X GAMES' LABOR PAINS SKATEBOARDERS SEEK MORE PRIZE MONEY, IMPROVED CONDITIONS.

Byline: Ross Siler Staff Writer

The skateboarders will soar on the Staples Center vert ramp, the television cameras will record their every ride and the Mountain Dew will flow freely in the homes of viewers. But behind the scenes, not everyone will be happy at X Games IX.

Take 12-time medal winner Andy Macdonald, the outspoken founder of the United Professional Skateboarders Association, for example.

``When a skateboarder shows up at the X Games,'' Macdonald said, ``they're treated with an attitude that says, `We created skateboarding and you'd be nowhere without us.' ''

Or listen to Buster Halterman, a 12-year professional, two-time X Games competitor and member of UPSA's board of directors.

``Everyone wants to know: This is a big production that looks like it makes a lot of money,'' Halterman said. ``Are we getting our fair share?''

As ESPN's annual action-sports showcase prepares to open this week in Los Angeles, birthplace to skateboarding more than 30 years ago, it does so with a problem more familiar to major-league baseball fans than the Tony Hawk generation: labor strife.

Specifically, a group of top skateboarders (led by Macdonald) has taken steps toward forming a union and is clamoring for increased prize money and all-around better conditions at the Games, which are expected to draw sellout crowds to Staples Center for four days beginning Thursday.

Atop its list of complaints, the Santa Barbara-based UPSA contends ESPN will make more than $25 million this year in revenue from X Games' sponsorships and pay out $1.160 million - or less than 5 percent - in prize money to its athletes.

ESPN does not disclose the Games' revenues or costs, X Games executive director Jack Wienert said. But the network has increased prize money more than 300 percent from the $375,150 offered at the first Games in 1995 as well as helped make stars out of its top competitors.

``I think (No.) 1, we've been fair, (No.) 2, we've been open, and we're doing the best we can,'' Wienert said. ``If people don't like it, they don't have to go. It's an invitation event. They don't have to come.''

The frustration, however, only has grown as UPSA's executive director, Jim Fitzpatrick, claims to have tried to meet at least six times with ESPN officials this year to discuss the situation, all with no success.

``There hasn't been an effort on the part of the network to make it happen,'' said Fitzpatrick, 55, one of pro skateboard's founding fathers. ``You get the sense that (they say), `Let's hold out as long as we can and see how forceful they can be.' ''

Wienert said he had not spoken with Fitzpatrick in two years. He added the X Games formerly had an athlete advisory panel but disbanded it several years ago after athletes stopped attending meetings.

Two years ago in Philadelphia, the dispute came to a head when Macdonald and his fellow competitors threatened to boycott the Games in a dispute over their inclusion in an ESPN-produced IMAX movie without compensation.

UPSA was then founded that year and today counts 75 member skaters, including Hawk, Fitzpatrick said. UPSA's leaders also have met with Gene Upshaw, executive director of the NFL Players Association, for guidance.

No similar disruptions are expected at this week's Games, though the controversy continues to simmer.

But the skateboarders' position is far from universally shared by those involved in action sports. Even Macdonald and Fitzpatrick acknowledge ESPN's decision to put on the Games has driven the boom in skateboarding over the past decade.

``(ESPN has) done a lot of great things for the sport,'' said Steve Astephen, chief executive officer of the Carlsbad-based action sports agency The Familie. ``A lot of our athletes have gotten a lot of their recognition from the Games.''

The dispute over prize money stems from the fact that though the Games are the most visible event in pro skating, they are not the most lucrative. First prize in Vert this year will be $25,000, compared with the $40,000 first prize offered at the Boost Mobile event in Las Vegas in June.

``Ultimately, when you compare the total purse to other events,'' Fitzpatrick said, ``it tends to be somewhat laughable.''

ESPN also does not pay for athletes' accommodations at the Games, unlike some other events. And with prize money for those who finish outside of the top 10 starting at $1,000, Fitzpatrick said athletes who lack adequate sponsorship could take a loss by competing in Los Angeles.

The controversy likely will grow at this year's Games with ESPN's decision to charge admission for the first time. Admission is $5 a day, and Wienert said the money will help cover costs. Last year's Games drew more than 220,000 fans in Philadelphia.

This year will be a ``barometer,'' Wienert said, for whether ESPN can charge admission in the future for the Games. But UPSA is not nearly so supportive of the decision.

``That extra $5 they're pulling in should go back to the athletes in general,'' Dufour said.

The dispute between the sides dates to the first day of the 2001 X Games in Philadelphia. With ESPN filming the IMAX movie ``Ultimate X'' in conjunction with the competition, athletes were asked to sign a waiver consenting to be filmed without compensation.

But Macdonald, a member of the Screen Actors Guild, balked. He told Wienert he and the other skateboarders would boycott the event rather than sign away the rights to use their images.

``Can you imagine being an extra in any movie and not getting paid?'' said Macdonald, who has voiced past criticism over ESPN's unauthorized use of athletes' images on products such as skateboards and T-shirts.

With Wienert threatening to keep the skateboarders out of the Games, Macdonald had a press release drafted, banking on winning a labor dispute in a union town and called Wienert to tell him he had a 45-minute deadline before he would announce the boycott.

Fifteen minutes later, according to Macdonald, the waiver clause was removed from the contract. It represented a seminal moment in the movement for greater rights among X Games athletes, Macdonald now says.

``That was a big deal, butting heads for the first time with a giant company like Disney (ESPN's owner) and winning,'' Macdonald said. ``And skateboarders took the risk for all the athletes.''

Despite his outcry, Macdonald continues to enter the X Games, where has won six consecutive Vert Doubles gold medals with Hawk. He also skated in daily shows this summer at the X Games Xperience at Disney's California Adventure amusement park.

``If I didn't, the next guy in line would,'' Macdonald said. ``Unless we're all together and all saying we're not doing this, we're not going to get anywhere. There's still a lot of skateboarders who are still trying to get by and will take $1,000.''

Ross Siler, [phone]

ross.siler(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

drawing, 2 boxes

Drawing:

(color) no caption (skateboarders with ``UNION NOW'' on t-shirts, board)

Jim Thompson/Special to the Daily News

Box:

(1) TODAY'S EVENTS

(2) X GAMES IX COMPETITION SCHEDULE