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Where do we go from here?
It
is possible that professional figure skating, and figure skating in
general, may never regain the heights it achieved during the boom of
the last decade. The particular combination of circumstances that led
to that peak would be difficult to achieve again. In particular, the
ratings for the 2006 Winter Olympics were lower than anticipated, down
from both the 1998 and 2002 Olympics, though figure skating ratings
are still the highest of all the sports. The public's attention for
traditionally popular media seems to be on the wane (with the
exception of American Idol), with relatively low ratings for
traditionally huge events like the Academy Awards, lowered ticket
sales for live events, and low box office receipts. Overall sports
ratings are down, especially among women, who overwhelmingly form the
core audience for figure skating. In a 2004 study that tracked TV
viewership from 1998 through 2003, it was found that among women, the
number of hours spent watching sports was down 17%, average broadcast
ratings dropped 18%, and average basic cable ratings were down 44%. In
the same five year span, total sports viewership numbers for men were
down 6%, average broadcast ratings were down 9%, and average cable
ratings were down 36%. Ultimately, all this may actually be the
primary underlying reason for skating's lowered popularity and its
inability to regain the public's attention.
Steve Disson cited an overall decline in the audience for
network TV in general. "Less people are watching television. They're
doing things, whether it's video games, Internet games, doing things
online, and that's probably just an alternative to watching network
television. So, you're dealing with a smaller universe of people who
watch network TV which just makes it all the more challenging."
Byron Allen added, "It's a function of live entertainment
also. Live entertainment is way off from 10 years ago. I mean that's
just the way it is. People have so many more options of things to
do. I think people have stayed at home more after Sept. 11. You don't
see the same live attendance on many things as you did 10 years
ago. If you're not U2 or the Rolling Stones anyway."
Ironically, however, it may be this decline that
ultimately helps pro skating regain its feet. The decline in TV
ratings and attendance figures have not just hit pro skating, they
have also hit eligible skating hard. As a result, the sources of
money in the eligible side of the sport may be drying up soon. The
USFSA's eight-year, $100 million dollar contract with ABC that allows
it to offer large prize purses and large bonuses expires after the
2006-07 season, and is currently up for renegotiation. The ISU's
estimated $22 million dollar a year contract with ABC, a contract that
ABC lost money on, already expired in 2004. ESPN, rumored to be the
only bidder, ended up with a much-reduced $5 million dollar a year,
four-year contract with the ISU, a contract that they were said to be
regretting last season due to unexpectedly low ratings.
Correspondingly, the prize purses for the Grand Prix Series events for
the last two seasons dropped 25% for the individual Grand Prix events,
and almost 50% for the final. If the USFSA's negotiations with ABC
fall through, or if they end up with a reduced contract, a lot of the
money currently available to US eligible skaters may
disappear.
As
a Russian, Anton Sikharulidze was not a USFSA skater. However, his
remarks on why he and Elena Berezhnaya chose to turn pro may exemplify
how skaters' views towards turning pro may change if the money dries
up in eligible skating. In addition to having accomplished everything
they wanted to achieve in amateur competition, and feeling the need
for a change, Anton explained, "there's no money in amateur sport. And
again, we're not really young already and we have to make some money
for our families. You never know if there's going to be money in
amateur sport, maybe everybody going to skate in amateur sport because
it's interesting too, but maybe with no money, nobody going to skate
there." To clarify his remarks, pairs and dance teams currently have
to split their prize purses, and subsequently receive less money per
skater than singles skaters.
If
an increased number of skaters devote themselves to the professional
world, promoters and networks may have incentive to create more
events, and therefore more opportunities, thus breaking the current
cycle. Brian Boitano hopes that this may be true, though he believes
the skaters need to work together to make it happen. "I hope that the
Olympics will create a little bit more interest right after the
Olympics, and then that will create more options and events for
skaters who want to band together and participate in professional
skating."
