By Samantha Smith
After the announcement of Formula 1’s return to Circuit of the Americas (COTA), X-Games officials recently revealed they won’t follow suit. Tim Reid, vice-president of the X-Games, announced last week the alternative sports event won’t return to the venue in 2017.
According to a KXAN report, X-Games’ announcement ended a four-year contract with COTA a year early.
In the report, an ESPN spokesperson said the cancellation of the event was due to the scheduling of the X-Games in June rather than in late July or early August. But the report stated it had nothing to do with the Texas Major Events Trust Fund, for which the funding for such events comes from.
With rumors of financial troubles at COTA circulating, people wondered if the Formula 1 Grand Prix would be returning to Austin in 2016. COTA announced earlier this month the U.S. Grand Prix will be held this year.
But with the X-Games leaving COTA in 2017, speculation now rises as to how the loss of the event, along with the possible loss of F1 after this year, could affect Buda and Kyle businesses.
Ilind Farris, 21-year-old Buda Skate shop employee, says the announcement came as a disappointment to both him and the shop owner Ed McMurray. Farris questioned the rumored schedule change, saying the event is normally held in June.
“The weekends of X-Games were very busy weekends for us,” Farris said. “People would come from out of town to go to the X-Games and since we are the skate shop that is closest to Austin we would get a lot of business.”
The Hays Free Press reported last week Buda Mayor Todd Ruge was “thrilled” to hear F1 was returning to COTA because of the boost in tourism and said that during the event “every hotel room in Buda is booked.”
Farris agreed that the X-Games and similar events provided a boost to the economy, not just in Austin, but in all the smaller towns located along the I-35 corridor.
“It brought money everywhere from north Round Rock, Austin all the way to San Marcos, this whole strip of area was super busy during the event,” Farris said.
With so many benefits for Texas business owners coming from events like F1 and the X-Games, the $6 million reduction by the state in the Texas Major Events Trust Fund is cause for confusion for constituents and businesses.
Ruge said that if funding was cut entirely for major events through the state, “the city of Buda could not take the lead on privately funding events like F1 or the X-Games, but it would take a larger coalition of larger cities to start that conversation.”
MotoAmerica is returning to COTA with MotoGP April 8-10 this year, which brings in visitors, and X-Games take place in June.
F1 is scheduled to return October 21-23, which could provide a major boost for local business owners as it attracts thousands of visitors every year.
Ruge speculated something could be on the horizon at COTA in the future.
“Maybe COTA is expecting a bigger event coming to the track in 2017,” Ruge said.
