In the old days we promoted some form of lifting contest followed by a bodybuilding event. But as bodybuilding competitions grew by the numbers, it was necessary to ‘break away’ and run the bodybuilding events as a solitary unit.
exactly. Olympic style weightlifting was the main event, and bodybuilding was a side show. Many weightlifters hated having the bodybuilding part of their competition, but then bodybuilding became the thing that brought in the paying audience. Finally bodybuilding spun off from weight lifting, and oh look local olympic style weightlifting disappeared.
If local physique contests were to 'break away', there would simply be fewer and fewer bodybuilding contests. Promoters are no longer willing to hold contests where there are 12 bodybuilding contestants and 24 people in the audience. In someplace like soCal, there would be 8 or 9 physique contests and maybe 2 or 3 bodybuilding contests in a year. But there is no need for it to break away, as fewer and fewer bodybuilding contestants are entering local contests. Breaking away wouldn't make the physique events any shorter.
Already most amateur contests no longer have women's bodybuilding. The number of women entering Figure seems to be down too. They're all entering women's Physique. (Which makes sense as women's physique is still bodybuilding, with flexing and posing.)
In the pro IFBB, there are already many contests that are Physique only, many are bikini only. Women's pro bodybuilding is almost extinct. There may always be freaky men's pro bodybuilding, but like with the women, there may be fewer and fewer events.
