Bodybuilding Show Reality Check

[Grundle]

Amid all of the contraversy regarding the cancellation of the Toronto Show and the blame game being played over who did what and who didnt do enough, here is a dose of reality for everyone.  How many of you have ever been to a bodybuilding show?  My guess is probably about half of all getbiggers, which is a little bizarre when you stop to think about it.  If you have a website devoted to baseball, my guess is about 100 percent of your members have been to a baseball game.  Anyway, having been to a few BB shows, I'll give you a rough breakdown of the audience demographic

60% Friends and family of the competitors
20% Sponsors, people involved in the production of the show, IFBB/NPC officials
10% Homosexual muscleboy lovers (Im not being facetious, its a fact, look around and its a very visible presence)
10% Hardcore fans of the "sport" of bodybuilding/fans of individual competitors

Now, with a demo like that, how many of you would sponsor this event if you ran a business that wanted to see a return on its investment?  For those of you with any financial sense at all, it doesnt sound very appetizing.  From a rational perspective, its a miracle that any shows other than the Olympia are put on at all!  Having said all of that, there is a potential solution, and I commend Shawn Ray for being one of the early adopters of the idea that bodybuilding cannot be the only attraction to a show if you want to sell tickets and get sponsorship dollars.  Live bodybuilding is a cultish freakshow, and will NEVER be a profitable stand alone attraction.  It will only survive as live entertainment as part of a larger production featuring powerlifting, MMA etc.  Hope this clarifies things a bit.

[benchthis]

   we know

[timfogarty]

funny, I was saying just the opposite.  that these mega events cannot be successful with just local fans.  and that hard core fans can't be flying from all across the country to Columbus for a weekend, then to Denver for another weekend, then to Dallas, then to New York, Toronto, where ever else, and finally to Vegas.  There aren't enough hard core fans to support more than a few mega events in North America, say the Arnold and the Olympia.   Now, you could probably have one or two mega events in Europe, one in Japan, perhaps even one in Latin America.  but all the others should probably be simple one day contests in a nice theater.

[timfogarty]

the NOC always sold out.    How many seats does the Beacon Theater in NYC hold?   4000 ?  average price $50.  That's $200k.   Cost of renting a theater, lights, music, stage hands?  $60k?   Advertising in the local alternative weeklies?  $10k   Posters at all the local gyms.   

Yeah I think the show could be self sufficient.

[timfogarty]

I went to the NOC a couple times, guarantee i didnt pay $50 a ticket.

are you saying more or less?  Theater tickets range from $35 to $120, so I chose $50 for the average price.

plus you've got the judging in the morning and the finals at night, so you've got 8000 tickets you could sell.  Prices for the morning show are lower than for the evening show, so let's again go with average ticket price of $50.  If you could sell out those shows, that's $400k.

All that time and money trying to organize an expo, arm wrestling, etc., could be better spent trying to get locals to come to the show.

[WOOO]

are you saying more or less?  Theater tickets range from $35 to $120, so I chose $50 for the average price.

Is that some kind of weird new math?

[timfogarty]

What percentage of those local gym members are going to go to a bodybuilding show? A tiny fraction at best.  Most people go to a gym to work out and look and feel better about themselves.  They are not interested in watching oiled up human chemistry labs prance around in a thong on stage.

if there aren't 8000 people in a metropolitan area of 10 million would would be interested in attending a contest if advertised correctly, then you shouldn't be holding a contest there.

the problem with the expo and side events is that you're giving people an excuse to not go to the contest.  I want to see some big guys.  I want to mingle with other fitness types.  Should I pay $100 for the contest or $15 for the expo.

[dukebrown]

Why not make some shows as a side show??  Such as have a band preform and then have the contestants walk down a side runway or one through the middle?  I guess it would be the equivalent of Gogo dances LOL.   But most likey profitable.

[LuciusFox]

Is that some kind of weird new math?

  It's fuzzy math

[Bronx]

Just heard word....don't make moves too soon concerning the cancellation of the Toronto Show...it might still be on.

[Always Sore]

Dudes,

this argument has been settled by the facts! Almost no one on planet earth pays to see oiled up men in g strings. 

but funny if it was women oiled up in g strings the money just flows...

[ssparty]

but funny if it was women oiled up in g strings the money just flows...

isnt that the truth

[timfogarty]

this argument has been settled by the facts! Almost no one on planet earth pays to see oiled up men in g strings. 

so if you're saying all the profit comes from the fitness expo, you should just put on the expo and forget the contest

[WOOO]

  It's fuzzy math

Hippy!

[jaejonna]

Brutal Reality Check ..so how do we get more fans to show up .... other than hummer give outs ??

[timfogarty]

Brutal Reality Check ..so how do we get more fans to show up .... other than hummer give outs ??

my suggestion is advertise locally.  any hard core fan who would fly in to see a contest already knows about it, so forget advertising in the bodybuilding mags.   advertise in the local alternative weeklies (including the gay weeklies). advertise at the hard core gyms.  and if like at my gym, they don't allow posters, stand outside and hand out fliers. 

advertise on the internet if you can do it efficiently.   since supplement resellers know your zip code, they can target ads to certain customers.

[Unchained81]

BBIng needs to go back to way it was in the 70's era.  Go back to the old style posing trunks, and cut the dancing from the routines.  If the guys weren't in thongs and dancing it wouldn't seem so gay.  Watch the footage from the old shows from pumping iron, or around that era.  It seems more like a legitimate contest to me.  Watching Ronnie give himself a wedgie while dancing just seems like a audtion for gay-for-pay, it doesn't seem like a legitimate "competion".

[LuciusFox]

Hippy!

 I'm not a hippy

[LuciusFox]

BBIng needs to go back to way it was in the 70's era.  Go back to the old style posing trunks, and cut the dancing from the routines.  If the guys weren't in thongs and dancing it wouldn't seem so gay.  Watch the footage from the old shows from pumping iron, or around that era.  It seems more like a legitimate contest to me.  Watching Ronnie give himself a wedgie while dancing just seems like a audtion for gay-for-pay, it doesn't seem like a legitimate "competion".

  These are good points. Maybe some people are turned off by the thongs. I like them, but the dancing routines annoy me.

[Unchained81]

  These are good points. Maybe some people are turned off by the thongs. I like them, but the dancing routines annoy me.

I know that friends of mine(non-bbers) have caught Pumping Iron on HBO and thought it was interesting and said they would be interested in going to my shows.  Then if they see pics of the guys doing their routines in the current IFBB shows, you know- in costumes with there trunks stuck up their butt, then they think "that is gay, disgusting."  The old IFBB shows was about bbing, the new shows are about audtioning to make the money for after the show private "posing sessions."  BTW, you say you like the thongs, assuming you are straight, then why the hell?

[LuciusFox]

I know that friends of mine(non-bbers) have caught Pumping Iron on HBO and thought it was interesting and said they would be interested in going to my shows.  Then if they see pics of the guys doing their routines in the current IFBB shows, you know- in costumes with there trunks stuck up their butt, then they think "that is gay, disgusting."  The old IFBB shows was about bbing, the new shows are about audtioning to make the money for after the show private "posing sessions."  BTW, you say you like the thongs, assuming you are straight, then why the hell?

 I like to see striated glutes, just because they look cool, but most guys should keep their butts covered.