The inaugural X Games League summer season drew 18.3 million U.S. viewers across ABC and ESPN, a 78.5% jump from the previous year, according to Deadline. That is the headline number from the league's first season as a club-based competition, a format that reimagines action sports as city-based teams rather than individual showcases.

The summer season ran through three stops: Sacramento, New Orleans, and Chiba, Japan. About 12 million U.S. viewers tuned in for Sacramento alone. The New Orleans Championship was the highest-rated stop of the season, the league reported. Of the 18.3 million total, 7.5 million were return viewers — people who came back for more than one event.

XC New York captured the inaugural championship, edging XC Tokyo by 10 points on the final run of the final event. The league features skateboard, BMX, and Moto X athletes competing for city-based clubs across multiple stops, sponsored by MoonPay. Four clubs — Los Angeles, New York, São Paulo, and Tokyo — made up the inaugural summer field.

The individual standout was Mizuho Hasegawa, a 15-year-old skateboarder from XC Tokyo, who was named the league's first MVP after a season that included eight medals. Jeremy Bloom, CEO of X Games, commented on the debut season's performance but the specific remarks were not detailed in the Deadline report.

What makes these numbers land is the audience that drove them. The growth builds on momentum that was already visible a year earlier. X Games Salt Lake City 2025 delivered double-digit viewership growth across ESPN platforms, with viewership among 12-to-17-year-olds soaring 328% year-over-year and 25-to-34-year-olds up 74%, according to ESPN's press release. That surge preceded the league's launch and suggested the audience was already expanding before the club format gave it a structure to follow.

The X Games League is designed as a global, team-based competition with two seasons each year. Summer teams feature skateboarding and BMX; winter teams will feature snowboarding and skiing. The first winter season is scheduled for 2027 with three stops, according to the X Games website. General managers for the four inaugural summer clubs include Bob Burnquist, Harumi Suzuki, Sharalee Hazen, and Steve — the full surname was truncated in the source.

For fans, the club format adds something the old X Games events did not have: a team to follow across a season, a standings table, and a championship that comes down to the last run. Sacramento drew 12 million on its own. The championship in New Orleans outdrew it. And the league says more than 40% of its audience came back for a second event, which is the number that tells broadcasters whether a format has legs.