FORTRESS, It seems that the "following posts" are saying that the bodybuilding contest parts of the NPC sponsored events and the bodybuilding contest parts of the IFBB sponsored events are ether dieing or have already passed away .... but the other competitive contests that are held within NPC and/or IFBB sanctioned events, such as each of the women's contests plus men's physique and men's classic, are alive and doing well enough to produce the monetary income to financially support and carry the bodybuilding portions of the event.
If that is what the "following posts" insinuate, I MIGHT agree but any possible competitive bodybuilding funeral will not occur while Jim Manion or his successor remain in office.
They will fight to keep it alive if necessary!
Death means "It exists no more", but competitive bodybuilding has a long life ahead of it.
At present and in line with some of the comments on this GetBig Board it appears that ... It just needs a "second opinion".
Of course it still exists. I’m not arguing that.
But its time as what it once was is long, long gone.
It’s essentially gone back underground ... and produces physiques dramatically worse than we’ve ever seen, overall.
Bodybuilding gym culture has all but vanished.
And the cat’s (regarding drug use) out of the bag, thanks to the internet.
I entered the scene in the ‘80s.
Hardcore bodybuilding, in generalized terms, is dead.