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XGames in Dubai in December..Richest Xgames Event Yet

expn.go.com — ESPN and Dubai Event Management Corporation (DEMC) have formed a five-year collaboration to host the world's richest singular, multi-sport, action sports event. There will be a 2.5 million dollar prize purse  a record for X Games and the action sports industry —and X Games medals distributed to the athletes. Event Dates are December 11-13 2008

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  • AmyVernon, on 08/05/2008, -1/+10should be an interesting backdrop to the Xgames...
  • darkchild82, on 08/05/2008, -0/+15$2.5 million? Wow, and to think skateboarding began in empty pools :-)
  • ThePowerDigger, on 08/09/2008, -10/+5Dubai is taking the lead in everything, tallest building to richest xgames. Yet you wonder why you have to pay $4 per gallon of gas.
  • Odenized, on 08/05/2008, -2/+6That prize is ridiculous! Can they afford to pay these people this much if a relatively small audience is watching? :-)
    • Stap1eGun, on 08/06/2008, -0/+7Can Dubai afford to spend $2.5 million? ....

      ...Yes
    • cyrix, on 08/06/2008, -0/+2I hope you're not assuming that it will 2.5 million to each first place finisher. It's just a pool of 2.5 million divided up amongst all the sports/events.
    • tjrecord, on 08/06/2008, -0/+1I'm sure they will make many times that in advertising deals.
    • hmunkey, on 08/06/2008, -0/+1Dude, Dubai spends $2.5m+ on a swimming pool...
      Billions s on hotels.

      They can afford this pretty easily.
    • Odaecom, on 08/06/2008, -0/+1Yes the prize pool is split, haven't seen the payout sheet since '02 but gold in motox was $35K, should be considerable more now.
      It has always been a made for TV event, not for live spectating.
      I have been fortunate enough to get some of the best views as a course official for the moto races :)
      Not sure if I should ask to work the events (since I will be there that week) cause it was frikin hot enough for me here in SoCal last weekend, I might die in the desert heat.
  • Disco1Stu, on 08/05/2008, -1/+23So I got 4 months to learn how to skateboard? Done.
  • digits12, on 08/05/2008, -2/+6Dubai has been an incredible host city.
  • iambagels, on 08/05/2008, -1/+7did anyone ask the athletes? they're going to be pissed. sure they can get their weed, but it's a dry country. [no alcohol]
    • damian7, on 08/05/2008, -0/+6There's alcohol, but you need a license to prove you're not Muslim or that you're a foreigner.
      • rmeddy, on 08/06/2008, -1/+1"to prove you're not Muslim" You can't prove a negative.

        Using logical fallacies in public policy. Well Done Dubai.
      • Blandyman, on 08/06/2008, -1/+11. Check license on system.
        2. Find that they are registered as a Muslim.
        3. Denied alcohol.

        The only logical fallacy is your own.
    • wezults, on 08/05/2008, -0/+4Actually you got i backwards. Non muslims are allowed to drink in hotel bars but are advised to do so in moderation because a drunk in public citation can cause major problems. And these guys better leave their weed at home because getting caught with even a microscopic amount has minimum sentences of severals years in prison, and they do not mess around.
    • borez, on 08/06/2008, -0/+3Weed in Dubai, I don't think so, minimum 4yrs for whatever amount you carry.

  • Jenadae, on 08/05/2008, -0/+4If only we didnt have our heads so far up our asses, the things we could accomplish...
  • flyingv603, on 08/05/2008, -1/+10  ?
  • robEstyles, on 08/05/2008, -4/+2"the world's richest singular, multi-sport, action sports event" I guess that Olympics thing they do every 4 years is off of ESPNs radar.
    • johnnybroken, on 08/06/2008, -0/+2Olympics does not award cash prizes.
      • faceless323, on 08/06/2008, -0/+1Unless you count sponsorships and endorsments.
    • notthatnoise, on 08/06/2008, -0/+1olympics aren't action sports
  • krnldmp, on 08/05/2008, -0/+16Dubai is like a huge Cayman island. Nobody does anything there except play with money.
  • robthom, on 08/05/2008, -4/+1Totally x-treme dude!
    Wooooooo!
  • XombieRobot, on 08/05/2008, -5/+10It might be a great host city but you still can't curse, drink in public places (bars, restaurants unless in a hotel), eat pork products in good comfort, or do anything remotely worth the amount of money it would take to enjoy yourself there.

