X Games IX is about to begin in Los Angeles, and fans can follow the action from anywhere in the world. In collaboration with ESPN The Magazine, EXPN.com - the online home of the X Games - is bringing unmatched coverage of the events, the athletes, the stories and the lifestyle.

"This year's coverage of the X Games is a great example of EXPN.com and ESPN The Magazine working together," said Steve Malley, Editor, EXPN.com. "It demonstrates how fans benefit when ESPN's print and web resources join forces. ESPN can deliver information to action sports fans in a way that nobody else can."

EXPN.com's coverage of action sports is ramped up for X Games IX. The site will provide a dedicated X Games section to bring results, news, features and multimedia to fans, directly from Los Angeles. EXPN.com coverage includes:

• X Games Raw - Live, uncut, exclusive video of X Games IX
• Video Highlights - Both ESPN Motion and streaming video highlights of the action, people, lifestyles and outcomes;
• Online Chat sessions - Inline skate star Fabiola da Silva will chat about tricks, her recent move to California, and anything else fans want to ask. In addition, fans will have the chance to chat with X athletes Nate Adams, Austin Seaholm and Ryan Sheckler;
• Photo Galleries -EXPN.com's photo galleries offer a visual encyclopedia of X Games IX.

In addition, X Games fans can find the first-ever collaborative project between EXPN.com and ESPN The Magazine. The cross-medium project will feature online "tags" that provide a look inside the interests and experiences of some of the world's top X athletes - who it turns out, are about more than just backside lips, big air and 720's. The "tags" include exclusive ESPN Motion video, exclusive Q & A sessions and in-depth photo packages of X athletes Caine Gayle, Ronnie Renner, Dallas Friday, Kelly Slater and Jamie Bestwick that pick up where the current ESPN The Magazine "Signature Grooves" package leaves off. EXPN.com will also take a deeper look inside the head of street skater Eric Kotson, subject of the "Mild Child" feature in ESPN The Magazine.

Something Xtra Sweepstakes: More than $150K in prizes
This year, in addition to the complete coverage of X Games IX, ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, EXPN.com and ESPN The Magazine are giving fans a chance to win more than $150,000 in prizes just for tuning in to watch X Games IX.

To enter the Something Xtra Sweepstakes, fans register on EXPN.com, and then fans simply watch the X Games on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC. On each show, a code will be revealed. When fans see the code, they log on to EXPN.com, follow the link to the Something Xtra Sweepstakes, and enter the secret code. There will be winners for each telecast, and a Grand prize winner. Prizes include a $1,000 shopping spree with Ryan Nyquist, a 2003 Saturn vehicle, vacations to the Disneyland Resort in California, ESPN studios and the ESPY Awards.

EXPN.com and ESPN The Magazine's collaborative coverage of X Games IX can be found at: http://expn.go.com/expn/summerx/2003/index.

Fans can register for the Something Xtra Sweepstakes at: http://expn.go.com/