NBC Sports and MTV create Alli, the Alliance of Action Sports

NBC Sports and MTV, announced Monday the creation of Alli, the Alliance of Action Sports. Alli is a global business that joins the former Action Sports Tour properties (AST) with Maloof Money Cup, AMA Motocross Championship and King of Wake series.

This means that these skateboarding contests will now be under the Alliance of Action Sports:

• The Maloof Money Cup - Held for the first time in 2008, the Maloof Money Cup, owned and operated by the Maloof family, has three professional competitions – Men’s and Women’s Pro Street, and Men’s Pro Vert – and the Amateur Championships, it boasts the largest single event purse in skateboarding with over $450,000 in prize money.
• The Dew Tour - The Dew Tour, the premier season-long series in action sports, consists of five major, multi-sport events, featuring skateboarding (park and vert), BMX (park, vert, and dirt), and FMX.
• The Free Flow Tour - the Dew Tour’s official amateur series, provides amateur athletes the opportunity to earn a chance to compete against the pros in the Dew Tour. The Free Flow Tour consists of 50 events across 26 cities in the U.S.
• The China Invitational - The inaugural China Invitational was held in April 2008 in Beijing, China and featured the top skateboarders competing in vert and park disciplines before a capacity crowd.

There are other non-skateboarding events as well - the AMA Motocross Championship, the King of Wake, and the Winter Dew Tour. With such a massive group of action sports, now under one roof, it's a good time to be a pro skater! Check out allisports.com for more info on Alli.

This has huge possible repercussions for the X Games. Will they continue to be seen as the Olympics of action sports?

The future is uncertain, but one thing to be sure of is that all of this attention means more interest in skateboarding. Personally, I think that's mostly a good thing. Mostly. More attention means that there will be more money flowing, more skaters going pro, and more innovation and creativity. But there are problems that come along with being popular and mainstream. Huge corporate problems. Problems with skateboarding being dissected and defined. What do you think? Leave a comment below.