‘26-27 Site Rumors Nationals & Skate America

[DORISPULASKI]

Wasn't SCOB's capacity 2000 or less? They may want to keep it smaller for the post-Olympic year

Though, IMO, SCOB was too small and it would be way too small now given renewed interest with Alysa, Ilia, etc plus 2022 was still post-C0vid with masks, etc.

The Facility – The Skating Club of Boston

2,500 in the main rink, and there are two additional rinks on site

 

[Aimless]

Do you live in the area?

Southern Vermont. Easy scenic drive, LP a familiar lovely small town, reasonable accommodations, pleasant walk back and forth to arena. Going to competitions gets so expensive and not all that satisfying for the price. For me, in-person attendance is overrated. After attending SA in November, I immediately rewatched all the long programs on Peacock and they looked/I could see SO much better: good close camera angles, music and scoring data, replay, commentary. There are still reasons to attend in person: to hang with other fans, watch practice, see skaters perform the impossible, and applaud until my hands hurt. But if it’s not cheap and easy (LP) I’m staying home.

 

[Capt. DeSoto]

Is USFS for certain re-introducing championships for the lower levels? Just Novice, or also Intermediate?

As much as I disliked the split-venue experience, Norwood and Boston Garden would work well given the increased load. With the generally lower attendance of the short programs and with how nice the main SCoB arena is, they could hold everything but the final day at Norwood then do a full day event at The Garden. All four disciplines for one huge all-in-one championship day of skating. That could certainly keep costs down for USFS. One question is whether NBC would be amenable to this. Maybe live Peacock for the fans, and primetime chop ups for the casual masses.

The same sort of arrangement could also happen in the Philly area between IronWorks IceWorks and an arena in the city. IceWorks has 4 rinks I think, but doesn't have that nice and pretty main beauty rink that SCoB has.

 

[Debbie S]

Is USFS for certain re-introducing championships for the lower levels? Just Novice, or also Intermediate?

Yes, Juv through Novice, like they used to.

The same sort of arrangement could also happen in the Philly area between IronWorks and an arena in the city. Ironworks has 4 rinks I think, but doesn't have that nice and pretty main beauty rink that SCoB has.

Um, you mean IceWorks in Aston?

 

[just tuned in]

Yes, Juv through Novice, like they used to.

Um, you mean IceWorks in Aston?

IceWorks has four surfaces, so it is great for practice ice. The main surface has just metal bench seating, which is not so good, even for lower-level competitions. Downtown Philly has several arena possibilities, though, including the U of Penn rink.

 

[Capt. DeSoto]

IceWorks has four surfaces, so it is great for practice ice. The main surface has just metal bench seating, which is not so good, even for lower-level competitions. Downtown Philly has several arena possibilities, though, including the U of Penn rink.

Yes, I meant IceWorks, sorry. I keep messing up and saying IronWorks because of a gym I went to ages ago, lol.

Another similar solution in the mid Atlantic region would be The Gardens Ice Haus in Laurel, MD mixed with an arena in DC (or Baltimore).

Same sort of meh seating as Aston.

 

[Rob]

Milwaukee would be a great location - MKE is a pretty good domestic airport and ORD is major international airport that is only 1 hour away. Lots of hotels. Plus they've had good attendance with events in the Midwest lately.

I love Milwaukee, what a fun city.

 

[Debbie S]

Another similar solution in the mid Atlantic region would be The Gardens Ice Haus in Laurel, MD mixed with an arena in DC (or Baltimore).

House. In English anyway.

The Gardens hosted South Atlantic Regionals in 2003 and nothing (Regionals, Sectionals) since. Either the rink/club doesn't want a large event or USFS didn't think the facility met its needs.

And yes, metal bleacher seating like in Aston.

 

[acraven]

I've heard the Laurel rink is unusually cold--and that's compared to other training rinks, rather than major arenas. It's difficult to tolerate training-rink conditions day after day after day; two days for lower-level events at Nationals is challenging enough. The secondary venue in St. Louis was extremely inconveniently located (and it's use was not disclosed until after all-event tickets went on sale), but the seats had backs, and there was decent food available if you had time to wait for it.

