X Games has engaged talent-buying agency Versa to support music programming across select events as it develops its year-round league, putting music on equal footing with competition.
The relationship began at X Games New Orleans, with Versa supporting artist strategy, talent sourcing, negotiations and booking execution. Its role includes finding artists who connect with the audience while meeting the demands of competition schedules, broadcast requirements, and live production.
In this FM PRO TECH 5, Brent Freed, Versa Talent Buyer, explains why the biggest artist is not always the best booking, how success goes beyond attendance, and what it takes to adapt a touring show for an action sports event.
Commercial considerations obviously matter, but the biggest artist isn’t always the best booking.
Q1. X Games wants music on equal footing with competition. What does that mean for Versa’s booking strategy in practice?
It means approaching music as a core part of the X Games experience rather than something added to the schedule once the competition programming is finalized.From a talent perspective, we’re thinking about the audience, the market, the event format and how each artist fits into the overall experience. A great artist on paper isn’t necessarily the right artist for every X Games event.The goal is to build music programming that can stand on its own while still complementing the competition. If we get that balance right, music becomes another reason for people to attend X Games, not simply something they experience while they’re there.
Q2. What makes an artist the right fit for an X Games audience, beyond viewing figures and ticket sales?
Authenticity is probably the biggest factor. X Games has a distinct identity rooted in action sports, music and youth culture, and audiences can generally tell when something feels forced.We look at an artist’s connection to that culture, the energy of their live performance and whether their audience naturally overlaps with the X Games community.That doesn’t mean every artist needs to be an obvious fit or come from a particular genre. Some of the most interesting bookings can be unexpected. The key is that the choice feels intentional and adds something to the overall experience.Commercial considerations obviously matter, but the biggest artist isn’t always the best booking.
Q3. Your work with X Games began in New Orleans. What did that experience reveal about programming music alongside action sports?
New Orleans reinforced how different this environment is from a traditional music festival. At a festival, the artist lineup is typically the main attraction. At X Games, music and competition are both important parts of a much broader experience.That changes how you approach programming. You’re considering not only which artists to book, but when they perform, how their audiences move through the event and how the music complements everything else happening throughout the day.Our experience in New Orleans gave us a strong foundation for understanding those dynamics and for continuing to refine the music strategy alongside the X Games team.
Q4. FM PRO TECH: How do you measure whether a music booking strengthens the overall X Games experience, beyond attendance figures?
Attendance is important, but it only tells part of the story.We look at whether an artist helped attract a new audience, how fans engaged with the music programming and how that programming contributed to the overall event experience.There’s also a commercial component. Did the booking deliver value relative to its cost? Did it create opportunities for sponsors or partners? Did it strengthen the positioning of the event for future editions?Not everything can be reduced to a single metric. An artist may not be the biggest ticket seller but can still bring significant value through cultural relevance, audience engagement or brand alignment.Ultimately, a successful booking should create value beyond the performance itself.
Q5. FM PRO TECH: What is the biggest technical challenge when integrating an artist’s live production into an action sports event?
The biggest challenge is balancing the artist’s creative and production expectations with the realities of an action sports event.We want to help create incredible live performances for X Games fans, but these events weren’t designed around a traditional concert environment. There may be competition schedules, broadcast requirements, limited changeover windows and other production elements happening in the same space.That makes it important to understand an artist’s production requirements before the deal is finalized and work closely with both the artist team and X Games production to establish what’s achievable.Sometimes that means adapting the artist’s normal touring production specifically for X Games. The goal is to preserve what makes their live show special while building something that works seamlessly within the larger event.
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