Joan Raymond

Joan Raymond is a writer for American Demographics magazine. In the following article, she examines how extreme sports such as skateboarding and snowboarding have captured the attention of fans, television producers, and corporate sponsors since the early 1990s. Ratings for the X Games, which debuted on ESPN in 1995, and the Gravity Games, which debuted on NBC in 1999, have steadily risen, according to Raymond. Extreme athlete—celebrities such as skateboarder Tony Hawk are increasingly recognized by mainstream audiences, and corporations are seeking to cash in on the marketing potential of extreme sports. Raymond writes that extreme sports are most popular with young males, who may associate such sports with individualism and social rebellion.