X Games League Announces Winter Draft

Over 180 skiers and riders have opted into the draft. Forty total will be drafted by the four clubs, as each club manager will select five men and five women to complete their roster.

"The Moon Pay X Games League Winter Draft marks the start of a new era for winter action sports and we are all excited to see who is Drafted to which Club," Senior Vice President Annie Lokesh said in a press release. "A team-based model across a set season gives the world's best skiers and snowboarders a bigger, more consistent stage. Having your name called at Cosm Los Angeles will be a historic moment for every athlete who is able to be in that room and tuning in from around the world."

X Games Club New York was named as one of the four teams earlier this year. The complete winter league schedule and the remaining three clubs will be announced later this year.

Here's an overview of the format:

• The athlete 'opt in' window was in April and May 2026, open to all athletes. 
• The Club General Manager will be hired by the Club ownership group and choose the 10 athlete roster, live. 
• The draft will consist of five rounds and eight athletes will be drafted per round in a "snake" order. 
• Each Club makes two selections per round: one man and one woman athlete.
• At the end of five rounds, the Club’s 10 roster spots will be filled by five women and five men, bringing the total to 40 drafted athletes. 
• Both sports (Ski and Snowboard) must be represented on each Club. 
• Athletes who attend the Draft in person will be called up live on stage. 
• Athletes who declared for the Draft but who are not selected on draft night will be eligible to compete as free agents at Winter X Games stops or be called up as injury replacements. 

Kokomo Murase, Mark McMorris, Scotty James, and Zeb Powell have all been named as "key athletes to watch" in the X Games press release. The X Games Instagram account quietly announced several other riders who have opted in, including:

• Jake Pates
• Kaishu Hirano
• Yuto Totsuka
• Halldor Helgason
• Rene Rinnekangas
• Shuichiro Shigeno
• Jess Perlmutter.
  

Chloe Kim, Jamie Anderson, McMorris, Scotty James, and Powell have all been named as founding athletes. Freeskier Eileen Gu is the sixth. Founding members will provide input on competition formats, advise on athlete experience, and help shape the creative and cultural direction of the teams and league, according to a press release.

For snowboarding, the four events that have point-earning potential are:

• Superpipe
• Big air
• Slopestyle
• Knuckle huck.

Undrafted athletes can be signed to a team as a free agent. In the case of injuries, a club can substitute a player before the stop. As of right now, there’s a heavy lineup of free agents as the XGL heads into Sacramento, including Jamie Foy, Cordano Russell, and Chris Joslin.

Sponsors of the XGL Winter Season include MoonPay, Monster Energy, High Noon, Stake, and Amazon.