Thinking that there's money to be made on natural bodybuilding show's don't understand business.
There IS money to be made promoting drug-free shows which showcase WOMEN, namely the WNSO and FAME. That money comes from the competitors, mainly, and through ticketsales that are usually made up from the competitors families and fans who love bodybuilding.
The women get exposure, industry contacts, and endorsements if they're lucky. But the men in those shows are a smaller commodity, mainly because they don't compete for the same reasons the women do. The women use it as a stepping stone to a higher level, perhaps acting. Just look at who's on the cover of a recent issue of Stuff magazine...Victoria Pratt!..remember her? She used to be a regular "glute spectacular" girl in MMag International, and now she's an actress who lands a cover on a very popular mainstream magazine. You could say the same for Trish Stratus.
But most male bb'ers do the natural shows to prove something...for the same reason many juicer pro's do it. And when those natty's realize that they don't have the genetics to win a natty show, they just might take a little juice to give them an edge. And so on and so on!
The thing is, the juicer pro's look unbelieveable and the majority of nattys don't. Unbelievable in that their pics can sell magazines.
The general public has been shown a physique that is unattainable to the majority, but that's what sells.
One of the ONLY ways that natural bodybuilding can rise in popularity is to, sadly, offer bigger cash prizes. Why do I say sadly? Because it's the MONEY that makes people cheat. If it was just about winning, what sane person would risk their freedom and health to win a simple trophy?...
Take a look at Arnolds era. They were all on drugs, but at least it wasn't illegal back then. And you couldn't win a ton of money either. Why did they do it? There wasn't the cash there is today in the pro ranks. The influx of money raised the stakes, and the drugs followed suit.
The reason why the natural shows don't make money is because of the lack of mainstream sponsors. The IFBB gets away with it because they have magazines and the majority of bodybuilding related sponsors...but it's all peanuts compared to sponsors like Nike and Gatorade, believe that. Mainstream companies won't sponsor natural shows because of the drug issue, simple. You can't get past the steroid issue, now or ever. Unless cheap drug testing can be found, then it's pointless.
And the sad truth is that the people at the natural shows, those in attendance, are far more likely to actually buy the related products!
So you're stuck in a never-ending cycle...you can't compete without the drugs, but the drugs drive out the sponsors, but the sponsors bring in the prize money, but the prize money goes to those who take the drugs!
If you could only legalize steroids, then at least the IFBB could promote THIS message: Yes, drugs are used, however, if all you have is a steroid-abused body then you're not going to win. Unless you have the genetics, you're not going to win. Then they could actually begin to promote a look that the general public would ACTUALLY LIKE, like Arnold and Paris and Haney. A body image that has marketablility in Hollywood, and to the masses. Instead of what you have now, which is the extreme in development at all costs.
Right now, the 'sport' is so mired in lies it's mindboggling.
Again, unless you can rationalize in your mind that breaking the law and endangering your health is a small price to pay for a moment of glory and the possibility of stardom (which hasn't been duplicated since Arnold), the bodybuilding will disappoint you. The idea of training hard, eating properly and WINNING doesn't happen in the NPC without DRUGS in the equation. That's the cold hard truth. People with a sense of values and ethics can't justify the cost with the reward. And that's where the 'sport' dies. It's an activity that makes a small amount of people some money, and the ones who win use drugs to do it. Am I leaving anything out?
Instead of trying to legalize steroids, a task that's probably impossible in today's world, the focus should be on drug tests that are 99.9 percent accurate. Then, if the fools can find a way to cheat past THAT then more power to them! It comes down to dollars and cents. Find a way to make it MORE expensive to cheat than to NOT cheat.