    Dubai has a slave work force of over 75% of their population, guys to girl ratio is ridiculous 1 girl to 3 guys (due to the massive amount of foreign workers). This place might look fancy but I will stay away from this
    place.

    Do not want.
    • damian7, on 08/06/2008, -1/+9Dubai has bars, in fact, some of the most amazing bars and pubs I've ever seen. Restaurants serve imported French wine

      what does "eat pork products in good comfort" mean?

      So what if Dubai has slave work? It's not like America's illegal Mexicans that make $1 dollar an hour are much better.
      • XombieRobot, on 08/06/2008, -3/+2Actually, most Mexican day laborers make pretty good money. The only $1 dollar an hour Mexicans that you will hear about are the ones who actually live in Mexico.

        I live in Arizona and most Mexican day laborers make at least 10-20 dollars and hour. This is not counting McDonalds or whatever but let's just say with all the perks illegals get, its not slave work at all. You sir, are an idiot for making that comparison.
    • screwl1fe, on 08/06/2008, -2/+2Xombie way to prove that you've never been to Dubai after ranting on something you have no idea of. Maybe you should stick your head out of your ass and broaden your view on the world beyond Arizona and try doing a little bit of research before ranting.
      I'm not even going to bother quoting and disproving everything in your post because correcting a retard who has no idea what he's talking about and uses 4chan memes is a complete waste of my time.
      You sir are a complete imbecile.
      • XombieRobot, on 08/06/2008, -0/+1Here are your facts to prove I DO know what I am talking about:

        According to the census conducted by the Statistics Center of Dubai, the population of the emirate was 1,422,000 as of 2006, which included 1,073,000 males and 349,000 females.[58] As of 1998, 17% of the population of the emirate was made up of UAE nationals. Approximately 85% of the expatriate population (and 71% of the emirate's total population) was Asian, chiefly Indian (40%), Pakistani (15%), Bangladeshi (10%) and others (10%).
        (http://www.migrationinformation.org/dataHub/GCMM/D ...

        The sale of alcoholic beverages is regulated. A liquor permit is required to purchase alcohol; however, alcohol is available in bars and restaurants within four or five star hotels. That's it.(http://www.marketnewzealand.com/common/files/dubai ...


        The sale and consumption of pork, though not illegal, is regulated and is sold only to non-Muslims, in designated areas (http://www.stat-usa.gov/agworld.nsf/505c55d16b8835 ...

        Check it for yourself screwlife. I am not making judgements here based on my narrow based viewed here in Arizona, I was just making an example. You have not proved me wrong so if you are going to accuse me of being an idiot, prove it then!

    • aquireworth, on 08/06/2008, -0/+1Dubai has bars and people curse every where. There's a pork section in every supermarket and nobody even looks at you twice if you buy any. There are actually more foreigner's than locals in the Emirates - 5 million foreigner's 900,000 locals. Women walk down the street in shorts and tank tops (although this is not very respectful to the locals). You can walk in a mall and feel right at home with Starbucks, Gap and a bunch of westerners.
  • ibmetom, on 08/06/2008, -5/+3Jails in Dubai will be packed during and especially after the games.It is a severe crime to have any sexual interaction with a female that is not your wife. All the glitz can't hide the ***** 6th century mentality.
  • borez, on 08/06/2008, -1/+4Whatever you do, don't even think about taking weed if your gonna go.

    http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle ...
    • borez, on 08/06/2008, -0/+2Digg me down, but skating and weed are like two peas in a pod
    • Triterion, on 08/06/2008, -0/+2There's worse, there was a guy that got thrown in jail for FOUR YEARS for having a tiny spec of weed STUCK TO HIS SHOE, haha, there's going to be A LOT of people arrested come X-Games time! article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-512815/Bri ...
      • borez, on 08/06/2008, -0/+1Yep, I know...as a touring engineer with a band, we decided outright that we wouldn't play Dubai after this.
    • aquireworth, on 08/06/2008, -0/+1Or anything with poppyseed's or serious over the counter drugs. Because Dubai is a major duty free port close to Afghanistan (known for opium dealing) they are VERY strict about drugs. There a great pharmacy's in Dubai - if you really need your codeine buy something equivalent while your there and save yourself the hassle of possibly being put in jail.
  • Stap1eGun, on 08/06/2008, -0/+18I wonder how much traction the skateboarders will get on a halfpipe made entirely of gold.
  • Henchman24, on 08/06/2008, -1/+7X-Games in Dubai? Lot of dudes are going to prison.
  • obchase, on 08/06/2008, -1/+1Yet another example of $$ ruining something that used to be so pure. XGames seems only to topped by NASCAR in the sponsorship dept.
  • cadmiumpaint, on 08/06/2008, -0/+3This seems to be really risky. How many kids who are fans of X games sports can just fly off to Dubai or afford to stay in some super deluxe hotel?

