Published: Friday, July 23, 2010 4:03 PM PDT by Ryan Vaillancourt

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES - If only for a few days, Anschutz Entertainment Group might consider changing L.A. LIVE's name to L.A.X. Live.

That's because starting Thursday, July 29, the high-flying, fast-driving, power-pedaling extreme sports competition known as the X Games will take over the 28-acre complex in Downtown Los Angeles.

It is safe to say that X Games 16, which continues through Aug. 1, will be unlike any other happening ever staged at AEG's $2.5 billion campus. While high-profile events such as the Grammys have utilized buildings for a week or more (including set-up and tear-down periods), no single entity has occupied as many L.A. LIVE venues for as long a period as ESPN's X Games will, said Lee Zeidman, AEG senior vice president and general manager of the Staples Center and Nokia Theatre.

"This will be the first event to completely take over the entire campus," he said.

Downtown has been a site for part of the games since they moved to Los Angeles in 2003, with Staples Center a venue for several sports. The lineup would change every year due to factors such as the construction schedule of L.A. LIVE. That forced some sports to venues such as the Home Depot Center in Carson, thereby spreading out the competition.

This year, all 29 sports, from women's street-style skateboarding to men's motocross big-air, will be showcased at Staples Center, somewhere else at L.A. LIVE or at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum just down Figueroa Street.

Zeidman said the goal has always been to hold the entire X Games in a concentrated area. That finally became possible with the completion of L.A. LIVE, which includes the West Coast headquarters for ESPN, and the opening this year of the J.W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels.

"You now have the hotels, which can serve as ESPN's headquarters," said Zeidman. "You now have ESPN studios, and you've got 15 restaurants here that patrons will be able to go in and out of."

High Theater

Many events that previously took place at the Home Depot Center, also owned by AEG, will now unfold at the Coliseum. The historic arena will host motocross and rally car racing events, as well as a massive ramp for the skateboard and BMX big air contests. ESPN reports that the Coliseum will be filled with some 3 million shovels of dirt for the motocross track.

Event officials said that in previous years, attendees tended to spend a whole day either at Home Depot Center or Staples Center, but rarely visited both. This year a shuttle will run between the Coliseum and L.A. LIVE on Thursday and Saturday, something organizers hope will allow fans to see more action. Additionally, the "X Village" will be set up on Chick Hearn Court outside Staples Center, where vendors and sponsors will offer small expos, demonstrations and giveaway stations.

The deck on top of the parking garage behind the Nokia Theatre is a hub this year too. Last week, crews were building a skateboard and BMX street course on the deck, as well as a pool ramp - the structure is a nod to the skateboarders who pioneered the sport's use of emptied swimming pools in the San Fernando Valley in the 1970s. Temporary bleachers on the deck will seat 5,000 people, an increase from about 3,000 last year.

The most notable change this year will occur in the Nokia Theatre. Used primarily for big-name music and comedy acts, the 7,100-seat space will house the competition's vert ramp, or half-pipe, featured in some of the X Games' most popular competitions in skateboarding and BMX. Those events take place Saturday.

The Long View

The first X Games were held 16 years ago in the small New England tourist town of Newport, Rhode Island. In the following years, the event's business model had it hopping around the country to new cities, settling for two-year stints in larger markets as it grew in popularity.

Now the event is a global brand, helped in part by the international cultural reach of action sports. This year, the games will host about 200 athletes from 18 countries. The event is also broadcast internationally.

"This year alone for X Games 16 we'll be televised live in 10 countries, in approximately 106 million households," said ESPN spokeswoman Katie Moses Swope. "And this is the first time Asia will be telecast live. It'll obviously be in the middle of the night over there, but that alone is telling of how much X Games has grown."

All of the television coverage for the event of course means exposure for L.A. LIVE and Los Angeles.

Sensing that opportunity, AEG has partnered with ESPN to co-produce the event. The two entities operate the X Games based on a contract that involves shared costs and revenues, officials with both companies said.

"From a broadcast standpoint, that's their burden," Zeidman said. "Other things, like venue rentals, that's more on us. We've crafted ways to make it lucrative for both entities. We're not just renting it, we're more true partners."

If X Games was born as a traveling event, it has settled into more of a Los Angeles institution. This marks the first year of a two-year contract between AEG and ESPN to co-produce the X Games at L.A. LIVE, and there is a mutual option to extend the agreement for three more years, Zeidman said.

X Games director Jack Wienert said the current set-up at L.A. LIVE has proved to be a "tremendous scenario for the games," but that future competitions and the evolution of the event will depend on changes in the action sports world.

"I think that we will always do something in L.A.," Wienert said. "But I can tell you this: We strive to be bigger and better every year."

X Games is July 29-Aug. 1 at L.A. LIVE and the Coliseum. More information, including tickets (prices range from $9-$40), is at espn.go.com/action/xgames/summer/2010. Contact Ryan Vaillancourt at ryan@downtownnews.com.

X Spots to Mark

Five Don't Miss Events at the Downtown X Games

There are 29 events at this week's X Games, which will bring together the top extreme sports athletes from around the world. It is impossible to check out all of them, but Downtowners have plenty of opportunity see high-flying thrills and occasional spills. Here are some of the highlights

What: Moto X Freestyle Final
Where and When: L.A. Coliseum, July 29, 6:30 p.m.
Details: Freestyle motorcross involves dirt bikers whizzing around a course riddled with berms and jumps. Riders including last year's gold medal winner Blake "Bilko" Williams and fan favorite Travis Pastrana perform backflips and all types of jaw-dropping aerial tricks. Watch for the Flying Dutchman, a trick pioneered by Williams that combines a backflip, 360-degree spin and scissor kick with the legs.

What: Skateboard Big Air Final
Where and When: L.A. Coliseum, July 29, 6:45 p.m.
Details: Picture this: A man on a skateboard speeds down a towering wooden ramp that resembles a ski jump. At the bottom, the ramp curves up, launching the rider over a 50- or 70-foot gap. That's just the beginning. When he lands the skater then speeds into a vertical quarter-pipe that launches him up to 50 feet in the air. Stars of the event include Jake Brown and Bob Burnquist.

What: BMX Freestyle Final
Where and When: Nokia Theatre, July 30, 4 p.m.
Details: Some people still have a tough time riding a bike down the street. So imagine what it takes to spin 720 degrees, 10 to 15 feet above a half pipe. The sport is dominated by Brit Jamie Bestwick, but plenty of other riders are capable of gold. American and BMX vet Dennis McCoy, 42, is slated to compete.

What: Rally Car Super-Rally Final
Where and When: L.A. Coliseum, July 31, 7:15 p.m.
Details: This is the first year X Games has included Super Rally, known as Rally Cross in Europe. The sport features drivers racing modified street cars on a mostly dirt track. It's sort of like NASCAR meets motocross. In other words, it's the opposite of driving in Los Angeles.

What: Women's Skateboard Street Final
Where and When: L.A. LIVE Event Deck, Aug. 1, 12:30 p.m.
Details: The X Games aren't all about the men. The ladies of the skateboard world continue to kick-flip gender gaps and raise the bar for women in action sports. Pioneers such as Elissa Steamer and Alexis Sablone will compete with up and coming pros including Brazilian Leticia Bufoni and Amy Caron.

-Ryan Vaillancourt of L.A. Downtown News. Click here to read the article on ladowntownnews.com.