ISU plans more GP events

[haribobo]

Adding more skaters to existing events puts the financial burden on the host federations, who may not be up to it. If the Finnish federation can afford to host a GP, why not? I don't see it as a big problem for lower-ranked skaters - it's not like there's a lack of senior Bs in Europe throughout the fall season. What would be good is the addition one or two senior B competitions in Asia and NA.

Agree, everything you said.

[berthesghost]

Glad to hear teb is picking up. I went in 02 and despite Sasha, the place was a ghost town. It seems every time I watch a video since, the camera pannes past a half empty arena. Glad to hear its not always that way, but that begs the question: if they are really doing well, why are they considering giving up every other year? Especially if they have to sell tickets half price to fill seats.

[Zemgirl]

How does Bercy compare to other venues in terms of capacity? It strikes me as one of the bigger venues used in skating. When I was there, it was pretty well-attended on Saturday and about half-full for the SPs on Friday. I guess bringing in those schoolkids helps.

It does tend to look fuller on one side, but that's because most of the audience is directed there. I know better connected people than me can get seats on the judges' side, but I've yet to manage it.

[Nekatiivi]

It would be great if Finlandia was turned to GP and additional GP event in South Korea was created. Skating has been blooming in these countries lately and it would be wise to support that.

[kwanfan1818]

IIRC, tickets are not sold on the judges' side of the arena at Bercy.

[Hanna]

Today, the Finnish Figure Skating federation announced that Finlandia Trophy will be moved from Valtti Areena, Vantaa, to Barona Areena, Tapiola (Espoo).

OMG how freaking fantastic for me. I live a 5-minute walk away! Home to eat during zamboni and such!

Sorry, Paris in November beats Espoo in November hands down! :-(

It's not like either is at its best in November really ........ but I agree that I hope it's not at the expense of TEB.

[C_T_T_]

OMG how freaking fantastic for me. I live a 5-minute walk away! Home to eat during zamboni and such!

FSU sleep over at Hanna's house!

[Ziggy]

I guess converting an already existing (and popular) "B" event into a GP would not add that much expense or perhaps even save some money (although it would limit the amount of skaters, so less could attend it as a GP than have been competing at Finlandia). I guess a lucrative TV contract for Korea would pay for the costs of adding an event there.

ISU sanctioned competition = skaters pay their own expenses
GP event = skaters' expenses are covered

Converting Finlandia Trophy into a GP would mean much more expenses although they could possibly be offset by tv rights.

[Hanna]

FSU sleep over at Hanna's house!

Yes, I welcome you all.

On a more serious note, I have to wonder what's going to happen to the event in the near future. I'm excited to have it closer but the new arena is much bigger than the old one (positive note, it's a REALLY warm arena , I go public skating there every week) and therefore it'll also look a lot emptier. The truth is that the attendance in Finland is very much dependent on whether we have any current big names and whether they're competing. It was very evident this year that with Kiira and Laura absent, the attendance was quite poor. The fans are there, yes, but the general public only comes if there's a name they know competing. Kiira and Laura are not going to be around much longer and to keep the sport hype up in Finland. We're going to need some new and upcoming names. Otherwise it's no use even dreaming of having decent attendance for a GP. Of course there shall be some international fans but I'm not sure how much you need them for the competition not to be completely unprofitable.

From what I understood, however, the city of Espoo is planning to sort of 'renew' the event and make it completely different in style for next fall, so I'm very much looking forward to seeing what it'll be like. Of course, Espoo has more than neighboring Vantaa , so on that note I hope the changes will be positive.

And I also wonder what's up with the ISU if they've been wanting to reduce costs and cut down participants for years... and now suddenly maybe adding GPs? Korea I can completely understand since without a doubt the arena will be full and the event profitable.

[Finnice]

FSU sleep over at Hanna's house!

And those who don´t have enough room there can share Older boy Finnices flat with me... It is 15 mins walk to Barona Arena.

Tapiola is only 15 mins bus drive from Helsinki, and when the underground is ready, even less. And I too like Barona Arena very much.

The mayor of Espoo was very happy indeed, he kept talking about Espoo city´s 3T tactics - Tiede (science) Taide (art) and Talous (economy). The fourth T, Taitoluistelu (figure skating) which combines art and sport is very welcome, there.

Egoistically, I would not like to sacrifice TEB either, and I don´t think the every-second-year-idea is good, it sucks. But let´s see what happens!

Tapiola in November is probably like Sheffield in January...Rain rain rain. Or sometimes very

[casken]

Will Germany get it's GP back? Does it even want it back?

[Coco]

Oh! I know, I know - a "roaming" GP event, Finland one year, Germany the next, then South Korea, then...anywhere!

[Casey2]

Actually, roaming GP events might not be a bad idea. It would allow events in venues that couldn't afford a yearly committment. Off Topic: I feel that it is unfortunate that the '4C skaters' have to travel so far (with associated 'jet lag') while the 'European skaters' have a much more compact area with less travel time.

[l'etoile]

Love the idea! On some level I might have to give ISU whole a lot of credit for their efforts lol
I so wish TEB would keep going on. It's one of biggest general-audience-attracting places that has one heck of a rink, like a fantasy with glimmering blue ice.

[misskarne]

Oh! I know, I know - a "roaming" GP event, Finland one year, Germany the next, then South Korea, then...anywhere!

*starts chanting*

Cup of Australia! Cup of Australia! Cup of Australia!

[Asli]

I think that the idea is to move the GP events out of places like Paris where it plays to near-empty arenas. From the looks of the recent Euro and ca-1995/96 Worlds, figure skating can pack the arenas in Finland than it is in France.

Another urban legend. In TEB the lower bowl of the arena is almost full for the free programs. Only for the short programs, one side of the arena is full while the other remains empty because tickets are not sold for that side.

The Bercy Arena is one of the biggest arenas in Europe. Its maximum capacity is 17000 and AFAIK the capacity opened for skating competitions is 11000. So even when there is a decent crowd for a GP event, such as three thousand, it still looks rather empty. When it does look full - such as during the free programs - that means that the size of the crowd exceeds that of most European Championships and even the Worlds in European countries.

[Nmsis]

About the TEB, Bercy will undergo a massive renovation in 2014-2015 (completed by September 2015).
http://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-fra...se-precise.php
http://www.info-stades.fr/Palais-Omn...ra-renove.html
The work should be interrupted for a few months during the 2014 winter because some events were already scheduled (the Bercy tennis Masters, the 2014 table tennis world championships and a few others) but I'm not sure the FFSG had already booked Bercy for 2014.
So it seems very possible that they envision a year off from the GP circuit.

There is a question mark for that period, especially as the lack of arenas in France is huge and will remain so at least until 2015. Montpellier would be a possibility though or in a smaller scale, Marseille.

[berthesghost]

^ why not Lyon?

[Nmsis]

^ why not Lyon?

I think the FFSG would try to minimize the temporary downscale of the TEB.
The Charlemagne rink has 4200 seats compared to Marseille's 5600, (Montpellier 's arena has between 9000 and 10 000).

Lyon doesn't have an arena and I don't see the FFSG trying to go the Nice road for the TEB (ie entirely converting an "inadapted" hall into an arena)
Villeurbanne (Lyon's siamese twin city) is planning to build one (or rather Tony Parker wants his city and original club to have one) but it won't be finished before 2015.

[berthesghost]

^ oh. Seems like just yesterday that lyon was hosting euros.