    they could alienate all the american fans who now will not be able to go to the games because they're hosting it in a very expensive host city
    • aquireworth, on 08/06/2008, -0/+1There's fans all over the world - including Dubai. It will really help bring in European fans too. They'll bring it back to the U.S. - don't worry.
  • MindTrigger, on 08/06/2008, -3/+4***** Dubai and all it stands for.
  • branndon, on 08/06/2008, -0/+100
    13
    -----
    0
  • dfective, on 08/06/2008, -0/+1I am too afraid I may track in 0.0001 of a gram of marijuana in and get put away for 4 years.
  • nullcodes, on 08/06/2008, -1/+3To the people saying F Dubai for being rich off oil (of course if they sponsor terror that's a different story) ...

    Don't they have the right to charge whatever they can get for the oil?

    Are they supposed to lower their prices out of charity? It's their oil. It's not their fault we became addicted to it.

    If they lower their prices for oil (and sell more of it).. that would mean they run out of oil faster.

    If they just lower their prices and not sell more of it .. the high demand will still exist and therefore the gas stations/exxon will charge more for it (accessibility stays same).

    Actually the latter is happening which is why the oil companies made over $40 billion in profit (not revenue) in the last 3 months. Exxon for example made $11 billion profit in those three months.. look it up.


    Anyway, all the stuff Dubai is building means more jobs for people in the world .. including people in the US/Europe.. whose computer chips do they use (Intel?)? Where are many of their architects from. Who supplies their earth moving equipment (Caterpillar?)?
    • alukaiser, on 08/06/2008, -0/+1Nobody is claiming Dubai alone should lower it's prices. Dubai ***** sucks because it has one of the most outrageous rich-poor gaps on earth. The oil elite build billion dollar fluff tourist projects while the overwhelming majority of their populace is still uneducated and poor. If any of those athletes leave wonderland they'll see what it's really like.
      • nullcodes, on 08/06/2008, -0/+2Every Dubai citizen gets a cash and benefits worth $50k (last year .. varies with oil prices I guess). I would hardly call that poor. They get utilities at a discount too. They also get free education, but only God knows if they're educated. Also, they get free land (though it's desert -- they can build a house there .. which they get money for the downpayment of when they get married).

        a reference for above: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&si ...

        Also, "no more than 5% of Dubai's GDP comes from oil-related revenue. The rest is provided by a remarkably forward-looking economic engine that draws steady profits from trade, luxury tourism, high technology and high-profile real estate investments."

        reference: http://www.latimes.com/features/books/la-bk-davids ...

        You must be talking about the immigrant workers they hired to build all their stuff? Well hopefully they give them a salary, I sure as hell wouldn't move to the middle of the desert to build their crap without a salary better than what I make where I'm at. I heard there was an issue with that recently though because turns out they were paying the workers in US dollars and the dollar declined so workers got pissed.

        Also, recently they passed a law forcing all employers to pay for health care insurance of every worker:

        reference: http://businessinsure.about.com/b/2008/06/17/dubai ...
    • poopdigger, on 08/06/2008, -0/+2Most of Dubai's money actually comes from trade. They don't have much oil at all. Albeit a lot of the trade is probably connected to oil money in nearby nations, these guys are just smart. They are building the world's biggest tourist attraction/home for rich people before the oil money in the region dries up.
    • aquireworth, on 08/06/2008, -0/+1The Sheiks of the Emirates realized long ago that they would not be able to survive on oil forever - thus the creation of a tourist haven and trade. The poverty situation in America is worse than the situation in Dubai.
  • notthatnoise, on 08/06/2008, -1/+1no vert?
  • elambing, on 08/06/2008, -1/+2woo guess who's NOT going to attend!
  • A2007HokieAlumn, on 08/06/2008, -0/+1Dubai seems like a mecca of awesomeness in the middle of the middle east...except for some of their archaic laws...
  • davilliu, on 08/06/2008, -1/+0I think the athletes will make their greatest efforts to win medals!~!and they are chating in#bigbisexual.c o m#!~!~ i think they will get a good achievements!~!
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