By the time the hour-long press conference at the Rhode Island Convention Center Rotunda was over, it was hard not to believe that NBC Sports and Gravity Games officials were enamored with all that is Providence.
On hand last Tuesday (Feb. 9) to announce that Providence had been selected to host the inaugural Gravity Games – a new sports, lifestyle and music festival set for this Sept. 9 through 12 and scheduled to be broadcast by NBC Sports on five consecutive Sundays this fall – the visitors to the Ocean State could barely contain themselves in praising not only the capital city but Rhode Island itself.
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”We have the perfect site and the perfect venue in the City of Providence and the State of Rhode Island,” said Scott Seymour, executive director of the Gravity Games. “Passion goes a long way and this city and state have showed it.”
Seymour said the Gravity Games – which have committed to Providence for the next three years — are 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 is a joint venture between NBC Sports Ventures and EMAP Petersen, Inc., the largest special interest publisher in the United States.
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 emerging as the winner.
Estimates being bandied about at last week’s press conference suggested that the Gravity Games could have as much as a $100 million economic impact on Rhode Island during their three-year run here, not including the free publicity from NBC Sports.