Given the overall dismal state of figure skating, both pro
and eligible, it may be in the interest of both sides of the sport to
work together, rather than against each other, to promote the sport
and increase public interest. According to Steve Disson, the USFSA,
under relatively new president Ron Hershberger and executive director
David Raith, seem to realize this, and have begun to relax some of the
restrictions they previously imposed, though some of these changes may
have been externally motivated. Disson believes the rules are
changing "because there's some potential anti-trust violations, and I
think the skaters woke up. It'd be different if our shows were
competitions, but they're not, they're exhibitions, so we try to work
with them. The new regime, which I really like, of Ron Hershberger
and David Raith...I think we're going to try to find ways to work with
each other so we're not going head to head with each other." This
should increase the number of skaters featured in Disson's series of
shows next season. "Hopefully, that'll open up now, the new rules, so
you'll see more of the eligibles as well as professionals. It won't
be just an all-pro thing and it won't be all non-eligible skaters plus
foreign eligible ones, so, we hope that there will be a good
mix."
The
organizers and skaters have not given up on their hopes of reviving
interest in figure skating. This season, a number of attempts were
made to capitalize on the success of reality TV to generate interest
in the sport. The USFSA turned the fall
Marshall's US Figure Skating Challenge competition into a live
event where the TV and arena audience could vote on their favorite
skaters. TLC had a series, Ice Diaries in which it followed
four young US figure skaters on and off the ice in the months leading
up to Nationals. The Fox network, attempting to duplicate the success
of ABC's Dancing with the Stars, had Skating with
Celebrities, which paired professional figure skaters, including
Kurt Browning, with "celebrities" in an elimination-format
competition, and featured Scott Hamilton as one of the hosts and
Dorothy Hamill as one of the judges. The WE cable network will soon
air Skating's Next Star, another elimination-style reality
series featuring twelve skating hopefuls which is hosted by Kristi
Yamaguchi and judged by Rudy Galindo, Oksana Grishuk, and Elvis
Stojko. The Marshall's event failed to garner good ratings for
ABC in its timeslot, but Skating with Celebrities, benefiting
from an American Idol lead-in for its premiere and finale,
actually captured a fair share of the viewing audience.
Keeping in mind that these interviews were held before
most of these shows aired, opinions on whether this type of tactic
would work in the long run to bring public interest back to skating
varied. Kurt Browning, who participated in Skating with
Celebrities believes that it is a potentially viable tactic "if it
is done with integrity." Byron Allen was more uncertain when asked
the same question, laughing "I have no idea. I'm totally not qualified
to answer that, but sure, why not. I'm personally not into reality
shows, but it's great if the general public is. Scott Hamilton felt
that this was a great opportunity for skating, and he wanted to be
involved with the Skating with Celebrities. So he got himself involved
and I think that's great. I've not seen anything of it, you know,
advance previews or anything, but I've got to believe that if Scott
was involved it's going to be a pretty high quality product." On the
other hand, Brian Boitano didn't think it would hurt, but couldn't see
how it would help, either. "I just don't...I don't think so. There's
just so many reality things on TV, really, I mean how much are people
going to watch that? It's hard, because there's so much oversaturation
out there. I can't imagine that it would get such high profile stuff
that it would create a new resurgence. It can't hurt, but... the
people in those projects aren't people who...you can't go see them in
the tour. It's like, ok, so now I've seen them, so...now
what?"
As
it stands, the most immediate source of hope is a potential resurgence
of interest in skating and an injection of new pro blood following the
Torino Olympics. Some were more optimistic than others that this
would happen.
"I
think there are going to be a whole lot more people coming out after
this Olympics. There will be a lot more different skaters than maybe
came out the past couple Olympics, I think," Byron Allen said
optimistically. "The future of Stars on Ice is bright! I mean, we're
going to have a whole new crop of people coming up, this February,
this March and we'll try to get as many as we can into Stars on
Ice!"
In
a sentiment echoed by Brian Boitano, Fred Boucherle cautioned that
"like [all] successful things in today's world, it's almost like all
the stars have to line up. There's no silver bullet, there's no
guarantee, and so, if all these things line up, absolutely. It'll
happen, and it's possible. But, we can't predict that."
In
the meantime, until a resurgence of interest occurs, skating producers
are doing what they can to keep their events viable.
