When it’s time to move forward- Pro skating | Page 2 | Golden Skate

When it’s time to move forward- Pro skating

supersloane

Rinkside
Joined
May 1, 2017
I would be curious to see if American audiences would travel to a single location to see a bigger, better produced show (like Art on Ice, Averbukh's shows, Friends/Christmas on Ice in Japan) in the same way that audiences do in Europe, Russia and Asia.
 

noskates

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
That’s great and all but I personally take Johnny’s opinion with a grain of salt. 😏

Whether you like him or not he IS very knowledgeable about the sport.:agree: And he is quite a showman.

I don't know this for a fact, but I think the reason the ticket prices are so high is the venue prices are ridiculous. Whether it's rental of the venue or the vendors, it's reached a point where it's almost impossible to take a family of 4 (for example) to a show.

Last week in San Jose I bought a small cup or really awful coffee and it cost me $4.50. That's just a small example. So you can't blame figure skating for the high prices. I do know that moving expenses from venue to venue are pretty high. I believe Scott addressed that at one time. Not sure the skaters make a fortune doing those shows.
 

NoStefaniaNo

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 24, 2016
I would be curious to see if American audiences would travel to a single location to see a bigger, better produced show (like Art on Ice, Averbukh's shows, Friends/Christmas on Ice in Japan) in the same way that audiences do in Europe, Russia and Asia.

I think something like this could do well if it had a residency in a tourist destination like Vegas. I don't see Americans traveling to a one-off show. It can be harder and more expensive to travel across the US than it is to travel across countries in Europe. If only we had a proper rail system!
 

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 9, 2017
Country
Olympics
Whether you like him or not he IS very knowledgeable about the sport.:agree: And he is quite a showman.

I don't know this for a fact, but I think the reason the ticket prices are so high is the venue prices are ridiculous. Whether it's rental of the venue or the vendors, it's reached a point where it's almost impossible to take a family of 4 (for example) to a show.

Last week in San Jose I bought a small cup or really awful coffee and it cost me $4.50. That's just a small example. So you can't blame figure skating for the high prices. I do know that moving expenses from venue to venue are pretty high. I believe Scott addressed that at one time. Not sure the skaters make a fortune doing those shows.

Well, if he could present his knowledge without being rude and mean, then fine. But he has yet to prove that. YMMV.
 

VegMom

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 25, 2017
I think thin crowds is a big problem. When people see video of competition and there’s no crowd they think “why should I go, no one else goes”. I feel like they should have seat fillers at any major event. It should never appear that figure skating is unpopular.
 

musicfan80

Medalist
Joined
May 20, 2015
I think it is. Also because those ticket prices are way, way too high... they need to adjust that soon unless a new mega star who can sell a hundred 20.000 yen tickets in five minutes enters the pro ranks. But I think top skaters in Japan earn more money doing TV, which helps.

I attended every Champions on Ice (U.S.) tour that was close to me from 2003-2007. IMHO, ticket prices are what killed that tour. The last year, I spent almost $100 for decent seats - and that was one ticket. I can’t imagine too many families being able to afford to go.
 

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 9, 2017
Country
Olympics
I would be curious to see if American audiences would travel to a single location to see a bigger, better produced show (like Art on Ice, Averbukh's shows, Friends/Christmas on Ice in Japan) in the same way that audiences do in Europe, Russia and Asia.

I'm going to say no. Every time SOI releases their tour dates there's a ton of people complaining that they don't come to their town or "close enough" for them.

So a central show probably wouldn't do to well here in the States.
 

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
I think it's all about marketing.

I could see a standing show like Art on Ice doing in a place like Vegas, where people are accustomed to attending shows. I think it would be even better if it's quirky and interesting. There's that new Cirque ice show out right? I can't remember the name of it.

You know who I'd love to see organize an ice show? Nicole Bobek. She's gotten into the circus circuit and gotten to do a lot of interesting cool things through that work. I think her experience would be valuable for a new show that would be of interest in the U.S.
 
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Weathergal

Medalist
Joined
May 25, 2014
I think it's all about marketing.

I could see a standing show like Art on Ice doing in a place like Vegas, where people are accustomed to attending shows. I think it would be even better if it's quirky and interesting. There's that new Cirque ice show out right? I can't remember the name of it.

You know who I'd love to see organize an ice show? Nicole Bobek. She's gotten into the circus circuit and gotten to do a lot of interesting cool things through that work. I think her experience would be valuable for a new show that would be of interest in the U.S.

