JC Reindl

Detroit Free Press

Could Detroit get another chance to try and host the Summer X Games?

That is the big question following the announcement this week that the popular week-long event will cut short its stay in Austin by a year and not return to the Texas capital in 2017. News reports suggest that a chief reason for the relocation is the intense Texas summer heat, which required staging the games in early June -- a busy period in professional sports -- rather than the traditional late July or early August.

ESPN, which owns the X Games, is now accepting bids from potential future host cities interested in having the games for summers 2017 and 2018. An ESPN spokesman told the Free Press that X Games officials haven't set a hard deadline for bid proposals, but hope to announce finalist cities in May and the winning host city in mid or late June.

X Games opens bid process for new summer host city in 2017

Detroit lost out to Austin in 2013 for the 2014-17 Summer X Games contract. Detroit's unconventional marketing pitch spun what many consider Detroit’s flaws — gritty streets and unpolished urban landscape — into assets.

The pitch was spearheaded by Kevin Krease and Garret Koehler, a pair of Detroiters and old college buddies in their 20s. On Thursday, Krease said there is already some "chatter" about Detroit putting together another Summer X Games bid.

"Detroit's in a stronger position to host this time around," Krease said in an e-mail.

Detroit’s pitch in 2013 took the angle that graffiti-covered high-rises and an underdog reputation have special appeal to the athletes and fans of the games' nontraditional sports: skateboarding, BMX biking, Rallycross and motocross. The bid effort received support from civic leaders, including Susan Sherer, who directed Detroit's Super Bowl XL host committee in 2006, businessman Dan Gilbert, racing boss Roger Penske and the late Detroit Lions owner William Clay Ford Sr.

Although it ultimately lost to Austin, Detroit emerged as the top choice among online voters in an opinion poll.

The Summer X Games drew about 160,000 fans to Austin during its first running in June 2014 and 136,845 showed up last year, according to the Austin American-Statesman. ESPN officials have said it takes roughly $20 million to put on an X Games.

This year's Summer X Games will go on as scheduled in Austin from June 2-5 at the Circuit of the Americas sports and entertainment complex.