Why it Was a Breakthrough Year for Travis Pastrana’s Nitro Circus; No Signs of Slowing Down in 2016

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2015 tells the story of a breakthrough year for Nitro Circus, the action sports entertainment collective led by extreme sports legend Travis Pastrana. With over 500,000 tickets sold, the Nitro Circus Live touring show cemented its status as the reigning live action sports event on the planet. Nitro Circus athletes progressed the sport across multiple disciplines, landing an astronomical number of world’s firsts including Josh Sheehan’s huge triple backflip on a motorbike and Jed Mildon’s massive quadruple BMX backflip, both of which made worldwide headlines. Also, the Nitro Circus brand partnered with iconic companies including NBC Sports, Toyota, Sony and more.

“We achieved fantastic successes in 2015 and have big plans for the new year which is already off to a great start,” said Michael Porra, Nitro Circus CEO and creative director. “Our marathon tour already includes stops in Europe, North America and Australia with more cities announced soon.” Over 200,000 tickets have already been sold for 2016 so far. Porra says, “The Nitro World Games, an absolute reinvention of action sports competition, will debut at Salt Lake City’s Rice-Eccles Stadium on July 16 and air live in primetime on NBC. New sponsorship and licensing agreements are also in the pipeline.”

2015 was a banner year for Nitro Circus Live, which broke numerous attendance records while logging the most road miles in its history. Running almost non-stop from January through November, Nitro Circus Live played over 100 shows in 11 countries on four continents, visiting new territories along the way. The trek included 40 North American dates, its most extensive tour to date that featured a sold out Canadian leg. Nitro Circus Live took Japan by storm selling 80,000 tickets at just four performances in a spectacular debut (the two Tokyo Dome shows drew Nitro’s largest weekend attendance ever). Nitro Circus Live also returned to Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

Nitro Circus athletes took action sports to new heights. In addition to Josh Sheehan’s and Jed Mildon’s accomplishments, Ryan Williams was a one-man wrecking crew, obliterating records on both BMX and scooter seemingly at will. His world firsts over the past 12 months include the first triple front flip, first front flip no hander and the first double seat grab front flip (all on BMX) and the first triple backflip and the first 1080 front flip (both on scooter). Nitro Circus Live athlete Clinton Moore emerged as a new force in freestyle motocross (FMX), taking the 2015 X-Fighters crown. Moore topped established stars like Tom Pagès and Josh Sheehan. During the seven-month competition, Moore never left the top three on the leaderboard.

“The Nitro Circus brand reached new heights in 2015,” says Porra. Following its move from Australia to the U.S.A. at the end of 2014 and an expansion that saw the company more than double in size, Forbes magazine named Nitro Circus as #22 on its 2015 list of 100 “Most Promising Companies” in America. Last May, Nitro Circus formed a multi-year partnership with NBC Sports Ventures. Nitro Circus programming, including compelling specials like the quad flip documentary “Revolution Day: The Chase for the Biggest Trick in Action Sports History,” now airs regularly in the U.S. on NBC and NBCSN and streams on NBC Sports Live Extra. The all-new docu-series, “Nitro Circus: Crazy Train,” debuted on NBCSN last October. Action Figures, Travis Pastrana’s first directorial effort, was released worldwide to great success. On iTunes, Action Figures held the number one spot for sports movie worldwide for over a month, reaching number three in Australia for all movies while cracking the Top 10 for all movies in the USA at launch. This accelerated production schedule was made possible by the infusion of top-level industry executives like veteran filmmaker Trip Taylor (the Jackass and Bad Grandpa series).

Nitro Circus received more media exposure last year than ever before. Appearing in September on CBS’ “The Late Show with James Corden,” Pastrana took Corden on the ride of his life in an RZR and made late night television history while trending on Facebook and Twitter for more than a week. In the U.S., Nitro was also seen on CNBC, ABC, ESPN, Fox Sports and Fox News. In Canada, Nitro Circus scored national coverage on CTV, City TV, TSN and Sportsnet while overseas Pastrana appeared with Ronnie Wood from the Rolling Stones and Ellie Goulding on the UK’s smash hit TV show “TFI Friday.”

