On Site Reports: Your experience SkAm 2015

[grantrf98]

Hello! My first live figure skating competition was really amazing!!!! I would elaborate, but others have basically summed up my experience and more (some of you are so lucky!) However, I do have one question: To those who were in Milwaukee, do you know the song in the "Welcome to Skate America" video that played before each event began?

 

[CrystalClear]

However, I do have one question: To those who were in Milwaukee, do you know the song in the "Welcome to Skate America" video that played before each event began?

There was so much music being played that it is hard to remember what I heard playing at any given time, but I think during the introduction video they were playing "Stars" by Demi Lovato. The chorus goes "And we really don't need the light / Cause we're start tonight" if that is the one that you were thinking of. I am totally not the pop music expert, but this song has been dancing in my head since the event.

 

[semosk8tfan]

I should be on overload by now, but I spent the afternoon watching the IN coverage of the dance event. So much fun to listen to the commentary and relive the experience. And I must admit I scan the crowd trying to spot myself and a few times I was successful!!

I saw that the capacity for the arena was 7000 and the best attended session was under 4000. What does USFS need to do to get butts in the seats?

 

[dorispulaski]

4000 is pretty good compared to some recent years.

 

[Ice Dance]

The first year I attended Skate America, half the arena was roped off so that the audience could only sit on one side. (Undoubtedly the side the camera was going to film). It was an NHL arena, and obviously more than half the arena was empty. The event broke the record for selling more tickets than any previous Skate America.

I do think it is nice for the skaters when the arena "feels" more full, as it has at some of the more recent SA events I have attended. But those events were held in significantly smaller arenas. Certainly ones that didn't have upper decks similar to the one in Milwaukee.

 

[sabinfire]

The first year I attended Skate America, half the arena was roped off so that the audience could only sit on one side. (Undoubtedly the side the camera was going to film). It was an NHL arena, and obviously more than half the arena was empty.

Panther Arena is not an NHL arena. No NHL game has ever been played there, and arenas in the NHL have twice the capacity as Panther Arena.

 

[yyyskate]

Panther Arena is smaller than Barderwiser garden which held 2013 worlds. There is no true upper bow in Panther Arena. At 2013 worlds, the whole arena is absolutely packed.

 

[ozmodiar]

The UWM Panther Arena holds over 12000. With the upper sections blocked off, capacity for Skate America was supposed to be around 7000 and it looked like there were maybe 2000-3000 attending each event. Lots of empty seats.

Anyway, I loved watching all the live skating last weekend! I was going to list some favorite skates, but then realized I was listing almost everybody, lol.

But I am the worst at recognizing famous people in person. Charlie and Tanith were checking into the hotel 6 feet in front of me and I was oblivious until my sister pointed them out as they walked away. Though to be fair to myself, I never saw Tanith's face and Charlie had his short darker hair and was wearing glasses.

Too bad it rained during the tailgate. I think the only rain the whole weekend was during the hours for which it was scheduled! I had a brat from their grill and it was excellent. We luckily had an umbrella so it didn't get wet.

During a break on Saturday I watched Tara, Johnny and Terry from the stands right above them for a few minutes as they worked. They were in a good mood, joking and laughing a lot.

I never realized before that they prerecord the whole NBC intro segment a couple of hours in advance. They ran through it twice, both times including the playful but not so improvised banter ("I missed you!!" "I missed both of you!"). After they finished, Tara and Johnny worked on posts for their Instagram to take advantage of the "good TV lighting".

Here's a pic of them in the good lighting:
https://instagram.com/p/9O6tVVKZhu/

 

[grantrf98]

There was so much music being played that it is hard to remember what I heard playing at any given time, but I think during the introduction video they were playing "Stars" by Demi Lovato. The chorus goes "And we really don't need the light / Cause we're start tonight" if that is the one that you were thinking of. I am totally not the pop music expert, but this song has been dancing in my head since the event.

Thanks so much! I heard the song and it also got stuck in my head. I knew it sounded like her but I forgot the lyrics, haha.

I should be on overload by now, but I spent the afternoon watching the IN coverage of the dance event. So much fun to listen to the commentary and relive the experience. And I must admit I scan the crowd trying to spot myself and a few times I was successful!!

I saw that the capacity for the arena was 7000 and the best attended session was under 4000. What does USFS need to do to get butts in the seats?

Although I was disappointed that only half of the arena was full, it was not surprising. Milwaukee is not a very populated town to begin with (this was near/in Downtown Milwaukee and was empty compared to Downtown LA). Even though I commuted that far to watch Figure Skating (I was in the Midwest to visit universities), not many people would do the same. However, since the last OG, I have noticed that NBC has programmed Figure Skating more often than in recent years so hopefully that contributes to an increase in popularity! Also, it's only Skate America. Yeah there were many popular skaters participating, but it's not the World Championships. The anticipation for Boston is huge! The TD Garden is the home of the Boston Celtics and Bruins, so it's a large arena. To sell out an arena of about 18,000 would be incredible for the sport's popularity in the US!

 

[sabinfire]

The UWM Panther Arena holds over 12000. With the upper sections blocked off, capacity for Skate America was supposed to be around 7000 and it looked like there were maybe 2000-3000 attending each event. Lots of empty seats.