Another problem with most training rinks is lack of decent public-transportation access, often coupled with a dearth of nearby hotels. The Nationals schedule is brutal; adding commuting time each day makes attending less attractive for many of us. And then there's the cost; Centene was a $35 to $65 (plus tip) one-way ride from downtown St. Louis.

 

[SkateSand]

All sound like good locations and several I've attended in the past, but I have to root for Eugene - I could go to that one!

 

[Jammers]

Eugene cannot be an option. The only ice arena there is at the fairgrounds (for their very minor league hockey team) and it's capacity is only 2700. Matthew Knight Arena at UO doesn't have ice-making capabilities.

Mind, I'd 100% go if it's in Eugene, but I have a difficult time believing Eugene is a realistic option, lol.

I'd love to go to Eugene mainly to rub it in how the Ducks got destroyed by the Hoosiers.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

My sources told me it’s going to be at the pink pony club, West Hollywood.

 

[TanithandBenFan]

Since we're going to SLC for Nats can we get Milwaukee for SA please and thank you.

 

[MacMadame]

I'm just relieved there were large crowds here in St Louis. While it's a big sports supporting community, figure skating isn't that popular. If it wasn't an Olympic year, I'm not sure the attendance would have been so high. It seemed like a big mix of die hards and curious locals both came out, especially these last two nights of competition.

I think the key to a good crowd at these things is to advertise locally like mad. There are only so many people who are willing to travel for skating. But the number of locals who might decide to check it out is unlimited.

Since I've heard 4 different possibilities I didn't think it was relevant, but the cities I've heard mentioned are: Henderson (Las Vegas), NV; Everett, WA; Eugene, OR; and Milwaukee, WI.

ETA: Don't blame me if it turns out to be Peoria!

Or Lake Placid??

 

[Capt. DeSoto]

Historically, how soon after nationals do they announce the site of the next year's competition? I thought in the past I remember hearing after the final wrap up something to the effect of "Join us next year in SomeCity!", but maybe I'm mixing that up with a different sport. I only watched very casually in the past, it's only in the last 18 months or so that I've really started diving deeper.

 

[Capt. DeSoto]

Since I've heard 4 different possibilities I didn't think it was relevant, but the cities I've heard mentioned are: Henderson (Las Vegas), NV; Everett, WA; Eugene, OR; and Milwaukee, WI.

It's possible that all four of those cities are the sites over the next quad and the rumors were generated by boots on the ground. I just read the RFP for 2027-2030, and it sounds like they were selecting cities for the entire quad all at once and required representatives to attend this year's event. In the timeline of the RFP, it stated that "January 2025[sic]: Selected hosts attend the 2026 U.S. Figure Skating Championships."

 

[acraven]

It varies quite a bit. If you go back to the 1980s, all-event tickets sometimes went on sale more than 2 years ahead of time; USFSA was sometimes holding three years' worth of ticket money from me for pending events. Fortunately, tickets weren't nearly as expensive then, even taking subsequent inflation into account.

More recently we have often known the location before the previous year's Nationals, with tickets for sale before Nationals week. There were two years when they, idiotically, put tickets on sale during the previous year's Nationals, so you had to choose between ordering the minute tickets dropped or seeing one of the lower-level events.

It's not an easy matter these days to get cities to bid on Nationals, and there are a lot of details to be worked out (blocking the main arena for many days, negotiating hotel rates, etc.), so sometimes the information isn't announced until after the previous year's Nationals are complete. I wouldn't be surprised if work on 2027 Nationals was slowed down by the extra effort involved in hosting 2025 Worlds.

 

[Debbie S]

It's possible that all four of those cities are the sites over the next quad and the rumors were generated by boots on the ground. I just read the RFP for 2027-2030, and it sounds like they were selecting cities for the entire quad all at once and required representatives to attend this year's event. In the timeline of the RFP, it stated that "January 2025[sic]: Selected hosts attend the 2026 U.S. Figure Skating Championships."

Those cities that peibeck mentioned are potential hosts for next year's SA, not Nats.

