"FIBA was looking at this to see if it made sense to do mainstream events in pay-per-view at good prices, without commercials".
In 2003, the evolution of the X Games into a serious, mainstream event continued.
Now comes Comic-Con, a mainstream event that draws 130,000 comics aficionados each summer.
As well as competing in disability events, Firth, who trains under coach Nelson Lindsay at Ards Swimming Club, also competes in mainstream events and represented Northern Ireland at last year's Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
There'll be guys who want to compete in mainstream events like the Olympics, but also dudes who are happy to get raw for alternative events like King of the Road.
While these events exist in the shadow of more mainstream events like Miss America, they represent occasions of huge cultural pride.
"Many mainstream events make concessions and allowances for disabled people," says Caroline Sutton, who runs the festival in Ilkley with her husband Richard.
They've performed at lots of big, mainstream events.
"They are doing a lot of mainstream events, and they have been perceived as mainstream," warned David Redhill, executive director of global communications for Landor Associates, branding consultants with offices in San Francisco.
Even so, the gathering gave a more accurate picture of modern American diversity than many of the mainstream political events in this year's presidential election campaign.
