The Abridged version:
- The new MoonPay X Games League will launch at Cal Expo this weekend before moving onto Japan and New Orleans.
- Sacramento’s rich extreme sports history includes cultural forebearers as well as newer athletes such as Nyjah Huston and Brady Baker, both of whom will compete this weekend.
- Huston, the greatest competition street skater of all time, grew up in Davis and called Sacramento “the ideal spot to be throwing an X Games, especially at this time.”
The River City is transforming into an epicenter of extreme sports over the next three days. Some of the biggest names in skateboarding, BMX and motocross are descending upon Cal Expo as the MoonPay X Games League launches in Sacramento.
On the surface, Sacramento might seem like an unlikely city for this extreme sports extravaganza. But with a surprisingly storied extreme sports history and sturdy civic support, it’s a proper X Games host.
The Hangtown Motocross Classic in Rancho Cordova has been a definitive event for more than 50 years, with its most recent edition broadcast on NBC. In BMX racing, the Sacramento region spawned the legendary Kenny “May Day” May and Annalyse Solano, a child prodigy from Citrus Heights.
And of course, there’s Nyjah Huston. The Davis native is widely regarded as the greatest contest street skateboarder of all time, with 26 X Games medals and a bronze medal from the 2024 Paris Olympics.
This weekend, he’ll compete and serve as captain for team New York in a new X Games League format, which will then go on to Chiba, Japan on July 4 and 5. Along with athletes winning individual medals, a team with the most points will win a title at the championship from July 24–26 in New Orleans.
“Sac is the ideal spot to be throwing an X Games, especially at this time,” said Huston, in a recent call while driving near his Southern California home. “NorCal just doesn’t get enough love for events (like this) in the first place … I’m always proud of the fact that I’m from NorCal.”
Sacramento’s rich skating history
Huston is a shining chapter of Sacramento’s storied skateboard history that’s thrived for more than 50 years.
In the early 1970s, the N-Men crew was pioneering pool skating in Sacramento at the same time as their Southern California contemporaries. The N-Men’s influence was the subject of an award-winning documentary with Tony Hawk and Tony Alva among those testifying to their impact.
N-Men member Don Bostick, a 2024 inductee of the Skateboarding Hall of Fame, worked with ESPN to create the skateboard event format for the 1995 Extreme Games in Rhode Island — the precursor to ESPN X Games. Steve “Steve O” Brockway, a fellow N-Men skater who now lives in Fair Oaks, served as head judge for those initial skateboarding events.
Meanwhile, the 1985 Sacto Street Style competition was a pivotal moment for the sport. Held at the former Tower Records parking lot on Watt Avenue, footage from the event ushered new ways of thinking about how the world was just one big skatepark ready to be explored.
The greater Sacramento area is also home to Thrasher magazine “Skater of the Year” winners John Cardiel (1992) and Chris Senn (1995). Huston was especially in awe of Cardiel while coming up as a skater, he said.
“Cardiel, he’s the legend as far as going big and just looking amazing on a board,” Huston said. “Just great style, a great person.”
The area has remained flush with skateboard pros, such as Matt Rodriguez, Brandon Biebel and Stefan Janoski. In 2023, Miles Silvas became the most recent skater identified with Sacramento to win Thrasher’s “Skater of the Year” — an honor greater than Olympic gold in hardcore skater circles.
Huston remembered skating with Silvas for the first time at the former Epic Indoor Skatepark in Rocklin.
“Immediately I was like, ‘damn, this dude is gonna be the real deal,'” said Huston. “I could tell not just from his tricks, but from his style.”
Back in his hometown, UC Davis’ bounty of staircases and handrails was like a skatepark of its own. Huston also credited Davis’ former skatepark at Community Park as his key proving grounds, a janky spot known for its lumpy concrete and awkward design. He described Davis as “a great town to grow up in … it’s a family town.”
A new skatepark at Community Park is under construction and expected to open later this year. In the days before the old park was demolished to make way for the new, Huston took a few last runs, soaking in the memories.
“That was awesome to be able to go back to the park before it got torn out,” said Huston. “It had been so many years since I’d been there … Every obstacle is so hard to see and the cement’s all bumpy. The fact that it’s the exact place that I learned how to skate is pretty funny.”
Why a New Jersey-born rider moved to Auburn
In Auburn, Brady Baker is training for X Games with a new BMX mega ramp in his backyard. The four-time medalist moved there recently and is building a BMX compound over 10 acres. He hopes this homegrown training facility will give him an edge as he goes for gold in best trick for BMX park and BMX dirt.
“I’ve had this (ramp) now for about a month-and-a-half, and the level of progression I’ve seen is definitely worth the investment,” Baker said. “It’s like a new chapter of X Games where I really want to stamp my mark and show my worth.”
Baker, originally from New Jersey, has previous ties to the Sacramento region. He spent a chunk of time in Placer County when his family moved to Colfax. Brady was also familiar with the area through Woodward Tahoe, an extreme sports complex in Nevada County known for its summer camps.
“It pulls a big community of people from the Northern California areas,” said Baker. “There’s a ton of riders up here. Some are in Sacramento. Some are in Reno and Truckee. Everybody kind of makes their way up (to Woodward) to ride together.”
Meanwhile, Baker is immersing himself in the local BMX scene. He’s a regular at the many pump tracks springing around the area, especially the Cummings Family Skate & Bike Park in Folsom.
As his backyard compound continues to develop, Baker’s hopeful that it will not only draw more pros to the area but help launch future generations of BMX trick champions.
“It’s a great scene in the Sacramento area,” said Baker. “It’s growing for sure and it’s a really great place to be … Hopefully we can produce more riders in the Northern California area.”
Lasting impact, or a flash in the pan?
The question remains if X Games is here to stay in Sacramento. The event was supposed to launch in 2025, but delayed a year as organizers created the new league format.
The city showed its support from the get-go. In the 2024 press conference about the X Games coming to town, Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty sported a pair of Vans sneakers as an homage to his skateboarding days as a kid.
Visit Sacramento stepped up to serve as a marketing partner and promotional collaborator. Organizational leaders hope X Games will continue Sacramento’s momentum as a tourist destination, Visit Sacramento president and CEO Mike Testa wrote in an email.
“Whenever there is a chance to create something new and significant in the market, especially something that will attract a wide range of demographics and offers some level of longevity, we’re interested in leading the charge to help bring it to fruition,” Testa said.
X Games CEO Jeremy Bloom said he’s been encouraged by Sacramento’s civic and community support. Sacramento ticket sales are on pace to surpass those at X Games Salt Lake City in 2025.
“Picking cities to bring the X Games to is a giant game of Tetris,” Bloom said. “All things sort of need to align well in order for everyone to say, ‘Great, let’s do that.’ From the mayor of Sacramento to Visit Sacramento and Cal Expo and down, it’s just been red carpet for us (in Sacramento) and we’re grateful for that.”
Now, it’s time to kickflip over that red carpet. Despite suffering serious injuries earlier this year — including fractures to his skull, eye socket and jaw — Huston is ready for the spotlight in Sacramento and hopes to inspire future hometown heroes.
“I’m actually feeling pretty solid, considering what I’ve been through this year,” said Huston. “I’m thankful for that. But yeah, I’m stoked. Let’s go.”
Tickets remain available for Sacramento’s X Games League events, which will also air on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2. They’ll also be streamed on the Roku Sports Channel (free to Roku users), YouTube and Kick.com.
Chris Macias is a regular contributor, writing Cultural Capital for Abridged.