According to Cristi Carras, the organizers of Ice Wars try
to target markets that have not already had a figure skating
exhibition or tour that season, and have striven to keep ticket prices
low. "We have not raised Ice Wars ticket prices in many years - and
hope to be able to keep it that way." Both she and Fred Boucherle
believe that "CBS sees value in it as a franchise - it has aired
consistently for 12 years now, and from my perspective, it is a very
well-produced show - live and on television. It always looks good. The
skaters take it very seriously and bring their best, original,
competitive programs. You will always see programs on Ice Wars that
you have not seen yet that season." As a result, Boucherle says that
"as long as people will tune in and watch it, I think that CBS will
want to keep it."
Byron Allen believes that IMG and Stars on Ice are doing
what they can to make their shows more accessible to the general
public. "We've lowered our prices, we've really tried to be inclusive
in terms of marketing our shows. Which I think everyone has and
everyone's had to. Skating for a time was really the thing to do, it
was an exclusive kind of thing. You had to have a ticket to go see
Scott or Kristi or Kurt, or whoever it was. And now we've really tried
to be more inclusive by offering more discounts and lowering prices
and just trying to get people to come to skating, and if they sample
it, they might like it and come back."
Steve Disson is confident enough in the figure skating
market, and his own dominance in it, that, in partnership with
Comcast-Spectacor, he is expanding his series of NBC two-hour specials
from eight to ten next season. He is not relying on a potential
influx of professional skaters from the 2006 Olympics to make his
specials successful, either. While such an influx would be welcome,
Disson is banking partly on the USFSA's loosened rules on skater
participation in his events, but mostly on his ability to bring in
other elements to increase interest in his specials. Although many
fans have complained about the prominence of live entertainers on his
specials, and the TV time they take, Disson explained "it's the
entertainers that often bring in the audience as much as the skaters
do. And also, it helps to build the TV audience, and also gets the
skaters interested in doing the shows. It's a big attraction for the
skaters, a big attraction for the buildings that book these shows -
without their support there wouldn't be shows. A big thing for the
sponsors, so...I think the sponsors like it because it's skating, but
also like it because there's a live performance element." In order to
get these entertainers, however, they must get face time in the TV
broadcast. "That's part of the reason you get them. They're looking
for that TV exposure."
Ultimately, Byron Allen says, "We still very much believe
in the sport. It's still the number one sport among women by far, and
it's still right up there just below football, NASCAR, and golf, and
maybe baseball as well, but in terms of the ratings, it's still very
high up there. You know, we've not lost faith in it. It's
cyclical. And we had a great cycle, we've had a downturn...you know,
we're going to get a good cycle again soon."
Professional figure skating has had its ups and downs over
the years, but it still has a great deal to offer. Kurt Browning
summed it up best: "When you watch a competitive situation, be it the
Superbowl or Olympics, it could be a bust. Competition can be soooo
exciting, or a group of bad nights in one event. A show like Stars On
Ice cannot really bring that kind of do or die situation of course,
but a group of dedicated skaters with talented choreographers and
support staff can bring you to your feet and entertain you night after
night. Both are great situations. The pro world offers a place for
skaters to use what they have learned, do what they love longer and be
a part of a team. I learned as much after my competitive years as I
did before I turned pro."
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Kurt Browning
Four-time World Champion Kurt Browning was the first skater to land a
quadruple jump in competition, in 1988, and was also a four-time
Canadian Champion, three-time Olympian, and three-time World
Professional Champion. The favorite going into the 1992 and 1994
Olympics, Kurt Browning is widely considered to be one of the best
skaters never to win an Olympic medal, and is generally considered to
be one of the foremost examples of a skater who took full advantage of
his professional career to improve and expand as a skater. He is also
the rare example of a non-American, non-Olympic medalist who managed
to become a popular, well-known first tier professional skater in the
US. Browning was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1994,
Canada's Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2000, and will be inducted
into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame at Worlds this month.
Although Browning freely admits to not being a business type, he has
been involved as a creative partner on five Kurt Browning's Gotta
Skate specials with Disson Skating, as well as five previous
television specials in Canada.
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