Petersen Companies and NBC Sports Announce Gravity Games

Posted on November 5, 1998

Gravity Games, a joint venture between The Petersen Companies, a large special interest publisher in the United States, and NBC Sports was announced by James D. Dunning, Jr., Chairman, President and CEO of Petersen Companies and Dick Ebersol, Chairman of NBC Sports. The Gravity Games is a series of new sports competitions, lifestyle and music events in a four-day format to debut in the summer of 1999. The U.S. host city for the first Gravity Games is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

"Through our stable of vertical sports titles, Petersen has built an intimate relationship with the cutting edge athletes at the core of the growing adrenaline sports market," Petersen's James D. Dunning, Jr. said. "No longer alternative or fringe, these sports have experienced a tremendous surge in popularity and now define the male youth culture. They deserve a forum as large and dynamic as the Gravity Games. Our print platform, combined with the strengths of NBC and Advantage, offer a powerful means to do just that."

The Gravity Games are a sports and entertainment festival uniting adrenaline sports and the media, technology, and lifestyle gear that this extreme youth culture craves. All facets of the on-site Gravity Games experience will be incorporated into the NBC telecasts. The driving force behind the games is sports, organized into "high risk" aggressive competitions and exhibitions. The first Gravity Games will feature a record prize money structure divided among eleven adrenaline-based sports including various bike, inline, skateboard, street luge, wakeboarding and freestyle motocross competitions contested on innovative downhill, vertical and street courses.

Petersen conceptualized the Gravity Games from their "Raw Sport Group" of 14 publications which appeal to men between the ages of 16-24. The group boasts a readership of 16 million men and includes titles such as Sports, Slam, BMX Riders, MX Racer, Inline Hockey News, Gravity, Snowboarder, Surfer, Powder, Bike, Dirt Rider, Trail Rider, Box and Skateboarder. The Petersen Companies will aggressively promote the Gravity Games and NBC telecasts in its RAW Sports Group magazines.