Skate America Ideal Locations

[charmblade]

How far is Memphis from Nashville? I really liked Nashville when we went there but, it was not during the winter so I don't know how easy it is to get around. However, they do have the Grand Old Opry and the Country Music HOF. They also have a Hockey Team which means they must have an interest in winter sports and there's a chance it could work.

Plus Scott Hamilton lives in (or right outside) Nashville so you've got a great local ambassador for all the media stuff Nashville in the winter is perfectly easy to get around as long as it doesn't snow. Any snow and everything shuts down.

Providence or Hartford sound great to me since both are an easy drive from my house but I'm probably too spoiled by having Worlds in Boston for this to actually happen this year.

 

[Mrs. P]

How about Dallas tx. We have an ice rink (hockey) for the Stars, the American Airlines center, which is big enough for the event. Transportation is not ideal but "doable" and there are plenty of hotels surrounding the area and the suburbs. The weather would be perfect in October, neither too hot nor too cold. And we have BBQ as well Skate America was hosted here in 1994 in the old arena, we have since had a newer one.

And pho from nguyhm!!!! Haha just kidding.

 

[mrrice]

How about Dallas tx. We have an ice rink (hockey) for the Stars, the American Airlines center, which is big enough for the event. Transportation is not ideal but "doable" and there are plenty of hotels surrounding the area and the suburbs. The weather would be perfect in October, neither too hot nor too cold. And we have BBQ as well Skate America was hosted here in 1994 in the old arena, we have since had a newer one.

They also held nationals there one season, right? Anyway, if Texas gets the call, I vote for San Antonio. It's a beautiful and historic city that also has the "River Walk." A gorgeous section of town that has several shops, bars, and eateries all set along a smooth flowing river. They even offer boat rides up and down the river which offer beautiful views of the river and surrounding areas.

 

[el henry]

My backyard!!!!

Well, seriously, the brand new arena and ice rink in Allentown, Pennsylvania is four miles from my backyard, so I'll take it.

And I have liked every post suggesting a venue within a two hour drive. North Carolina is not the East Coast, and I'm tired of Boston, Boston, Boston. Mid Atlantic please:gclap:

 

[mrrice]

Awesome! I also forgot to mention that Phoenix has a pretty strong shopping game, so if outdoor activities don't sound fun, there are plenty of great malls for visitors to hang out in

Phoenix would be great as well. They do have a nice arena and when I was in "Up With People" we filmed all of our commercials at the America West Arena. Phoenix also has great shopping as desertskates mentioned. They also had a cute little amusement park called Castles and Coasters. It was fun, inexpensive, not too crowded and you could easily experience the whole park in a few hours.

 

[cheerknithanson]

They announced it on my birthday last year -- June 27th!

I think it was June 15 when they announced the assignments for the 2015-2016 season. I remember case it was the last week of my summer class and it was a Monday and I had a very hard time concentrating LOL.

 

[Arriba627]

I think it was June 15 when they announced the assignments for the 2015-2016 season. I remember case it was the last week of my summer class and it was a Monday and I had a very hard time concentrating LOL.

You could be right. It's all running together now that I think of it. I can't remember if it was the venue or the assignments that were announced on my birthday. I doubt that I'll luck out for the 3rd year in a row. 2014 it was in the Chicago area (Hoffman Estates to be exact - about 20 mins. from my house), and 2015 we drove to Milwaukee. Two years in a row, Jason Brown and Gracie Gold have been the headliners (on all the TV ads, etc.). Got to see Shoma in Milwaukee last year and Tatsuki Machida in 2014.

 

[ice coverage]

On this topic, what I'm really wondering is when they're going to announce it. I think it was in June last year-will it be again?

If by "it," you mean the location of 2016 Skate America:

FWIW, on May 4 of last year, Milwaukee was announced as the 2015 location.

http://usfigureskating.org/Story?id=61950&type=news​

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Why can't Skate America ever be held in NYC?

Is it because New Yorkers are viewed as not interested in figure skating or something? ...

Yes! We can be doing it at Madison Square Garden. But I don't know why it doesn't happen. Maybe NYC is too expensive? ...

Just my two cents, but I have a feeling that Skate America will not come to one of the five boroughs until the Kingsbridge ice complex in the Bronx has opened.

​

ETA:

Eeek :sad4:, just read that Kingsbridge has hit a stumbling block. http://nypost.com/2016/04/04/former-rangers-ice-arena-construction-stalled-by-de-blasio/ (Apr 4)​

I don't know for sure, but my guess is that New Yorkers have not put together a bid for Skate America in the past.
For a comp at MSG, costs for both organizers and spectators presumably would be very high.
And I suspect that NYC residents as a collective whole are not super-interested in skating.
In Manhattan, Skate America would be a not-so-big fish competing for attention in an ocean crowded with a gazillion other types of entertainment/cultural/sporting events and attractions.

 

[skylark]

Skylark, Have you ever heard of, or been to Pawhuska, OK? It's not too far from Tulsa and I have a friend who used to live there. I guess it's where "The Pioneer Woman" from the Food Network lives. How's that for a random fact. He always talks about her.

Heard of it, yes, all my life. Pawhuska is famous for being the federally recognized capital of the Osage Nation. The Osage Nation is famous for having been removed from their lands by white settlement after the Oklahoma Land Runs of 1889 and 1893. The Osage people had a famous last laugh when some roughnecks struck oil on their new property. Some of the tribe moved to Tulsa and built a number of the oil-baron mansions that make up a beautiful part of the city.

