Editorial: Exploiting Ventura’s X-factor
It should escape no one’s attention that barely a month after the Ventura County Fair Board rejected a private proposal to extensively renovate and redevelop its aging seaside property, the Fairgrounds was selected to host the finals of the Summer X Games in July.
Does this suggest that there was no need for directors to consider creative ideas for investment in and modernization of the tired facility? Not when a recent safety report on the 1960s-era grandstand identified hazardous corrosion and dry rot and recommended that extensive repairs be made as soon as possible.
The Summer X Games is hardly the Super Bowl, the Olympics or even a Springsteen concert, but the decision to award them — or at least the finals that will complete a three-venue Southern California swing — to Ventura is significant. It may not quite meet the “epic moment in our city’s history” status declared by Mayor Joe Schroeder in announcing the decision last week, but it is a notable development.
More: It's official. Ventura ends X Games speculation with summer finals coming to fairgrounds
The event will bring visitors and revenue to the city. The previous pre-pandemic, open-to-spectators Summer X Games in Minneapolis in 2018 generated an estimated $53 million in economic impact and attracted more than 40,000 out-of-area visitors. Given the smaller facilities here and the fact that preliminary competition will also be staged in San Diego and Los Angeles, the impacts in Ventura may not be as great. Still, hotel rooms and restaurants will be filled.
Beyond the immediate impacts, what hosting the Summer X Games will do for Ventura is generate buzz. These are made-for-television events; indeed they were invented by ESPN. The new owner is a private equity firm with a vision for event-promotion that includes marrying the extreme sports competitions with festivals and concerts.
The X Games are all about youth and energy, and connecting those things with coastal Ventura County for television viewers (more aptly, given the demographic, streaming viewers) will surely uplift Ventura’s tourism brand.
The Summer X Games are not the only events bringing a youthful, energetic vibe to those aging Ventura County Fairgrounds. There was the five-day Skull & Roses event, with Grateful Dead tribute music in April, and Grammy-winning rapper Anderson .Paak will be hosting a benefit music festival there next weekend.
What these events demonstrate is that the location of the Ventura County Fairgrounds has a certain X-factor — an appeal that comes through even if the physical facilities leave much to be desired.
What all this suggests is the undeniable potential that could be tapped if some way can be found to attract the investment needed to modernize and expand the visitor-serving facilities. If the recent proposal, which envisioned convention and entertainment activities centered around a minor league baseball stadium, didn’t meet with Fair directors’ vision for renovation, then they must seek out other ways to attract and accommodate private investment.
In a way, this decision to award the Summer X Games to Ventura could indeed have epic implications. It can show not just to fans and TV viewers, but also to the locals who have long taken it for granted, the appeal of the Ventura coast.
In a county with a sluggish economy and anemic job growth, there remains untapped opportunity for tourism and entertainment activities. As we welcome the Summer X Games, let us also consider the X-factor that brought them here.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Editorial: Exploiting Ventura’s X-factor
