2025 ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Boston

Boston Worlds was truly the best live skating competition I have attended. The organizing committee did a great overall job in my book. How did they manage to nearly sell out so many of the events??? The place was packed to the rafters including the nosebleed sections all around the top. The energy and excitement was sky high. The audience entertainment was mostly fun. Thought I was going to hate the leaders chair. But it resulted in some very memorable moments like Kaori and Alysa hugs and tears together. And Ilia and Mikhail and their coaches all hugging and congratulating. Loved the Sheraton Hotel area and the Prudential Center mall and restaurants. The close proximity of the subway and the spectator shuttle from the hotel. Never had an issue getting my water bottle in and snacks. They were looking for metal.

The only things that really didn’t work was clearing the arena between events with 13,000 plus people. I missed Tsuboi’s free skate because of the long line and time it took to get back in and to our seats. Surely they could come around with scanners or something to check everyone’s tickets. Rather rude to the early skaters too with people filing in in big numbers. Please don’t do this ever again!

Also I did not love the WWE style rink side scripted MC narrations from Ashley and Ben. Like during Amber’s short program warm up Ashley said Amber was a favorite for the world title while she was on the ice. I immediately said NOOOO and wondered if that could mess with her head. Ben and Ashley were reading scripts off of a computer screen for these introductions. I was sitting near them. Next time let’s have no prognostications or projected odds, just give us the facts of the skater’s current skating record. I think the local organizing committee was trying to up the excitement factor but all the constant noise and talking…too much. I’d like to see a bit more class and less WWE! And if you keep with the celebrity MC’s, be careful what you have them say for the sake of the skaters and the competition.

Wondering what other’s think??
 
WWE puts on excellent live shows, but I agree, even watching it online I got very tired of what we could see of the attempts to stoke the competition. I got the feeling that someone backstage was probably :mad: when Kaori and Alysa were hugging each other, instead of making mean girl faces and glaring over top of the boards :lol:
 
mtnskater said:
Boston Worlds was truly the best live skating competition I have attended. The organizing committee did a great overall job in my ...

Wondering what other’s think??
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I agree with you that the Boston organizing committee did a fantastic job! Changes I enjoyed:
  • After all the complaints over the recent years of the American Kiss and Cry areas (for Nationals and Skate America), this stage with the led screens was a standout!!
  • Not wasting time introducing the judges and technical panel. It's better they appear more anonymous.
  • The music volume was lower than Nationals for the warm-ups. I liked the techno beat type "music" better than the constant repeat of old pop songs. I loved the Celtic intro at the beginning of each group of skaters. Romeo did a great job job!
  • The Gala theme of Skating Through the Seasons was excellent with the 5 young skaters introducing each season. The tributes to the skating tragedy by including the syncro teams, the young development skaters, Max and Illia was well done. Tears.
  • Auditioning the sweepers! Those kids could move out! Loved their costumes too.
  • The medal ceremonies were set up very fast!
  • Ticket sales started early (at least two years out) and you could actually talk to a live person! This was the first Worlds where I felt the average person could book their whole trip and get good seats without being part of a tour group. Kudos to Boston Skating Club!
Things that made me cringe.
The arena guy (don't remember his name) was much less obnoxious than Rusty, but do we really need him? I think he did help with Ashley and Ben's enthusiam level of announcing. But when it got to WWE level of shouted intros, that was too much. Keep it classy folks.

All of the just-off-the-ice interviews.

Major faux pas:
MC's saying things like "Your my favorite skater!" "This is my favorite program!" Can he score _____ to take the leader position. "Show your love Boston!" Give it up for ______________________!!! Interviewing the team in the leader chair just as the Georgians finished their skate.

The MC's leading the crowd (with flashlights no less) in We Are the Champions. I was embarrassed. This is a multi-national crowd, couldn't they find a more inclusive song? Or just skip it.

There is not much we can do with how any arena administration wants to run their arena set-up or crowd control. There will never be enough women's bathrooms! I agree emptying the arena was a huge inconvenience for many people and, hopefully, that can be explained and prepared for with future skating venues.

I had a wonderful time. The skating was fabulous! The Freedom Trail was fabulous! I loved the young (64 institutions of higher earning in the greater Boston area) and multi-ethnic make-up of this great city. The hugs, cheers, and tears will stay with me.
 
Lanie said:
I really didn't like the WWE-style announcing at all. It really bothered me. It took away from the seriousness that this is a sport, but maybe a lot of people liked it?!
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I agree. They were so loud. You could not chat with your neighbors. I get they want audience participation - but relax a little.