 

[Capt. DeSoto]

[...] I wouldn't be surprised if work on 2027 Nationals was slowed down by the extra effort involved in hosting 2025 Worlds.

Not to to mention Olympics prep. I wouldn't be surprised if they just put the announcement legwork for 2027 on the back burner. Or, it's a media blitz strategy to generate post-Olympics awareness for 2027. So, in the post-Olympics media, interviewed skaters and press will frequently bring up the breaking news of the 2027 championships.

 

[Capt. DeSoto]

Those cities that peibeck mentioned are potential hosts for next year's SA, not Nats.

Whoops, thanks. Sorry about that. I saw 4 cities and that sounded like a nice fit for 4 championships.

So, did anyone hear any distinct accents from people who looked out of place in the executive circles? lol.

 

[Flip Jump]

It varies quite a bit. If you go back to the 1980s, all-event tickets sometimes went on sale more than 2 years ahead of time; USFSA was sometimes holding three years' worth of ticket money from me for pending events. Fortunately, tickets weren't nearly as expensive then, even taking subsequent inflation into account.

This reminds me of a story my mom loves to tell. She bought her tickets for 1994 nationals sometime in 1991, when she had not met my dad. By the time 1994 nationals happened she had met my dad, married him, and I was 6 months old
Now we are lucky if we know nationals locations 9 months prior to the event.

 

[mattiecat13]

The announcement of the location of 2026 Nationals came during Boston Worlds last year. I can remember sitting in the lobby of our Boston hotel looking for hotels in St. Louis.

 

[Debbie S]

The announcement of the location of 2026 Nationals came during Boston Worlds last year. I can remember sitting in the lobby of our Boston hotel looking for hotels in St. Louis.

No, it was announced in January. I think it was maybe the week before Nats and the website (with discount hotel rates) went live during Nats. I remember sitting in my hotel room in Wichita booking the Drury.

 

[SidelineSkater]

No, it was announced in January. I think it was maybe the week before Nats and the website (with discount hotel rates) went live during Nats. I remember sitting in my hotel room in Wichita booking the Drury.

Yes it was January. Because we bought Nats tix when they went on sale, and then later bought Olympics tix in February and realized we couldn't be gone back to back months, as we need a caregiver to stay with my mother-in-law.

 

[ice coverage]

No, it was announced in January. I think it was maybe the week before Nats and the website (with discount hotel rates) went live during Nats. I remember sitting in my hotel room in Wichita booking the Drury.

St. Louis was announced in mid-Dec 2024 as the host for 2026 Nats.

Which was more than a year in advance, so the thing was that it was not possible to immediately (in Dec) make reservations at most hotels, AFAIK?
Event tickets went on sale approx. a week before 2025 Nats.
And as you say, many were interested in getting a look at whatever discounted hotel rates would become available.

 

[mattiecat13]

Should have known better than to rely on my memory!

 

[skipaway]

I asked Paul Wylie to work on getting back to Greensboro.

 

[genevieve]

Since I've heard 4 different possibilities I didn't think it was relevant, but the cities I've heard mentioned are: Henderson (Las Vegas), NV; Everett, WA; Eugene, OR; and Milwaukee, WI.

ETA: Don't blame me if it turns out to be Peoria!

Oh please bring SA back to Everett!!

 

[once_upon]

Omaha has two, possibly three. But it would be tremendous amount of work to clear a 7-10 days.

CHI which could hold 17,000 plus. Could have the practice arena held in the convention center. However.. Creighton men's basketball home court, SuperNova's home court, Nebraska High School State Wrestling Tournament.

Baxter Arena, has a practice ice in the same building, beautiful facility. Seats about 7,000-9,000. However it is the home hockey arena of the UNO Maverick hockey team

Liberty Arena smaller. Home court for Omaha Lancers Hockey team, Omaha Beef Indoor Football and Omaha Lov3 Volleyball Team

All have games or tournaments in Jan. Besides Nats have been in Wichita and St Louis.

But @Karen-W is right, for arenas especially large ones, are hard to schedule.

Of course when Nats was in Omaha, not great attendance, Worlds was in Canada, USFA didn't help much with advertising, Omaha didn't either. Not many direct flights, although more are being added