‘We’re very disappointed’: No funding coming for Calgary X Games

With the city officially withdrawing a funding promise, Allie Miller reports on the future of the games.

CALGARY (660 NEWS) – It appears the Calgary X Games are in jeopardy.

On Monday, Tourism Calgary said the province would not be funding the 2020 games but were hoping to go ahead in 2021 and 2022.

READ MORE: Future of Calgary X Games up in the air

In a statement released Thursday, the organization said that is no longer happening.

After discussions with the government, Tourism Calgary has been told there will be no funding.

“We understand the provincial government needs to make some difficult decisions and is doing so in this budget,” said Cindy Ady, CEO, Tourism Calgary. “We brought the opportunity of being the first Canadian city to host X Games to our provincial partners and to our local and national sponsors because we continue to feel strongly that this event would have significantly contributed to Calgary’s economy, brand and spirit at the right time of year.”

Ady goes on to say the event would have attracted $75 million annually to the local and provincial economies.

“We thought this was a very good event for Calgary with lots of good upsides and good ROI (return on investment) and the right kind of project for Calgary as went forward. Disappointment would be our number one emotion right now.”

With funding no longer secure for the games, it’s unlikely they’ll happen at all.

“At this point in time, without that funding, we would not be able to proceed with those games,” said Ady.

Calgary was going to host competitors on top of the annual X Games in Aspen, Colorado.

In March, the former NDP government committed to funding the games, providing $13.5 million over the three years.

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