Nitro Circus has had a record-breaking year online as well. Nitro Circus content reaches over 100 million people every month through social platforms, driven by an aggressive slate of original digital content. Nitro Circus boasts the most engaged audience in sports in terms of social interaction online.

Nitro Circus announced several new corporate partnerships across a variety of sectors. In addition to agreements with Toyota and Sony, Nitro Circus teamed with Wicked Tango whiskey for a groundbreaking fully integrated sponsorship. Thanks to this innovative partnership, Wicked Tango can reach consumers via Nitro’s diverse range of assets (TV programming, digital content, athlete endorsements and global touring) and engage them in new ways. For the first time, Nitro Circus toys, apparel, and gaming are coming to retailers in 2016.

For additional Nitro Circus news, exclusive behind-the-scenes content, tour updates and more, go to http://www.nitrocircus.com. Follow Nitro Circus Live on Twitter: @nitrocircus and Facebook: www.facebook.com/NitroCircus.

About Nitro Circus:

Recently named by Forbes magazine as one of America’s Most Promising Companies, Nitro Circus continues to position itself as the world’s leading youth action sports & entertainment brand.  From humble beginnings in 2003 – with Jeremy Rawle, Gregg Godfrey and extreme sports superstar Travis Pastrana producing DVDs from a Utah garage — to a smash TV series which has aired in over 60 countries, Nitro Circus has exploded to global popularity. In 2012, Nitro Circus: The Movie 3D, featuring cast members from the hit television series, was released in cinemas worldwide. In 2015, Nitro Circus announced a partnership with NBC Sports Ventures.  The multi-year strategic alliance will feature TV specials and series programming airing nationally in the U.S. on NBC and NBCSN as well as streamed on NBC Sports Live Extra.

The TV show was transformed by current CEO and action sports industry guru Michael Porra into a must-see live event in 2010, creating the global touring phenomenon that is Nitro Circus Live. Since its inaugural Australian trek six years ago, the show has travelled the globe, obliterating box office records and cultivating a legion of diehard fans.  Nitro Circus has now rolled across five continents, blown away over two million fans and sold-out shows in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, the Middle East and South Africa.  With close to 100 shows globally in 2015 and a packed 2016 touring schedule visiting even more cities still to come, Nitro Circus is the world’s most successful action sports touring brand. 

2016 North American Tour Dates (announced so far). A complete list can be found at www.nitrocircus.com/tour

USA

April 15	Shreveport, LA	Independence Stadium
April 16	Little Rock, AR	War Memorial Stadium
April 22	Albuquerque, NM	University Stadium
May 6	Reno, NV	ACES Ballpark
May 13	Missoula, MT	Ogren Park Allegiance Field
May 15	Billings, MO	METRA PARK
June 4	Regina, SK	Mosaic Stadium
June 10	Fort McMurray	Shell Place, MacDonald Island Park
June 18	Boise, ID	Boise Memorial Stadium
August 26	Augusta, GA	Lake Olmstead Stadium
April 23	Tucson, AZ	Tucson Rodeo Grounds
April 30	Colorado Springs, CO	Falcon Stadium
May 7	Eugene, OR	Autzen Stadium
July 1	Oklahoma City, OK	Taft Stadium
July 2	Springfield, MO	Plaster Stadium
July 3	Wichita, KS	Lawrence-Dumont Stadium
July 9	Louisville, KY	Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium
July 22	Sioux Falls, SD	The Sioux Falls Birdcage
July 23	Lincoln, NE	Seacrest Field
August 27	Birmingham, AL	Metropolitan Stadium
September 3	Fayetteville, AR	Fayetteville Motor Speedway
October 1	Salinas, CA	Salinas Sports Complex

CANADA

May 21	Calgary, AB	Calgary Stampede
May 27	Lloydminster, AB	Exhibition Center
May 28	Edmonton, AB	Commonwealth Stadium
June 10	Fort McMurray	Shell Place, MacDonald Island Park
July 16	London, ON	Wester Farin Raceway
July 29	Moncton, NB	Moncton Stadium
July 30	Halifax, NS	Scotia Speedway
August 06	St. John’s, NL	Eastbound International Raceway
September 09	Medicine Hat, AB	Exhibition Center
September 16	Prince George, BC	PGARA Speedway
September 17	Grand Praire, AB	Evergreen Park
September 24	Victoria, BC	Athletic Park

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