As excitement builds for this year’s Winter X Games—taking place this weekend in Aspen—Extreme and Action Sports sponsorships are set to share the spotlight with the show stopping athleticism on display. 

More than 500 brands invest in this high-adrenaline sports sector, where the Tourism category leads the list with north of 30 sponsorships within a wide-ranging arena that spans from snowboarders to professional bull riders.

Viral moments abound within these pulse-pounding sports, as footage of thrilling feats of athleticism shared on social media often spread like wildfire––offering sponsors the opportunity to partner with these athletes and reap the benefits of enormous exposure to a massive audience. 

Case in point: Street League Skateboarding (SLS), whose 17M in branded social media engagement rivals that of the major US professional sports leagues––showcasing both the growing momentum of extreme sports and their resonance with a digitally-savvy audience. When compared with MLB, MLS, NFL, NHL, and NBA, SLS ranks a remarkable third by total engagement, trailing only MLB and the NFL. SLS also takes second place behind MLB by engagement per deal (total engagement within one partnership across a predetermined number of posts), with an impressive average exceeding 725K. 

A Nissin Cup Noodles activation with SLS in Chicago last year––where the logo’s placement was front and center at the base of the stairs as each competitor took their turn––offers a prime example of brand integration within an event that goes viral. The video of this trick scored the highest engagement––215K on Instagram––of any SLS social post in 2023.

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