In almost two decades of playing flag football, Johnny Rivers saw a lot of different fields. Some were good, some were horrible, rock-strewn patches of Texas gravel.

As Rivers’ athletic ability declined with age, he got more involved with the organizational side of the game and sensed an opportunity. The Vicksburg native started his own company that seeks a better way to play the game.

Rivers began Sports X, Inc., last year as a promotion company for flag football tournaments. The company, based in El Paso, Texas, puts on semi-pro tournaments with large cash prizes and NFL-style luxuries like cooling fans and benches on the sidelines.

The extra benefits help make an impression on flag players who are used to things like that. Many high-level teams, Rivers said, have players who played in college or the pros, and the games are as intense as anything fans could watch on Saturdays or Sundays in the fall.

&#8220We travel with just about anything we need. We have a big truck with everything, and take it from town to town,” said Rivers, who also owns Sun City Moving, a moving and storage company in El Paso. &#8220It takes some thought. When you give back a trophy and nothing else, it’s not that impressive. When you put some money back into it, give out big prizes, it makes an impression. We travel into town and make it happen.”

Rivers has quickly made a name for himself in the business. His company has put on a half-dozen tournaments since May and is about to catch its first big break – a tie-in with the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz.

A former football teammate of Rivers’ at the University of Texas-El Paso, Patrick Cannon, is now the director of activities for the Fiesta Bowl. Cannon and Rivers met up at a UTEP game this season, and Rivers was able to turn the encounter into an opportunity for his new company. Sports X will promote the Sports X Fiesta 8-man Flag Football Tournament as part of the official pregame activities for the Fiesta Bowl.

The Jan. 1 tournament is expected to attract some of the top teams from across the southwest. Rivers hopes it’s the sort of high-profile launching pad his company needs.

&#8220In six months of actual promotion, you couldn’t ask for anything bigger than this,” Rivers said. &#8220We’re expecting Nike, Reebok, Under Armour to all be there. Hopefully this will be the springboard I need to really get this off the ground.”