If bodybuilding were popular enough to sell out a theater, then perhaps promoters wouldn't have to debase themselves by putting in male physique douche rounds, or stage the next "Hooters Championship". But they do. Because bodybuilders don't bring enough fan base.
Think about it. If you're a great bodybuilder these days, you've all but extricated yourself from functioning society. You're now so big, and so drugged up, and the only path to being competitive is to forego normal human relationships. That means you probably haven't spoken to mom and dad in a while, or at least, are too embarassed to show them what you do lest you face the inevitable "do you take steroids, son" talk. So you avoid them. You probably don't have a girlfriend either, but if you do, hopefully she's there. Brother, sisters, friends? Nope. Your only friends are your buddies at the gym, and they really only hang around you at the gym. Outside, you have few friends. Certainly not enough friends who'd lay down money to see you pose. Add to the fact that your normal friends, if you have them, are pretty sure these things are gay.
Want Exhibit A? Check out Jason Huh at his recent guest-posing as Bane. That was sad and pathetic. And clearly indicative of what even the fitness lifestyle consumer thinks of today's bodybuilder. It's just not something worth paying for anymore. Maybe guys are too big, or maybe it's no longer special, or maybe it was never that cool to begin with. After all, most of the guys in a bodybuilding audience are gay or family. And if it isn't family anymore, then it's mostly gay. But even the gay guys aren't showing up anymore. Why not? INTERNET! They get pics of you for free, or for a small fee from muscleworship.com. Like straight guys, gay guys like to look at their porn in the privacy of their own homes too!
Promoters need bikini and MPD. Without it, not enough butts in the seats to make enough money to pay the bills. Plus, supplement companies aren't shelling out money for booths at these shows like they used to, because frankly, supplement companies have known since the crash of 2011 that bodybuilders no longer sell supplements as an aspirational marketing vehicle. You make more money using a MMA fighter as aspirational, or just some random no-name model that will sign a release for $500. MP douches, for all their faults, are actually cheaper for a photoshoot than bodybuilders, because bodybuilders still think Uncle Joe will come bail them out with a six figure contract. Also, congitive dissonance dictates that all that sacrifice should be worth something, right? Truth is, it isn't, at least not to the paying public.
There are some who pay for male and female bodybuilders though. Unfortunately, I think we all know who those people are. They are not there to reward hard work with applause. They're there because they want to see you naked. You're not an athlete. You're a piece of sexual meat to be consumed. Bodybuilding has regressed back to where it was in the 50s. A fetish act for gay men, who pay well and pay often, for their favorites. Bodybuilders should thank bikini and MPD...without them, there wouldn't even be a venue to peddle the fetishized wares of the average bodybuilder.
