It has often been commented on here that for both disciplines of ice skating to thrive, the ISU needs to split into two separate bodies – one governing figure skating, and one governing speed skating.
But, last weekend, I heard a conversation that started me thinking about an alternative way of splitting the ISU.
During their lead-in to the Canadian Grand Prix last Sunday, Sky Sports F1 showed a feature in which Ted Kravitz was interviewing Bernie Ecclestone. Obviously, the bulk of the interview was about the direction Formula 1 was heading over the next few years. But, then Ted brought up the current crisis at football’s governing body, FIFA, and asked how it related to F1. And in his reply, Bernie made a very good point.
Bernie explained that all the problems in football arose because the commercial rights are held by the same people that make the rules. And he commented that he couldn’t understand why that was still the case, because the European Commission had forced motorsport to separate the commercial rights from the governing bodies in the 1990’s.
Below is a table showing how this separation works in selected high-profile Championships:
So, that started me thinking. Would a similar system work with skating? Transform the ISU into a body solely concerned with making the rules that govern skating, and have other organisations, independent from the ISU, managing the commercial rights.
And this system could be applied whether we had one governing body for all ice skating, or separate governing bodies for figure skating and for speed skating.
One good thing about this system is that it would remove the conflict of interest of having the same people making the rules and running the commercial side of the sport. As we have seen in football recently, having them in the same hands can potentially leave the door open to corruption. And given this current climate, closing a door that could potentially lead to corruption can only be a good thing for skating.
But, on the other hand, the governing body would have to be very careful that they chose the right people to run the commercial business. Because if they chose the wrong people, the sport could be run into the ground very quickly.
That is what happened when the AMA (American Motorcyclist Association) sold the rights to their Pro-Racing series in 2009 to the owners of the circuit where the most prestigious race of the season is held. In the five years that they owned the commercial rights, this group managed to transform the AMA Superbike Championship from being one of the top domestic championships in the world to being a complete shambles. By last season:
In the end, the AMA had to take back the commercial rights. They then sold them to a group of people that had a background in motorbike racing. It will take a few years to build the series back up to where it used to be, but as soon as the 2015 season started, you could see the difference. For a start, the number of rounds is up to 9, although the prestigious race I was talking about is now no longer part of the championship. And there is TV coverage again (the broadcaster may not be back to showing the races in full yet, but highlights are a start).
The others will take a while to build up. After all, sponsors, manufacturers, teams, riders etc. need to see what happens this season to gauge whether it will benefit them to get involved. But Honda are already showing signs that they may be interested in returning.
So, there are drawbacks to both systems.
We have been complaining for years about the way the ISU does things. That they concentrate too much on speed skating and neglect figure skating. Having separate bodies for rules and for commercial rights would allow both bodies to concentrate fully on their respective areas. And maybe if the ISU did not have the commercial stuff to worry about, then they might be able to give more attention to governing figure skating.
If we had somebody independent from the ISU doing the day-to-day running of the two sports, maybe they would do things better. On the other hand, maybe they wouldn’t.
And that is the problem: you just don’t know until after it has happened. So, maybe it’s a case of better the devil you know.
I’ll be honest, I haven’t a clue whether separating the commercial rights from the governing body would be a good idea for skating or not. If the ISU can get a group that know what they are doing, I would probably be in favour of it.
Conversely, I wonder if Eurosport Events would be interested in becoming the commercial rights holders for figure skating?
Although I have been talking about motorsports (because that is what I know most about!), Eurosport Events also promotes other types of sport. For example, they promote the Global Champions Tour in show jumping.
And, hey, if they owned the commercial rights to figure skating themselves, you would know that Eurosport would make sure we got brilliant coverage on the TV!
So, what do you think of this idea?
CaroLiza_fan
(P.S. Apologies to karne for taking ideas from something Bernie Ecclestone said. I know how you feel about him...! )
But, last weekend, I heard a conversation that started me thinking about an alternative way of splitting the ISU.
During their lead-in to the Canadian Grand Prix last Sunday, Sky Sports F1 showed a feature in which Ted Kravitz was interviewing Bernie Ecclestone. Obviously, the bulk of the interview was about the direction Formula 1 was heading over the next few years. But, then Ted brought up the current crisis at football’s governing body, FIFA, and asked how it related to F1. And in his reply, Bernie made a very good point.
