Last March, I had an opportunity to watch the 2006 World Figure Skating Championships in Calgary, Canada. I saw some great skating on the ice, but also a lot of empty seats in the stands. The Saddledome has a capacity of 11,000, but only half the seats were filled for the events I attended.
The World Championships and the 2006 Skate America event, which was completed this weekend in Hartford, Conn., are the latest events that have drawn small audiences in what has become a downward spiral for the sport of figure skating. The trend has been happening for several years, but it’s become more noticeable within the past few months. With the Olympic year over, many of the top skaters have either turned pro or taken a timeout to pursue other interests. And that may have turned away many fans.
Tommy Hine of the Hartford Courant writes that figure skating is now “in intensive care” and needs something or someone to resuscitate the sport. Looking back through sports history in general, there are periods of high interest followed by periods of low interest. What prompts the sport to pull out of its tailspin is usually a dominant athlete or a controversy that puts the spotlight back on the sport, for better or worse. For example, in the early 1990s, we saw the Nancy Kerrigan-Tonya Harding fiasco, followed by the emergence of Michelle Kwan as the queen of the ice who saved the sport and brought fans out to see her.
Baseball experienced a similar decline in fan interest following the 1994 strike-shortened season. Fans vowed never to return to the game after than, and in fact, attendance was low for several seasons after 1994. What brought fans back to the sport was the homerun derby that escalated between the Cubs’ Sammy Sosa and the St. Louis Cardinals’ Mark McGuire during the 1998 season. Fans came out in droves to watch those two players hit. Never mind that their power may have been jacked up by steroids at the time. Their home run hitting rivalry captured the imagination of the entire nation, and baseball was popular once again.
Notice the pattern in these two scenarios. First comes a controversy, followed by the emergence of an athlete (or two) who renews fan interest and brings the sport back to life.
Figure skating may be in a coma at the moment, but there may be hope for it yet. A controversy may be brewing in the wings, which may put a harsh spotlight on the sport for a short while. But the controversy will also be followed by a rising star, rivalry or team that engages fan interest once more.
Stay tuned for part 2: Is Controversy Brewing in Figure Skating?
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