Last December, with Street League Skateboarding’s renowned World Tour on hold, SLS got back to basics and teamed up the best skaters in the world to create a new type of competition. The response was electric with top skaters quickly asking when there would be a sequel. Now they have their wish: SLS Unsanctioned 2 is set to go down on Sunday, April 25th as part of ESPN’s World of X content series. For a taste of the action go here.
“Since the premiere of the first Unsanctioned, fans and skaters have been asking us to run it back,” says Joe Carr, CEO of Thrill One Sports and Entertainment – parent company of Street League Skateboarding. “With the sport getting ready to step onto the international stage in a big way this summer, we thought it was the right time to again gather the world’s best skaters and throw down. Fans won’t want to miss SLS Unsanctioned 2 on ESPN2.”
Once again, the rules are loose, the competitors are hand-picked and the location is closed to the public: Volcom is opening up its Southern California HQ to ten of the world’s top skaters, all coming to together to settle some friendly scores. Inaugural Unsanctioned winner Dashawn Jordan, who had to stomp a massive laser flip in sudden death to take the win, is back to defend his title.
Jordan will have to contend with a determined field who are ready to bring the heat. Ishod Wair returns for another shot at the trophy. Joining him are Chris Joslin, Aurelien Giraud, Milton Martinez and more.
The unique, raw competition format is also back: SLS Unsanctioned is scored like an SLS event but with a twist. Each skater will have two runs and five best trick attempts, with the final scoring for each competitor based off of the total of their highest run score and top two best trick scores, based on degree of difficulty, execution, creativity and style.
Once again Unsanctioned contenders will be judged by an elite group of their peers. A trio of legendary skaters who are no strangers to high stakes competition – Kelly Hart, Torey Pudwill and Paul Rodriguez (who was part of last year’s field and battled through to his final best trick try) – will determine the ultimate winner.
SLS Unsanctioned 2 airs Sunday, April 25th at 11:00 PM Eastern / 8:00 PM Pacific on ESPN2. It is presented by Monster Energy with PowerDot and TaxAct as event sponsors.
And there is more exciting SLS news to come: both the SLS World Tour and World Championship are set to come back this fall. Look for more announcements on the return of the world’s premier skate league coming soon.
SLS UNSANCTIONED 2 COMPETITORS:
- Ishod Wair
- Tom Asta
- Louie Lopez
- Mason Silva
- Dashawn Jordan
- Chris Joslin
- Aurelien Giraud
- Milton Martinez
- Taylor Kirby
- Elijah Berle
JUDGES:
- Kelly Hart
- Torey Pudwill
- Paul Rodriguez
SLS Unsanctioned 2 is produced by Thrill One Media, part of Thrill One Sports & Entertainment. This marks Thrill One’s fourth collaboration with ESPN’s World of X series in the past year, after Unsanctioned’s December debut, a pair of moto racing events last summer (the Sipes’ and Pastranaland Pit Bike Championships) as well as the premiere of Race to Rebuild, a very personal and in-depth documentary from action sports icon Travis Pastrana. It will also follow Travis Pastrana’s P1 Offshore Invitational, which is set to heat up the water with powerboat racing action this Sunday, April 18th on FS1.
About Street League Skateboarding:
Since its inception in 2010, Street League Skateboarding (SLS) has taken street skateboarding from a disparate collection of independent events to a renowned global competition. With a premium qualification system of amateur-to-professional progression and thrilling live events hosted in world-class arenas, the SLS World Tour is the preeminent professional street skateboarding competition series. Events take place on custom-built, one-of-a-kind, SLS-certified plazas in major cities around the world, with the best skateboarders competing for the highest stakes. For more information, visit www.streetleague.com.
Street League Skateboarding is part of Thrill One Sports & Entertainment, a next-generation content company that lives at the nexus of sports, entertainment and lifestyle, combining the resources of Nitro Circus, Nitro Rallycross and Thrill One Media. A multi-media platform founded in 2020, Thrill One is dedicated to creating mind-blowing action sports events and original content, fueled by the most daring athletes, talent and brands in thrill-based entertainment. Thrill One Sports & Entertainment also boasts one of the largest aggregate social audience in action sports, with over 40 million followers across its multiple brand pages and channels. Go to thrillone.com for additional information.