Bernie explained that all the problems in football arose because the commercial rights are held by the same people that make the rules. And he commented that he couldn’t understand why that was still the case, because the European Commission had forced motorsport to separate the commercial rights from the governing bodies in the 1990’s.
Below is a table showing how this separation works in selected high-profile Championships:
Championship | Governing Body | Commercial Rights Holder |
Car Racing | ||
Formula 1 | FIA (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile) | FOM (Formula One Management) |
World Touring Car Championship | FIA | Eurosport Events |
World Endurance Championship | FIA | Automobile Club de l'Ouest |
World Rally Championship | FIA | North One Sports |
European Rally Championship | FIA | Eurosport Events |
British Touring Car Championship | MSA (Motor Sports Association) | ToCA |
Motorbike Racing | ||
MotoGP | FIM (Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme) | Dorna |
World Superbikes | FIM | Dorna |
Endurance World Championship | FIM | Eurosport Events |
Motocross World Championship | FIM | Youthstream |
CEV (Campeonato de España de Velocidad) | FIM / RFME (Real Federación Motociclista Española) | Dorna |
MotoAmerica | FIM / AMA (American Motorcyclist Association) | KRAVE Group |
British Superbikes | ACU (Auto-Cycle Union) | MSVR (Motor Sports Vision Racing) |
So, that started me thinking. Would a similar system work with skating? Transform the ISU into a body solely concerned with making the rules that govern skating, and have other organisations, independent from the ISU, managing the commercial rights.
And this system could be applied whether we had one governing body for all ice skating, or separate governing bodies for figure skating and for speed skating.
One good thing about this system is that it would remove the conflict of interest of having the same people making the rules and running the commercial side of the sport. As we have seen in football recently, having them in the same hands can potentially leave the door open to corruption. And given this current climate, closing a door that could potentially lead to corruption can only be a good thing for skating.
But, on the other hand, the governing body would have to be very careful that they chose the right people to run the commercial business. Because if they chose the wrong people, the sport could be run into the ground very quickly.
That is what happened when the AMA (American Motorcyclist Association) sold the rights to their Pro-Racing series in 2009 to the owners of the circuit where the most prestigious race of the season is held. In the five years that they owned the commercial rights, this group managed to transform the AMA Superbike Championship from being one of the top domestic championships in the world to being a complete shambles. By last season:
- all but 2 of the factory supported teams had pulled out
- the number of riders on the grids dwindled from over 30 to just 16
- the number of rounds went from 11 to 6
- low numbers of spectators turned up at the circuits
- sponsors pulled out
- TV coverage disappeared
In the end, the AMA had to take back the commercial rights. They then sold them to a group of people that had a background in motorbike racing. It will take a few years to build the series back up to where it used to be, but as soon as the 2015 season started, you could see the difference. For a start, the number of rounds is up to 9, although the prestigious race I was talking about is now no longer part of the championship. And there is TV coverage again (the broadcaster may not be back to showing the races in full yet, but highlights are a start).
The others will take a while to build up. After all, sponsors, manufacturers, teams, riders etc. need to see what happens this season to gauge whether it will benefit them to get involved. But Honda are already showing signs that they may be interested in returning.
So, there are drawbacks to both systems.
We have been complaining for years about the way the ISU does things. That they concentrate too much on speed skating and neglect figure skating. Having separate bodies for rules and for commercial rights would allow both bodies to concentrate fully on their respective areas. And maybe if the ISU did not have the commercial stuff to worry about, then they might be able to give more attention to governing figure skating.
If we had somebody independent from the ISU doing the day-to-day running of the two sports, maybe they would do things better. On the other hand, maybe they wouldn’t.
And that is the problem: you just don’t know until after it has happened. So, maybe it’s a case of better the devil you know.
I’ll be honest, I haven’t a clue whether separating the commercial rights from the governing body would be a good idea for skating or not. If the ISU can get a group that know what they are doing, I would probably be in favour of it.
Conversely, I wonder if Eurosport Events would be interested in becoming the commercial rights holders for figure skating?
Although I have been talking about motorsports (because that is what I know most about!), Eurosport Events also promotes other types of sport. For example, they promote the Global Champions Tour in show jumping.
And, hey, if they owned the commercial rights to figure skating themselves, you would know that Eurosport would make sure we got brilliant coverage on the TV!
So, what do you think of this idea?
CaroLiza_fan
(P.S. Apologies to karne for taking ideas from something Bernie Ecclestone said. I know how you feel about him...! )
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