Topline
Details around the Patriot Games, a nationally televised event where high schoolers will compete for a massive scholarship prize, were announced by Freedom 250 this month, shedding more light on what the competition will look like after President Donald Trump announced it last year.
Key Facts
Freedom 250, a Trump-backed organizer that has put together several events for the 250th anniversary of the U.S., said the competition will take place from Aug. 9-11.
Participants will be high school students aged 14 to 17 who will have to advance through application and screening processes to be selected, resulting in one male athlete and one female athlete from each state or territory competing.
Applicants will have to submit basic information, social media handles if applicable and a video of themselves explaining why they want to participate, how sports have shaped who they are and what the scholarship would mean to them, according to the application page.
Participants will receive an all-expense-paid trip for themselves and one chaperone to Washington, D.C.
The competition will stream on the ESPN app and be broadcast in a one-hour primetime special on ABC on Aug. 13, according to Freedom 250.
One male athlete and one female athlete will be able to win the competition.
Big Number
$250,000. That is the scholarship prize pool for the Patriot Games. The two winning athletes will split the pool in half.
Chief Critic
Critics have compared the event to “The Hunger Games,” a dystopian novel and film franchise where districts are forced to put forth a boy and a girl for an annual, televised fight-to-the-death competition, in which the lone survivor emerges as champion and is adored as a national hero. Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., responded to Trump’s announcement video for the competition on social media, responding with a clip from “The Hunger Games” movie and captioning his post, “May the odds be ever in your favor.”
What We Don’t Know
It is unclear what exact challenges the athletes will participate in, though it appears some will be team-based. Freedom 250 says the challenges will be “designed to test strength, endurance, agility, teamwork, and perseverance while highlighting the values that have helped shape generations of Americans.”
Key Background
Trump announced the Patriot Games in December, briefly addressing the competition in a video and opposing transgender participation. “I promise there will be no men playing in women’s sports. You’re not going to see that,” he said.” Well before the announcement, Trump said the Patriot Games would be led by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The event is one of several Trump and Freedom 250 have created to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the U.S. The White House hosted a UFC fight card on the South Lawn earlier this month. The knockout-filled event was delayed an hour over inclement weather and featured one fighter who made a crude remark about former First Lady Michelle Obama. Trump’s Great American State Fair kicked off this week after most of its scheduled music performers dropped out. The 16-day event has so far hosted sparse crowds and dealt with several technical issues.
Further Reading
Trump’s Great American State Fair Faces Confederate Flag Controversy And Sparse Crowds (Forbes)
Rogan Praises Trump’s UFC Event—But Doesn’t Address Obama Slur (Forbes)