Have I been there? Never. Oddly, since I lived in Tulsa for years, but there you go. I had things to do! A couple of friends have told me about the Pioneer Woman, but I have yet to bond with the food network. Someday I'll check her program out. Or maybe her blog.

 

[Watermelondrea]

I think New York City would be great. It's time that USFSA use this momentum from Boston to get Figure Skating to where it formally was. They should rent out Madison Square Garden since Ice Hockey is played there, do WHATEVER it takes to get the arena full (even if it is means giving out tickets for free at the last second), and drive up the popularity of this sport. Events on the GP aren't that long either, so if people have to leave after an hour, that'll be okay. Not to mention, New York City has an incredible amount of people.

 

[mrrice]

I think New York City would be great. It's time that USFSA use this momentum from Boston to get Figure Skating to where it formally was. They should rent out Madison Square Garden since Ice Hockey is played there, do WHATEVER it takes to get the arena full (even if it is means giving out tickets for free at the last second), and drive up the popularity of this sport. Events on the GP aren't that long either, so if people have to leave after an hour, that'll be okay. Not to mention, New York City has an incredible amount of people.

This is not a good idea. The WTA or Women's Tennis Association tried this for the year end championships in 1990 hoping to get a Steffi Graf and Monica Seles Final. Unfortunately, Gabriella Sabatini spoiled the Party by beating Steffi in the Semi-Final and the event lost a TON of money and never went back to the Garden. I think the new York audience would not be into watching anything other than Worlds. I don't think Skate America is a big enough draw and the price of a suitable venue is not within the budget.

Have a look at Louisville Kentucky on a map. It is surrounded by Big Cities in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and others.

 

[Heleng]

The nation's capitol! The Verizon Center is right on the metro and DC obviously has lots of great tourist attractions. But the Caps season would already have started in Oct, so it might be difficult scheduling around home games.hwell:

 

[Barb]

South please!!!!!, Texas or California.

 

[Mrs. P]

Have a look at Louisville Kentucky on a map. It is surrounded by Big Cities in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and others.

If it was there, I'd so be there! I can stay at my parents house, LOL. Actually, I never realize Louisville had a big skating community, but they send a lot of folks at the lower level to nationals, quite interesting.

Actually, to toot the horn of my former town--Lousiville is a really nice city. Downtown has really improved in the last decade and there's decent restaurants and bars in the area.

The YUM Center is pretty new: http://www.kfcyumcenter.com/ They were a host city for the NCAA Tournment this year.

And mrrice, you are right: Lousiville is within driving distance to a number of cities: 7 horus from ATlanta, 6 hours from St. Louis, 5 hours from Chicago, 3 hours from Nasvhille, 2 hours from Cincinnati, and so on.

The flights to Louisville, unless you live in a hub like Chicago, kind are terrible though.

 

[Victura]

NYC itself may not be the best option, but there are some options in the immediate area that would be less costly. The American Cup for gymnastics (which has traditionally been held at Madison Square Garden) was held at the Prudential Center in Newark this year. There's also arenas in East Rutherford, NJ and on Long Island in NY that Stars on Ice has performed in. All of those could be good options. There are plenty of skaters in the area, but I suspect most live in the suburbs anyway, so having an event in the suburbs of the NY metropolitan area might be nice. Any out of town visitors could still go to NYC to visit.

 

[GF2445]

Yeah. I cant think of any new ideal locations.

 

[Lipea]

Weren't there a skaters place in Connecticut where TAT used to coach Sasha Cohen, Alexei Yagudin, etc.? Simsbury or something like that? (Of course, I would rather prefer New Haven - Yale has a nice rink with lots of hockey funs, although I am not sure about figure skating fans) Basically anywhere in New England would be nice, and autumn is quite beautiful there.
New York City would be great too! :hap85: Or Atlanta (I could go to either of them, :cool2: ) But it does not have to be a big city, right?

 

[Lipea]

Hartford, so it's very near me.

YES PLEASE! :agree:

 

[CoyoteChris]

Spokane is in the boonies. Or at least it felt like the boonies. I'm sure it's cheap because there's not much to do there and I'd worry about the international skaters dealing with flights. Nationals are a different story as the flights are domestic and there's no need to worry about getting to Spokane from inside the US.

Man, you know NOTHING about Spokane. The events just keep pouring in. The convention center where the second rink was in 2007 now has a huge hotel next to it to handle the crowds for all the sporting events (basket ball and volley ball tournements to name a few) and they are thinking of adding on more facilities next to the main arena. Watch some vids of the 2002 SkateAmerica there and tell me it didnt fly. I bet I see lots of Japanese ladies in Spokane at TCC. Its a one hour shuttle flight ride from Seattle.

 

[CoyoteChris]

I said it before and I will say it again. My aquaintences Yasa N. and Yuri C. introduced me to a judge at Omaha who they were talking with and he said the USFS would love it if the new T-Mobile arena in Vegas would put in for an event like SkateAmerica.
The judge said the stigma of holding a conservative event in Vegas is long gone and people could make it a dual vacation, bring their spouces, and be in a nice sunny warm town with pleanty to do and see, and the ticket sales would go up. I told them it was a wonderful idea and every fan I have talked with thinks it is a good idea too. I would love to do Nats, and 4 CCs there also....and I dont even gamble....