Thanks, Thang! I can't agree or disagree with everything you said but here's my response anyway.
What's so wrong with Jim or anyone else involved making a damn good income? No one is forcing any contestant to pay entry fees and all the other expenses that are involved.
It appears that those fees are paid voluntarily.
And it's somewhat apparent that there are few objections when there are more NPC memberships and entries than any other time within the history of competitive bodybuilding, bikini, etc., etc.
And the Men's and Women's Physique divisions may not stand alone but that 'side' of the NPC appears to be growing faster than each and every one of the other divisions.
You may not want to pay your hard earned dollars to see a Physique Division event, but the moms and dads and friends and fans will spend their hard earned dollars to see their sons and daughters and friends up there on that stage.
Win or lose, they'll be there to offer their support and pay the $20 to $40 that it costs now-a-days.
So all you gotta do is take a look at the vast number of Physique contenders in this most recent contest (the North America) who pay the entry fee and multiply that number of entries by 3 or 4 and then multiply that number by the cost to see the prejudging and then the cost to see the finals ... and you will get a faiirly decent idea of what the promoter can receive at the gate if he promotes a one-day Physique event consisting of Mern and Women who hope to won a 'plastic trophy'.
And you have to realize that a two-day event that would include bodybuilding and all the other NPC contest would costs about twice as much.
So I still think that NPC Physique events will eventually be held on their own without the benefit of the bodybuilding.
ANd some of the BB pros see the handwriting on the wall, but none of this should have aqny adverse affect on the OLY, the Arnold, or any of the other major IFBB Pro Bodybuilding contests, - Me thinks!
But I gotta admit that I have been wrong on a couple of occasions.
Thanks, Thang!