How big are the Gravity Games going to be? So big that Toyota will use the alternative sporting event as a major vehicle to tune a younger generation of drivers into a new car called an Echo and a Celica redesigned to appeal to Generation X.
So big that NBC Sports also sees them as an opportunity to capture a viewing audience that it believes simply relates better to skateboards and street luge, than home runs and touchdowns.
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The formula has worked in the past. In fact, the Gravity Games can clearly trace their roots to the enormous success of the ESPN Extreme Games, which made their own debut in Rhode Island, invading Water-place Park, the steep hills of the East Side, Roger Williams Park and Newport in the early 1990s.
So big that Rhode Island expects to enjoy a $100 million economic impact during its three-year run here.
The Gravity Games are a new sports, lifestyle and music festival set for this Sept. 9 through the 12th and are scheduled to be broadcast by NBC Sports on five consecutive Sundays this fall. The event will go up against National Football League games on competing networks, but NBC officials – and sponsors — are confident that there is a segment of the population thirsting for just this kind of programming.
“We’re not going to generate the ratings of the National Football League – there was never any pretense to that,” said Jon Miller, senior vice president of programming at NBC Sports.
Speaking to the Providence Business News from a fairway at the U.S. Open at Pinehurst in North Carolina last week, Miller said that football and baseball have by no means cornered the market for Sunday afternoon sports programming.
“There are lots of young men out there not watching football or baseball,” Miller said.
Scott Seymour, executive director of the Gravity Games describes them as much more than a television show. The alternative sporting events – such as bicycle stunt, inline skating, skateboarding, street luge, wakeboarding and freestyle motorcross competitions – will be accompanied by music and food, including what is expected to be a major outdoor concert at Roger Williams Park.
The Gravity Games represent a joint venture between NBC Sports Ventures and EMAP Petersen, Inc., the largest special interest publisher in the United States.
Stacey Lippman, president of Petersen Brand and Marketing, said the Gravity Games came about after the publishing giant bought a collection of magazines that included Skateboarder, Surfer and Gravity Magazine, among others.
“This is a growing category,” Lippman said. “There’s more here than magazines. This whole category of sports is bigger than ESPN2.”
GRAVITY-DEFYING athlete flies high.
The bid process for the Gravity Games began in December, 1998 with Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Denver, New York City, Phoenix, Providence and San Diego vying against one another. In the end, Providence and Denver were selected as finalists, with Providence winning.
The expected $100 million economic impact on Rhode Island during their three-year run, does not factor in the free publicity the capital city and state will gain when the games are telecast and during the months prior to the games, when NBC Sports runs promotions during such popular events as the Ryder Cup and World Series.
Toyota has signed on as the exclusive automotive sponsor of the Gravity Games. Don Cecconi, the company’s merchandise and marketing director, sees the event as an opportunity to capture the attention of an audience that has not been a traditional stronghold for Toyota.
“We have new products coming out that will be targeted to the youth market,” Cecconi said. “The Gravity Games look to be a great avenue to communicate with a youthful buyer.”
Cecconi said Toyota is excited that NBC Sports is so strongly behind the event.
“The exposure during the month of October will be very important to us,” Cecconi said.
Mark Gelfond, Toyota’s sports marketing manager, said the Echo and the new Celica are tailor-made for the Gravity Games.
“Both of these are being launched in the fall, so the timing with the Gravity Games is perfect, Gelfond said.
Other sponsors that have signed on to the Gravity Games, such as the U.S. Marine Corps, Union Bay Sportswear and Mountain Dew are equally excited.
Rod Leung, director of advertising and marketing for the Seattle-based Union Bay Sportswear, said the company’s core audience is 12 to 21-year-old males and females who have an interest in music and fashion.
“This is right up our alley,” Leung said. “We’re a national brand. So the media coverage – the exposure – is the key.”
The United States Marine Corps has signed on as the exclusive Armed Services sponsor of the Gravity Games.
“The viewers that the Gravity Games will attract are the exact audience we want to reach – 17-24 year-olds who are looking for a challenge, both mentally as well as physically,” said 1st Lt. Jeff Sammons, U.S. Marine recruiting command spokesman.
NBC’s Miller was expected to be in Providence this week to get a closer look at the venues that will be used and to take part in a “walk-through.” With the success of its namesake television drama, Providence, on NBC and with excitement building for the Gravity Games, Miller said the television network is quickly becoming a fan of Rhode Island and its capital city.
“I deal with a lot of cities,” Miller said. “I can’t tell you how important the cooperation here has been. We’re going to be showing Providence off to an awful lot of people.”
