchup in 2014 thanks to reshuffiling for the playoff format.

That game would sellout -every- year.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/05/06/4026540/college-football-bowls-set-for.html

 

But wait... it's all about location not the teams playing. Charlotte is not a destination city and the bowl game won't sell out because of it. (end sarcasm)

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Just back from a Charlotte Hounds lacrosse game. I was reminded that (in good weather) Memorial Stadium is a really nice venue. Views of downtown are great,  Its an ideal setting for major league lacrosse in a very Jane Jacobs kind of way.

 

Thankfully the Hounds have gotten rid of the silly token system for concessions and have upgraded their beer offerings (Sam Adams now). It was a nice night out.

Edited by kermit
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^that was a lot of fun and $5 a beer wasn't bad at all for a pro sporting event. I'm not sure what I was expecting as far as a crowd but I was impressed with the turnout. Good atmosphere and a great spectator sport for sure! post-29157-0-49162500-1368366718_thumb.j

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