I had a wonderful time. Fantastic skating
Security was a joke - you could walk in and not be scanned, nor bag searched. I got water in every time.
Lack of time between afternoon and evening sessions need to be looked at. I have been to multiple worlds and this was to little time. I found the employees at the arena super nice - great hospitality.
And there were ushers this year!. I was there in 2016 and there were none. Nice to not have people streaming in mid performances. Then I was near the kiss n cry and there were a bunch of teenagers that came down my aisle and sat on the stairs during the last skaters - one or 2 on every step.
 
Lanie said:
I liked it and would love to know what version was used :rofl:
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I’m fairly sure it’s this one, kicking in when the banjo drops out.

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Boston 2016 & 2025 are the two best skating competitions I've ever been to. Not that I've gone to as many events as a lot of people here have ... But I've been to a few, including 2 other Worlds, 2 Four Continents, 6 U.S. Nationals, and various GP and CS events. Nothing else compares so far.
 
Agree with almost everything everyone has posted above but will add, the LOC did a great job in finding the choirs to perform the national anthem and for the memorial ceremony. I don't generally feel the need to hear our anthem many, many, many times before each event like this, but the quality of these a capella groups was outstanding.
 
I've enjoyed both Boston Worlds, but I think they really leveled up this year. I would happily buy tickets ASAP if they were to host again.

My primary complaints would be the lack of consistency at security because it creates confusion and clearing out the arena with such a tight timeline. They needed to pick one or the other -- clear out the arena but have more time between events, or come up with a system to let all-event ticket holders stay in the arena with a tight turnaround. I also think they needed more accessibility options available to get people out of the arena. There were a lot of people struggling with all the stairs to get to ground level.
 
After I read the Boston Globe article on worlds I understand why they did the WWE intros, etc. and it’s not necessarily a bad idea. They need a better script and professional announcers if you’re going to do that.

The same thing is true about the post skate interviews. Get people who know how to do interviews. I like Ben, he is a very nice guy. He’s not a professional interviewer and neither is Ashley. Some of those interviews were just cringe worthy.

The ISU is obviously trying to up the appeal of figure skating with these moves. But don’t worry here in the United States we will be sure to bring back the giant lotion bottles and stick to doing things the way we’ve always done them 😂
 
I generally find rinkside commentary that is for the audience to be cringe AF. Skate Canada tried this once (maybe 2012 SCI) and I remember Elizabeth Manley gamely trying her best but absolutely falling flat. They never did it again. I get what Boston was going for, but I would be surprised if it added more good than it did annoyance.

And I feel similarly about the interviews in the kiss and cry. Did anyone at any point say anything more interesting than “the crowd is amazing”, “I’m so happy I skated well” or “I’m sad I didn’t skate my best”? I’d be surprised if anyone was coherent enough to say much of anything, reflecting on their performance when they are catching their breath and have had 3 seconds to think about what just happened.

Those two things seemed like misses to me, but big wins for basically everything else from what I could see from afar. I actually really love the skater intros and that did a great job of hyping up the audience. I think the skaters seemed to like it as well.

So great to have massive crowds all week. It did feel like a taste of the glory days.
 
Skating-wise, we could not have asked for more. So many stunning performances and surprising lead changes. The arena was the problem. I don't remember having arena problems in Montreal, but my memory is not what it was. It was torture to wait for the lines in front of the arena. There was never any time to get concessions with the slow turnaround of the entrance to the building. I remember 2003 Worlds in Washington DC where the audience did have to leave their seats but could stay in the arena and enjoy the concourse foods and skating goods for sale. Another beef - there never seemed to be much event clothing on display for sale. Worlds 2025 was a great event while we were watching the skating. But for a 60+ senior with a bad back, I have to give failing grades to everyone in charge of organizing the entry and the whole experience outside of my seat inside the arena. Thank you to all who answered questions that I had, and to all who enjoyed being in Boston.
 
I haven't posted much here but wanted to say I agree with a lot of the observations upthread about the event. The skating overall was spectacular and the crowd was one of the loudest and supportive I've ever seen, since the last time I attended Worlds in Boston in 2016. I am so glad I decided to attend again and will definitely come back the next time if I am able. I've heard that SCOB will be hosting again in 2032 by a volunteer who worked the event.

The venue was well run but security was hit or miss. Sometimes my clear bag was scanned and sometimes it wasn't or just briefly inspected. I managed to hide my water bottle and snacks in my coat, so never had a problem. I have a friend who had a small backpack with her who had some issues on Friday and was told she couldn't bring it in.