Just for comparison, an actual NHL arena at Joe Louis Arena (for Skate America 2013) holds over 20,000 people.

 

[ozmodiar]

Just for comparison, an actual NHL arena at Joe Louis Arena (for Skate America 2013) holds over 20,000 people.

Yeah, the Bradley Center where the NBA Milwaukee Bucks and AHL hockey Admirals play is on the next block over from Panther Arena and holds about 19000. Even though that arena is newer and nicer, it's way too big for Skate America as it is now.

It's really unfortunate about the big drop in the popularity of figure skating in the US. I used to go to shows like SOI and COI and the audience would pack the biggest arenas full. Now one tour is gone and the other is lucky to fill 70-80% of just the lower bowl for a relative handful of show dates.

 

[yyyskate]

yes, Joe Louis Arena feels much bigger than Panther Arena. But the whole upper bow of Joe Louis Arena was blocked at the time, kinda sad. The main color of Joe Louis Arena is red whereas Panther Arena is blue. IMO. the red background color reflexes better on skater's appearance on TV.
Another thing surprised me is that the SOI tour actually has more attendance than SA!

 

[silverfoxes]

The low attendance is not good for the sport, but from a selfish perspective, I liked the more intimate feeling. I'm not sure you could easily have so many photo ops & close brushes with skaters & coaches at Worlds. For the most part nobody was getting mobbed. I even crossed paths with Jason & his father(?) walking back to their hotel and nobody in the street said a word to him, kind of surreal after the reception he got inside.

 

[Kitt]

The low attendance is not good for the sport, but from a selfish perspective, I liked the more intimate feeling. I'm not sure you could easily have so many photo ops & close brushes with skaters & coaches at Worlds. For the most part nobody was getting mobbed. I even crossed paths with Jason & his father(?) walking back to their hotel and nobody in the street said a word to him, kind of surreal after the reception he got inside.

We saw Jason too as we crossed the street, we screamed out his name and said "we love you". He gave us a big wave and a smile!

 

[cheerknithanson]

The low attendance is not good for the sport, but from a selfish perspective, I liked the more intimate feeling. I'm not sure you could easily have so many photo ops & close brushes with skaters & coaches at Worlds. For the most part nobody was getting mobbed. I even crossed paths with Jason & his father(?) walking back to their hotel and nobody in the street said a word to him, kind of surreal after the reception he got inside.

Well the "no mobbing" part is good.

 

[Alex D]

Alex D-thanks so much for doing that! It's really informative and fun to get that kind of content from competitions. Keep up the good work! :yes:

Your welcome

 

[CoyoteChris]

4000 is pretty good compared to some recent years.

That is my opinion also. When it was in Ontario, CA with dozens of skating clubs all around, no one came....
I do have to wonder if the fact that the Worlds is in the US this year would mean that some fans had to make a choice on where to spend their skating dollars. For fun, I went on the St. Paul Nats website where you can pic your seat and all event packages in the lower bowl....there are not many left......which looks good for St. Paul.

It looked like even at Lethbridge you could have obtained a decent seat at all events....didnt check the website but there were quite a few empty seats in the first 8 rows....

All of which begs the question, "Just what ARE the demographics of SA? How many dedicated fans vs. interested locals?????

 

[CoyoteChris]

Well the "no mobbing" part is good.

That's because no one recognized Mr. and Mrs. White with Charlie's new short hair! I think Mariah Bell rather enjoyed being "mobbed" in her seat but most fans were very respectful of the skaters. Satako could jog to her heart's content around the concourse and few bothered her....

 

[CoyoteChris]

I had a wonderful time, but those were some really long days if you attended the practices. I was exhausted on Sat. and I have to admit I almost nodded off during some of the first groups of ladies & ice dance. The venue is very convenient, but I wished there were a few more options there for food & drink - there was just not enough time to go very far during the breaks & not much in the immediate vicinity. I like some skaters more after seeing them live...then there were a few I still do not like, and probably never will. But the ones I was most interested in seeing did not disappoint.

It is very hard at this kind of pace to NOT get tired. I walked back to my room and took a few short naps instead of sleeping in the nose bleed section where cruel friends would shoot me and send me the photos....I never once ate in the arena. Typical yuck food....a mall near by had a food court with Panda, Quadobe grill, Subway, etc...

I find that at Nats, where there are 24 competitons and endless practice sessions, I have to pace myself anymore and sometime blow off certain events if need be....over stimulation!

 

[CoyoteChris]

Though the one criticism I had about the Panther Arena is that they only had one stand that was selling burgers and it wasn't open last night. And the other stands sold hotdogs and no burgers. Though it sounds stupid, it's a criticism for me because not everyone likes hotdogs and some like burgers instead. Like myself lol.

Oh and also when we were walking to the Panther Arena, me and some others saw Charlie White walking the other direction with Tanith Belbin.

Dont forget that number one health food...Pizza! Sometimes, one does attend a skating event that has good, healthy food...not often but I have seen it.....I am always in search of the perfect burger....The Irish Pub and Rock Bottom brewry did have good ones....