Entrepreneur and founder of Neff Headwear, Shaun Neff, announced that he has officially joined sports and entertainment brand X Games Ownership Group as an investor and advisor to accelerate the brand’s expansive strategy.
In addition to the annual Winter and Summer Games, X Games plans to expand its events and content to include more (and more inclusive) event qualifiers as well as new pop-up events that combine sport, music and culture. The competitions will also have a stronger focus on style and creativity, allowing both fans and athletes to express themselves better than in other competitions, the company said. X Games has already announced its return to Ventura, California, for the Summer X Games June 28-30, with dates for other new events to be announced in the coming months.
No stranger to the X Games and action sports
“X Games is an incredibly iconic brand that has been a part of my life as long as I can remember, but it has lost relevance and its connection to culture,” Neff said. “This isn’t about building a brand; the brand is already massive. It’s about rebuilding the brand really intentionally, reconnecting with its youth and counterculture roots, and ultimately transcending sports into broader pop culture.”
In his career, Neff has also advised some of the largest companies in the world, including Sony Electronics, Target and Walmart. He was also co-owner of sunscreen brand Sun Bum, which was sold to SC Johnson in 2019, and recently joined the ownership group of the Los Angeles Football Club, known as LAFC.
Neff’s brand incubator Beach House Group has been behind the success of celebrity brands such as Moon Oral Care with Kendall Jenner and Odell Beckham Jr, Pattern by Tracee Ellis Ross, BEIS by Shay Mitchell and the incubator and seller Florence by Mills with Millie Bobby Brown.
As the founder of Neff Headwear, X Games’ newest investor is no stranger to the action sports industry. He founded Neff Headwear in 2002 as the first authentic headwear company designed specifically for extreme and action sports and quickly became a leader in youth culture, pioneering celebrity and athlete collections by collaborating with several artists and celebrities, including Scarlett Johansson, Snoop Dogg, DEADMAU5, Steve Aoki, Kevin Durant and Wiz Khalifa.
MSP Sports Capital, which acquired a majority stake in X Games from ESPN Productions in 2022, is relying on leaders in action sports, entertainment and now branding to set the tone for the company’s future.
X Games has already seen significant growth in viewership and engagement since its acquisition by MSP Sports Capital. Most recently, X Games Aspen 2024 saw a 70 percent increase in digital and social streaming viewership year-over-year and a 20 percent increase in social engagement. The linear broadcast from the last event in January in Aspen, Colorado, also saw an 8 percent increase in viewership.
