'ICE' ISU Open Pro-Am series planned for 2012 (Scott Hamilton's brainchild)

^^^
Naming potential skaters is a bit of my favorites are. Of course there are skaters we would all like to see skate competitively again. We should remember, it's an invitational event which nesessitates agreement between player and management. It's a wait and see but one can enjoy guessing.

What interests me more, is this 3 Continent Plan of Competitions, and how much of it will we see on TV? What is the spacing in time between them? Will this be an exhaustive trip for the invitees? Let's hope it doesnt hurt those who are also skating the GPs.

Will an American network be able to travel with gear to the other venues? If an Asian network agrees to show the competition, will we see it? So much is a wait and see what the ICE competition is all about.

I think the Around The World In 20 Days format must be very taxing financially as well as physically for the participants. Will the current eligible skaters want to exhasust themselves and jeopardize their regular season? Do they return to home base after each event or stay on to continue to the next continent? Plane tickets and accomodations for each skater will add up and they should also be compensated for the whole three weeks of not working elsewhere. Unlike the old days when skating was an European and North American sport, its popularity and success are the highest in Asia these days, important markets that sustain the sport. Competition travels are trully global. Compared to a group of skaters travelling in a bus on a continental tour, this intercontinental travelling competition will be costly.

Joesitz said:

Will an American network be able to travel with gear to the other venues? If an Asian network agrees to show the competition, will we see it? So much is a wait and see what the ICE competition is all about.

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Like other international events, a local network would provide the footage to all subscribing networks elsewhere instead of each one doing their own production!

Personally I welcome someone like Scott Hamilton - who has been there (The early tough days of Stars on Ice) and done that (made Stars on Ice a sustained franchise) getting involved with skating events linked to the ISU. In my opinion, the skating federations have done such an incredibly poor job of marketing the sport, that some more commercially minded hands (and heads) are long overdue.

I doubt very much it will be "perfect" in year one. But what ever is? I for one am hoping this is a "success" - at least enough to bring more positives to the sport.