Date Change: 2026 Skate America in Everett, WA; Salt Lake City for 2027 U.S. Nationals - info/planning thread

[Icetalavista]

They’ll change their minds….a few months from now.

Lol guess I’ll hold off on those plane and hotel reservations. USFSA doing its very very best to NOT capitalize on its Olympic success.

 

[ChillSkate]

I'm surprised that both the Nationals and Skate America galas have gone away. I guess these lose money? Probably very few people buy individual tickets to the gala and it doesn't move the needle on all-event sales. If I wanted to go to an event enough to buy an all-event ticket, the inclusion or exclusion of a gala wouldn't change my mind about going.

 

[peibeck]

I'm assuming it's a cost saving measure, but it stinks for the skaters who aren't getting the income from participating in the gala. (At least in the GP series, invitees got paid. I assume that was the case for Nats too?)

 

[Debbie S]

I'm assuming it's a cost saving measure, but it stinks for the skaters who aren't getting the income from participating in the gala. (At least in the GP series, invitees got paid. I assume that was the case for Nats too?)

I don’t believe skaters get paid for the Nats gala. But they were fun for fans and a good experience for the Junior skaters invited to perform. We got to see some great performances over the years.

USFS is already renting the arena on Sunday for the men's FS. I can't imagine a few more hours is significantly more expensive compared to what they've paid all week. No, the gala isn't make-or-break for fans buying all-event tickets but keeping ticket prices the same or higher while offering less (no gala, not including Junior or lower levels in "all-event") does not engender positive feelings among fans. And not smart given that USFS is in a position to bring in new fans following the Olys.

 

[ice coverage]

I emailed USFS and there won’t be a gala at Nationals Practices will be on the 5th and 6th. There will be three sessions on Thursday, two on Friday, two on Saturday, and the men’s FS on Sunday. I was not given the details of which sessions are on Thursday-Saturday but we can piece those together.

Thanks for getting the official word about the (non-)gala. Too bad.

I don’t believe skaters get paid for the Nats gala. But they were fun for fans and a good experience for the Junior skaters invited to perform. ....

Yes, I had been looking forward to the return of junior champions to the Nats gala. Sigh.
(I am not complaining about the complete focus on the Olympic team in 2026.)
(Idle thought: Sadly, it works out that scheduling junior competition after senior competition in 2027 does not matter in terms of the [non-]gala.)

There was a recent year (was it 2025?) when there were two options for Nat all-event packages: either with gala or without gala. (I chose the "with gala" option, which was understandably at a slightly higher total price.)
I wonder whether that year's sales data (whatever they were) played a role in the USFS decision to drop the gala for 2027??

... keeping ticket prices the same or higher while offering less (no gala, not including Junior or lower levels in "all-event") does not engender positive feelings among fans.

Agree.

 

[Debbie S]

There was that a recent year (was it 2025?) when there were two options for the Nat all-event package: either with gala or without gala. (I chose the "with gala" option, which was understandably at a slightly higher total price.)

I don't remember the deal in 2025 but in San Jose, both 2018 and 2023, they offered with and without gala. For 2018, I initially chose w/o b/c the seats offerings were better (I think they alternated rows or something like that and I bought a few weeks after the sale date), planning to just buy gala seats on Ticketmaster when they went on sale, but then got an email from the arena offering me the option to add gala tix to my order so I did that.

 

[ice coverage]

I don't remember the deal in 2025 but in San Jose, both 2018 and 2023, they offered with and without gala. For 2018, I initially chose w/o b/c the seats offerings were better (I think they alternated rows or something like that and I bought a few weeks after the sale date), planning to just buy gala seats on Ticketmaster when they went on sale, but then got an email from the arena offering me the option to add gala tix to my order so I did that.

Thanks, good to know. So USFS had data from further back for with gala vs. without gala.
(For the San Jose years, I did not pay attention to all-event offerings. Was just picking and choosing single-session tickets.)

Apologies, I must have totally misremembered what happened in 2025.
I just looked back at my receipt for 2025, and it says, "2025 US Figure Skating Championships All-Session with Juniors."
So I guess the two options in fact were: with Juniors vs. without Juniors.
Nothing to do with the gala. Sorry for my mistake.

Anyway, I don't really have any idea how the (non-)gala decision for 2027 came about.
I could be way off base, but I hope it did not originate from the new CEO who joined USFS in spring 2025. He did not come from a skating background, and maybe never experienced a gala in a non-Olympic season. Please take with many grains of salt.
(Not trying to say that a skating background ought to be a prerequisite for USFS CEO.)

 

[peibeck]

USFS is already renting the arena on Sunday for the men's FS. I can't imagine a few more hours is significantly more expensive compared to what they've paid all week.

With the gala and the men's FS on the same day, they can't start the venue break down until the next day. So perhaps they are saving a full day of rent if they can get it done after the men's event?

Regardless, I'm sure it's a cost saving move, just like no longer having the junior events on the same ice as seniors for several seasons now.

 

[cheremary]

I would think the gala is a good way to bring in new fans of the sport who want to watch figure skating live in a show setting and get a taste of every discipline, but may not have the interest to sit through many hours of competition. It’s certainly what I’ve recommended to friends interested in seeing skating for the first time, since it’s an entertaining and fun show.

In Europe, the galas often are more well-attended than the competition (this was always the case at GP de France) and I wonder why the opposite seems to be true in North America. Maybe less advertising to the general public?

 

[mtnskater]

I think there may be a big surge in renewed interest in exhibition style skating in the U.S. after the Milan Olympics, as evidenced by the huge crowds at Stars on Ice. Big skating stars drive attendance, for competitions AND shows. If Alysa and Ilia and the Blade Angels, etc. compete at Nationals next year, as they are saying they likely will, I can imagine local interest would still be high in the Salt Lake City area and from diehard fans who fly to the event. Plus TV ratings and YouTube videos etc. for a gala skate of champions. All of it to capitalize on the momentum created in Milan for U.S. Figure Skating. My rink is loaded with new skaters from kids to adults wearing figure skates. This was not the case for the last many number of years when I saw few new figure skaters and way more new hockey skaters. USFS is making a big mistake not to capitalize on this surge in popularity in every way possible.

I’m also disappointed to not be able to see the juniors in person yet again this coming year and that the junior champions will not have a gala to recognize their achievement and give them a spotlight. I will plan on leaving Salt Lake after the men’s final and watching juniors on Peacock before the videos all disappear

 

[Karen-W]

Honestly, the SOI show in SLC had probably the WORST attendance of this year's tour so far (only 2 shows left). In that regard, I can understand why the USFS decided to skip the Gala for 2027, if they're looking at how the exhibition-style SOI show went attendance-wise just 7.5 months out from Nationals.