X Games League Opens in Sacramento Built Around Sports Betting

The X Games League opens June 26, 2026 in Sacramento, replacing 30 years of medal-by-medal showcases with a team-based circuit built around a sportsbook. X Games itself launched in 1995 as a medal-driven showcase, and the new league is the brand’s first year-round, team-based circuit.

Four 10-athlete clubs, 40 drafted riders, and a year-round schedule of rivalries sit on top of an exclusive betting deal with Stake, real-time odds from Alt Sports Data, and livestreams on KICK. The league calls itself the first year-round, team-based circuit in action sports, and Sacramento is the first public test, with stops in Japan and a championship at the Caesars Superdome closing the summer before winter disciplines debut in 2027.

A New League Built for the Sportsbook

Action sports have spent decades on individual medals. The X Games League replaces that with a sportsbook-native format, calling itself the X Games’ rebrand press release on the league launch identifies as the first year-round, team-based circuit in the action sports space. Real-time odds are piped into broadcasts, and an exclusive online casino and sports betting partner is in place, turning the wagering infrastructure into a core part of the product.

The X Games League’s exclusive online casino and sports betting partner is Stake, named in a global partnership announced in January 2026, per the exclusive online sportsbook deal for the XGL. Real-time odds during broadcasts come from official data partner Alt Sports Data, and all four global XGL events each year, including the upcoming Winter Games in Aspen, are streamed on KICK. Cherie Cohen, Chief Revenue Officer at X Games, framed the deal as a strategic alignment meant to scale the league globally. The league has 8 clubs planned in total, with 4 summer clubs and 4 winter clubs, and 2 seasonal drafts, per the XGL’s rules and structure page. Each club will compete across multiple disciplines and the league runs the season as a single standings ladder.

Cohen described the league as officially open for gaming and betting, language that signals how thoroughly the wagering side is woven into the product. The sportsbook sits alongside the team format and the year-round schedule as part of the league’s stated identity. The first three-stop summer season will be the first public test. Sacramento, Japan, and a championship at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans run from late June to late July.

Partnering with Stake is a monumental step in building the next generation of X Games. We are officially open for gaming and betting, providing our fans with the adrenaline-fueled engagement they crave. This isn’t just a sponsorship; it’s a strategic alignment that strengthens our business as we scale the X Games League globally. With the data expertise of Alt Sports Data and the reach of Stake, we are ready to redefine the fan experience starting right here in Aspen.

Cherie Cohen, Chief Revenue Officer at X Games, said in the partnership announcement.

Four Cities and Forty Athletes to Start

Four cities anchor the X Games League’s first season. The inaugural 10-athlete clubs are XC Los Angeles, XC New York, XC São Paulo, and XC Tokyo, and the league will add four winter clubs in 2027 for a total of eight. Each club fields five men and five women, and athletes are assigned to a club for 2 or 3 years.

40 athletes were selected from a pool of 180 who opted in, per the March draft announcement. The draft was held at Cosm Los Angeles on March 12, 2026, in a snake-style format that gave each club 2 picks per round, one man and one woman.

Names to know out of the draft include Tom Schaar, two-time X Games BMX Park gold medalist Hannah Roberts, teenage skateboarding phenom Arisa Trew, 15-time X Games gold medalist Nyjah Huston, and the versatile BMX rider Kevin Peraza. The Sacramento roster also features Garrett Reynolds, who leads BMX Street with 16 gold medals and 24 total medals, and Vicki Golden, the first woman to compete in Moto X. Chloe Covell was the number one draft pick, a 16-year-old Australian skateboarder who medaled in eight of nine X Games appearances and won gold in her last five. Logan Martin and Daniel Sandoval are both entered in four disciplines, giving each a shot at four golds in a single X Games, a feat never accomplished. Gui Khury, a 15-year-old Brazilian vert skater with nine golds, and multi-discipline rider Ryan Williams round out the headliners.

The four clubs are privately held and regionally represented, with the league planning expansion to eight clubs when winter disciplines debut in 2027. The clubs are designed to accumulate points across all events, and the team with the highest cumulative score at the championship stop takes the league title and team purse.

The draft order was set by a randomized lottery earlier in March, with the general managers present. The full breakdown of every pick was streamed on the ESPN App in the United States, plus the Roku Sports Channel, YouTube, Kick, and the X Games FAST channel on Amazon. Sacramento opens the season on June 26 with the full 40-athlete roster in place.

Inside the Sacramento Opener

Sacramento is the first stop on the X Games League’s three-event summer schedule. Cal Expo hosts the action from June 26 to 28, 2026.

The Sacramento event runs skateboarding, BMX, and Moto X disciplines with 100 invited athletes in the inaugural roster, and Kaskade, Mustard, and Subtronics are the announced music headliners. The festival design is meant to keep fans on site, with live music running alongside competition. The field blends all-time greats with rising stars, and the multi-medal possibility feeds directly into the team points structure. Sacramento is the opener in a calendar that also runs through Japan and New Orleans.

1. Sacramento, June 26 to 28, 2026, Cal Expo (summer opener)
2. X Games Japan, July 4 to 5, 2026 (summer stop two)
3. New Orleans, July 24 to 26, 2026, Caesars Superdome (summer championship)

After Sacramento, the league moves to X Games Japan on July 4 to 5, 2026, with a third and final summer stop in New Orleans on July 24 to 26. The New Orleans stop is the X Games League championship, and the team with the highest cumulative score across the three events takes the league title and team purse. The championship takes place inside the Caesars Superdome, a venue better known for NFL games than action sports. The 2026 summer season is the smaller of the two seasons planned, with only three stops, and the 2027 calendar expands to six stops once winter disciplines enter the rotation. Sacramento is the first of three live tests before the calendar gets longer.

