Tuesday, February 27

ESPN to Hold the Action Sports and Music Awards

In further recognition of the new breed of professional athlete, ESPN plans to celebrate action sports and its lifestyle music with The Action Sports and Music Awards, Saturday, April 7, 2001, at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles. The event airs on ESPN in primetime on Tuesday, April 10, 2001. The entertainment gala brings together entertainment celebrities, action sports athletes and the music that embodies these sports.

"The Action Sports and Music Awards will be the definitive award show for the nation's youth and pop culture - a platform from which to recognize outstanding athletic and musical achievement, excellence and arrival," remarked Ron Semiao, ESPN Vice President, Programming, Event Creation and Management.

ESPN will collaborate with the Los Angeles-based House of Blues to present high-quality musical performances during the show and as well as providing marketing and promotional support of the event.

The following awards will be presented at the event.

THE ACTION SPORTS AND MUSIC AWARD CATEGORIES

Music	Sports
Snowboarding's Music Act of the Year Skiing's Music Act of the Year Skateboarding's Music Act of the Year BMX's Music Act of the Year Motocross' Music Act of the Year Surfing's Music Act of the Year	Skateboarder of the Year BMX Rider of the Year Motocross Rider of the Year Surfer of the Year - Male Surfer of the Year - Female Snowboarder of the Year - Male Snowboarder of the Year - Female Skier of the Year - Male Skier of the Year - Female

In addition, three overall awards will be presented in the categories of: Lifetime Achievement Award (action sports), Best Use of Action Sports in a Music Video and Action Sports Feat of the Year.

ESPN's Event Creation and Management Department, a division of ESPN's programming department, will develop, manage and stage the event. The voting panel, still in development, will include athletes, industry representatives and action sport media members.

ESPN, the worldwide leader in action sports television, first developed its X Games franchise in 1995. The Winter X Games, EXPN2Day, Tony Hawk's Gigantic Skatepark Tour, the X Trials and B3 events are just some of the original action sports programming currently shown on ESPN and ESPN2. In addition, surfing and motocross are shown regularly on both networks.

Further information regarding hosts, presenters, musical acts and nominees will be forthcoming.