I think the new Cirque du Soleil show is Crystal.
 

noskates

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
The new Cirque show on ice is called Crystal. And - it will be at SAP Center on 3/28.

I do think the price of tickets is outrageous but there also have been a diminishing number of SOI shows being offered from when it first started. It always comes to SAP Center on Mother's Day. I've gone a few times but my family rebelled. I agree that a centralized show like in Vegas or somewhere would probably not bring in enough people other than the ubers and people living close by. What I think needs to happen is they need stars! That IS the name of the show. Other than Meryl and Charlie and a few of the more popular amateurs who don't play all of the shows, it's the same ol' same ol' - and that's okay if you follow those skaters like Ryan Bradley, Ekaterina Gordeev, etc.

Don't know the answer but agree with Mrs.P that it needs better marketing.
 

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 9, 2017
Country
Olympics
They need to make SOI non-National based.

It always used to be international stars and now it's just US skaters. Great for some but not so much for others.
 

medoroa

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 30, 2017
They need to make SOI non-National based.

It always used to be international stars and now it's just US skaters. Great for some but not so much for others.

I wonder why this is? Are foreign skaters unwilling to do them or is it the organizers thinking Americans only want to see US skaters?

This probably wasn't reported in North American media, but I remember reading about Berezhnaya/Sikharulidze dropping SOI after a while because they felt like second fiddle to S/P and weren't being treated all that well by the show.
 

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 9, 2017
Country
Olympics
I wonder why this is? Are foreign skaters unwilling to do them or is it the organizers thinking Americans only want to see US skaters?

This probably wasn't reported in North American media, but I remember reading about Berezhnaya/Sikharulidze dropping SOI after a while because they felt like second fiddle to S/P and weren't being treated all that well by the show.

The American organizers thinking US fans only want to see American skaters, which is ridiculous IMHO, I know many that would love to see D/R, Uno, C/L, V/M, J/C, Waka, etc.
Every other tour except Canadian gets outside skaters (though Can tour did have Javi a year or so ago). Japan gets variety, China now and then the random country they do every year now, one year Brazil and another Poland.

It’s frustrating.
 

NoStefaniaNo

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 24, 2016
The American organizers thinking US fans only want to see American skaters, which is ridiculous IMHO, I know many that would love to see D/R, Uno, C/L, V/M, J/C, Waka, etc.
Every other tour except Canadian gets outside skaters (though Can tour did have Javi a year or so ago). Japan gets variety, China now and then the random country they do every year now, one year Brazil and another Poland.

It’s frustrating.

I don't know why the tour organizers have it in their heads that people who are fans of this sport are not fans of athletes from other countries. It seems especially ridiculous with figure skating, but they do it with gymnastics too.
 

sheetz

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 10, 2015
I assume the big international stars would cost a lot more than most US "stars" so that's a major consideration.

The complete US SOI cast should be announced soon, and I presume the full Olympic team will be added. Any chance that Ross might be included as well?
 

mrrice

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 9, 2014
I don't know why the tour organizers have it in their heads that people who are fans of this sport are not fans of athletes from other countries. It seems especially ridiculous with figure skating, but they do it with gymnastics too.

Exactly!! Back in the day, Katarina Witt was THE Star of the show when they came to town. In later years, Plushy was very popular and so were Elena Berezhnaya & Anton Sikharulidze. With skating being so popular in Japan and Canada, I would invite their skaters to any event or show I was involved in.
 

Tigerlily87

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 12, 2018
I wonder why this is? Are foreign skaters unwilling to do them or is it the organizers thinking Americans only want to see US skaters?

This probably wasn't reported in North American media, but I remember reading about Berezhnaya/Sikharulidze dropping SOI after a while because they felt like second fiddle to S/P and weren't being treated all that well by the show.

I remember going to see stars on ice the first year that them and Sale and Peltier were on the tour together. And almost felt like there was an animosity towards B&S by some fans.
 

Eeyora

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 4, 2003
I don't know why the tour organizers have it in their heads that people who are fans of this sport are not fans of athletes from other countries. It seems especially ridiculous with figure skating, but they do it with gymnastics too.

I feel like I’ve missed out on seeing a whole generation of skaters live. Yu-Na, Stephane Lambiel, Jeffrey Buttle, Carolina, D. Takahashi, Virtue and Moir, Yulia, Adelina.
 
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