How Athletes Get Paid Under the New Format

X Games currently distributes $2.4 million in prize money annually across its existing events. The X Games League will add new revenue layers on top of that, including what X Games describes as a base athlete salary, win bonuses, and a benefits package, alongside the existing prize money. The new structure is meant to give athletes more earning potential and longer-term stability than the old medal-by-medal payout. Sources for the new money include the Stake sportsbook deal, a new Athlete Ambassador Fund announced as part of that partnership, and the broader league sponsorship slate led by title partner MoonPay and founding partner Monster Energy.

The Athlete Ambassador Fund, announced as part of the Stake partnership, will support top X Games athletes in creating co-branded content for the global community. The prize purse, salary, bonuses, and benefits are designed to compensate athletes both for individual results and for team points scored across the season. CEO Jeremy Bloom described the broader change as more than a rebrand.

Athlete assignments run 2 to 3 years per club, giving teams continuity across seasons. The full new-athlete compensation structure has not been itemized in dollar terms, with X Games framing it as additional earning potential layered on top of the existing $2.4 million in annual prize money. Title partner MoonPay is the cryptocurrency payments company whose name now sits on the league, with founding partner Monster Energy and league partners Stake, Exodus, 805, High Noon, and Kraken Rum rounding out the commercial roster. The Athlete Ambassador Fund, part of the Stake deal, is structured to support co-branded content from top X Games athletes.

Multi-discipline riders like Logan Martin and Daniel Sandoval can now score for one club across four events, changing what it means to win an X Games. The new financial structure is the clearest single change for athletes in the 30-year history of X Games.

X Games has always been where outsiders became icons and impossible became possible. This is more than a rebrand. This is the future of sports. And our athletes and partners are ALL IN.

Jeremy Bloom, CEO of X Games, said in the league’s rebrand announcement.

The Seventeen Billion Dollar Audience X Games Is Walking Into

X Games’ own rebrand announcement framed the new league as entering a U.S. sports betting market already valued at more than $17 billion. The bet is on young fans: the same announcement described the league as unlocking deeper engagement with fans under 35. The same demographic is the one sportsbooks have courted hardest with social-media fluency, a pattern the platform tactics pulling young bettors into losses have laid out in detail.

The broadcast plan leans on that: live odds from Alt Sports Data are designed to flow into X Games broadcasts, with KICK as the exclusive global livestream home for all four XGL events each year. Stake is the exclusive online casino and sports betting partner, and the partnership is intended to put a sportsbook tab next to the existing X Games content rather than off in a side app. The festival format in Sacramento, with three days of live music, tech showcases, and competition, is meant to keep that audience on site. The Athlete Ambassador Fund, announced as part of the Stake partnership, will support top X Games athletes in creating co-branded content for the global community.

• 4 founding XGL summer clubs
• 40 athletes drafted in March 2026
• 100 invited athletes for the Sacramento opener
• $2.4 million in annual X Games prize money
• $17 billion+ U.S. sports betting market

Where the Risk Lives

The X Games League is launching into a market that has not always been friendly to action sports. Skateboarding, BMX, and Moto X don’t fit neatly into the established sports-betting categories that U.S. regulators have approved. State-by-state approval is its own work, and the sportsbook side of the partnership will live or die by how fast regulators clear each market.

Action sports have also never had a betting-integrated league of this scale. X Games has named an AI-powered judging system called The OWL, meant to deliver real-time, transparent scoring for credibility with fans and athletes. The OWL is the only technical system the league has named publicly, and the launch materials do not describe a separate integrity monitoring partner. The 2-or-3 year athlete assignments mean clubs are locked in for the medium term.

There are also questions about how action sports fans will react to a team-first format. The X Games brand has been built on individual icons like Tony Hawk, Shaun White, and Nyjah Huston, and shifting to a team-first model asks that fan base to care about club championships alongside medal counts. Multi-discipline riders like Logan Martin and Daniel Sandoval can now pile up points across four events for one club, changing what it means to win an X Games. Sacramento will be the first live test of how the new model lands with the action sports base, and the broadcast, betting, and judging infrastructure will all get their first public look at the same time. The X Games League Championship is scheduled for the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans on July 24 to 26, 2026, and the first team purse goes to the club with the highest cumulative points across the three-stop summer.

Frequently Asked Questions

When does the X Games League launch?

The X Games League’s inaugural summer season begins June 26, 2026, in Sacramento, with the three-stop summer running through X Games Japan on July 4 to 5 and the league championship at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans on July 24 to 26, 2026.

How many teams are in the X Games League?

The X Games League opens with 4 summer clubs in its first year: XC Los Angeles, XC New York, XC São Paulo, and XC Tokyo, each with 10 athletes (5 men, 5 women). The league plans to add 4 more clubs for winter disciplines, taking the total to 8 in 2027.

Who is the X Games League’s sports betting partner?

Stake is the exclusive online casino and sports betting partner of the X Games League. Real-time odds during broadcasts come from official data partner Alt Sports Data, and all four global XGL events each year are streamed on KICK.

How were X Games League athletes selected?

Forty athletes were drafted from a pool of 180 who opted in, in a snake-style draft held at Cosm Los Angeles on March 12, 2026. Each of the 4 clubs picked 2 athletes per round (1 man, 1 woman), and athletes are assigned to a club for 2 or 3 years.

What sports does the X Games League cover?

The 2026 X Games League summer season covers skateboarding, BMX, and Moto X across the Sacramento, Japan, and New Orleans stops. The 2027 calendar expands to 6 stops when winter disciplines (ski and snowboard) enter the rotation.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. Sports betting carries financial risk, and odds are subject to change. Betting products are not available in every jurisdiction, and state regulations vary. Figures are accurate as of publication. Consult a licensed professional if you need advice specific to your situation.