I originally purchased an all event ticket (the least expensive) in the third row of Balcony 319. When I got to my seat, it was a handicapped accessible seat with a movable armrest, no cushion on the seat and A/C blowing right on me. There was no way I was going to sit there for several hours a day for four days. Luckily for me, I was able to find alternate seating at all events, primarily in the upper rows of the loge during the week and the club area on Saturday. Nobody asked me to move or look at my tickets and I was able to enjoy the skating. Weirdly enough, the only time I was asked to move was during the Men's practice Tuesday night when I sat in a credentialed area a few rows behind Jackie Wong. There were no signs saying the section was reserved.

The club area was interesting as many skaters, fed members and coaches sat there. I saw Mie Hamada during the men's free in my section and Kaitlyn Weaver on the ladies room line. I also spotted Polina Edmunds, Sandra Bezic, and others walking the concourse up there.

I agree about the emptying of the arena being unnecessary for all event ticket holders and the scheduling of events so close together. I was not able to see all the skaters due to eating dinner out with friends. I regret not seeing Deniss' or Roman's FS on Saturday but was able to see the last 2 full groups including Jason's beautiful "Spiegel IM Spiegel" FS. What a highlight.

I didn't mind the WWE style intros so much but it did get old after a while as was the repetitive music. I also think the interviews after the skates were unnecessary as were the leading questions, "How great did you feel skating this program in front of this audience..." I do think Ashley and Ben did an admirable job of keeping up the energy along with the other guy from Long Island who tried his best. But I never want to hear "Make some noise for Skater X" ever again, lol.
 
I thought the Bell Centre in Montreal last year did a better job. For example, they figured out on the second day to section off some of the men’s bathrooms for women to use. Problem solved. And I don’t remember folks being turned out into the freezing cold to line up again. Here I felt like a cow amongst thousands going on a hellish trip to the slaughterhouse.

With the timing of the daily events and the arena clearing, it forced you to be disrespectful and either leave during the medal ceremony or miss the first group of skaters.

Yeah, the commentary did get pretty repetitive. I thought the flashlight thing to We are the Champions was pretty funny, especially Denis Vasilev.

And to the person sitting next to me during the Free Dance…you, the screamer, the one who screamed at the most random things. Did you know you set off my watch at over 95 decibels over and over? Left ear is still ringing. Please be mindful at the next competition.

Boston is a fantastic city (!), but I’d be happy to try someplace new.
 
The Bell Center did tickets by the day, not event, so people did not have to clear the arena between events. However, those who did leave (since there wasn't much food available in the arena since most of the food vendors were closed that week :rolleyes:) needed to have their tickets scanned out, in order to get back in. Even on the most crowded days...Friday and Sat....there was 1 line to exit/scan so it snaked way back along the arena concourse and took us about 10-15 minutes. A hot mess.

I don't recall any converted men's rooms near my section but maybe I missed that. I remember 2 ladies room options, 1 halfway down the concourse and 1 in the opposite direction down the stairs past the closed food stands. And there were no paper towels and most of the hand dryers didn't work.

Not to mention the narrow concourse that made moving through difficult on the crowded days.

I agree that Boston should have done wristbands for all event ticketholders and let people stay. With the place sold out to the rafters, it would have been hard for those without tix for the next event to stay, unless they wanted to watch the screens on the concourse.
 
What is restoring interest in Figure Skating in the USA right now:

1. Ilia. He is practically doing this single-handedly.

2. Jason, Alysa, Amber, and Isabeau. But this is in addition to Ilia,, no one individually.

USFS (other ISU FS feds too) needs to remember that a LOT of the fans are older people. Don't forget us. I liked seeing and hearing all the skaters from the pre-millenial years. Feature MORE and OLDER " oldies music in warmups and other places where music is played between skates.
 
snoopysnake said:
USFS (other ISU FS feds too) needs to remember that a LOT of the fans are older people. Don't forget us. I liked seeing and hearing all the skaters from the pre-millenial years. Feature MORE and OLDER " oldies music in warmups and other places where music is played between skates.
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Oldies music in warmup that the skaters don't even know and won't get them amped up? :lol:

The music choices at Worlds helped increase the intensity and excitement IMO.
 
snoopysnake said:
What is restoring interest in Figure Skating in the USA right now:

1. Ilia. He is practically doing this single-handedly.

2. Jason, Alysa, Amber, and Isabeau. But this is in addition to Ilia,, no one individually.

USFS (other ISU FS feds too) needs to remember that a LOT of the fans are older people. Don't forget us. I liked seeing and hearing all the skaters from the pre-millenial years. Feature MORE and OLDER " oldies music in warmups and other places where music is played between skates.
Click to expand...
Wrong. Older people aren't bringing new eyeballs to the sport. The sport needs to be responsive to what is drawing the attention & interest of younger fans because, like it or not, older fans won't be around forever - and there will be even less of them in another decade.
 
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