I've been riding BMX for 15 years and this was my first time attending x-games in Sacramento! I had a great experience but here's what I think.
Overall, I had a great time. Tickets were cheap, it was great meeting riders, good seeing friends in the BMX community come together, etc.
I did not see the music portion, but I thought that was a brilliant idea to get more people to come which normally wouldn't be at x-games.
Here are some things I think x-games Sac should improve on:
1. There was no shade.
You're basically baking in the sun if you watch any of the events. It was hard to stay engaged and it tired me out a lot.
I think the event can benefit from more umbrellas, tents, etc. scattered around. I definitely think it's possible to position them so you're not entirely blocking views as well.
The only time I was fortunate to take advantage of the shade was during the evening for Men's BMX dirt due to the massive tree in the back area.
2. There's not much to really do in between the events.
I went with a group of friends, so it was easy to hang out and kill time. But I think it would be nice if they had more things to keep people engaged throughout the day. For example, I have no idea what I'd be doing in between the events if I was alone. I mean you can obviously grab a drink or food but that's basically it.
The No Cap soda tent had a beer pong table set up which i thought would be really fun but I never played because I noticed there was never really shade where it was set up.
Overall, I think the event had things to "watch" but nothing for people to "do". Simple games scattered around (like the beer pong) example would have been nice.
3. You can't see much of the event.
No bleachers is crazy. Come to think of it, there really wasn't anywhere to sit in the entire venue.
I think the event would benefit from more strategically placed screens as well.
4. Crowd engagement sucked.
MC's need to do better and be more audible. Some riders had radio silence during their runs and others had cheering throughout their runs.
It's the MC's job to make sure there is cheering for everyone.
They had music to fill in gaps but I don't think they did a good job timing it or it wasn't audible.