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Millions of viewers around the world will tune in, too, to see more than 200 dare devilish young athletes vying for the fame and fortune that winning can bring.
"This will be the biggest event in Connecticut this summer," said Richard Bisi, the park’s spokesman.
The X Trials, slated for Father’s Day weekend, mark the first time that ESPN has hosted a major sporting event in its home state.
"It is terrific that ESPN would bring a special event of this magnitude to our home town," said Tom Wages, the park’s manager.
In other locales, the X Trials have attracted as many as 89,000 spectators. Last year, two X Trials, held in St. Petersburg, Fla. and Nashville, Tenn., drew 110,000 people between them.
"We will have a full house" at Lake Compounce, predicted Semiao, an ESPN vice president. He estimated that between 45,000 and 50,000 people would come to see the three-day competition that ends June 17.
"You are going to have kids having a blast with their parents," Semiao said. "It is something they can share together."
In addition to watching the events, spectators will have a chance to try out the Xperience, which ESPN bills as "an interactive village" for all ages "to test their skills in sportclimbing, bungy jumping and skating."
Semiao said the games will attract athletes from about 20 countries -- among them Japan and Australia -- and include some of the biggest names in youth sports, such as skateboarding whiz Tony Hawk.
"I watch Tony Hawk all the time," said Southington Town Council Chairman William DePaolo. "It’s amazing what this young man can do."
Semiao said the network will produce five hours and 30 minutes worth of original programming based on the competition at Lake Compounce. It will air a number of times on several ESPN networks in late June and July, he said.
The target audience for X Game coverage, he said, is youngsters between the ages of 12 and 17. But those who watch the events are often as old as 34. Of course, many others also tune in.
The games are going to be held in two spots at the park -- in a parking lot in Southington and on the northernmost fringe of the park in Bristol, where the Haunted Graveyard was located last fall.
Spectators will be able to go to both venues without paying an entry fee for the park, officials said Friday. But the park will be open and many visitors are expected to purchase ride passes as well.
The logistics of the event have yet to be worked out. There will likely be some off-site parking with shuttle buses, officials said, since Lake Compounce’s lots are meant to handle smaller crowds than the X Trials are likely to attract.
Bisi said the park and ESPN will begin discussing details of the logistical and operational issues involved.
The skate park course and other facilities needed for the games, said Semiao, are portable and will be packed up at the end of the competition.
Shortly before wheeling a few wobbly feet on a skateboard at the park, Bristol Mayor Frank Nicastro hailed the announcement as "a tremendous boost for the region."
"What’s so exciting about this is to see" ESPN and Lake Compounce "come together as a team" to offer the community such a high-impact event, the mayor said.
The X Trials featured competition in men’s and women’s park and vert aggressive in-line skating; flatland park and vert bicycle stunt and park and vert skateboarding.
There is one other X Trial this spring. The first stop for the competition is Grand Prairie, Tx., a suburb of Dallas and Fort Worth.
The winners of the Texas and Lake Compounce rounds -- along with acknowledged leaders in the sports -- will compete in the final round at the X Games in Philadelphia in mid-August.
Semiao said that in broadcasting the event, ESPN will publicize Lake Compounce as a matter of course. He said information about venues is always included -- and it will be hard to resist throwing in some footage of the athletes at play in the park.
"Our athletes are young," he said. "They are going to want to be on Boulder Dash," the acclaimed wooden coaster built into the mountainside at the park a year ago.
