I have just read in the ISU site that the ISU are giving Extra Bonus...I gather extra money prizes ..... to the skaters that attend most or all the events of the Grand Prix next season!!!

And why is that??? Have the interest of the audiences dropped ???
Are they rolling in money ????
Do the skaters think Grand Prix events are not so alluring???

Girls, have you read sth about this alreadY?
Tell me what you think?

I think that the top athletes don't wanna compete in the Grand Prix so they've decided to give them extra money to skate not only at the big championships. Otherwise the audience would be dissatisfied and won't go to watch these competitions.

SOOOO...the top athletes don't go anymore to these competitions , and why is that???
It no morelike playing offs as it used to be , and they have to travel a lot!!
SOOOO tiring!
But , now with some extra money...who knows?

Marie is right. The extra money is to keep the top skaters in Grand Prix events, especially singles. They've had a lot of problems with people like Michelle Kwan, Sasha Cohen, and Evgeny Plushenko not doing Grand Prix events, and a couple of years ago the ISU even threatened skaters who skipped Grand Prix events to do shows with suspension from competition. I think they hope that if Grand Prix events pay more, the skaters that people really want to see will show up, there will be more ticket sales, and the ISU will be able to actually afford the prize money its committed to giving out.

I wonder how many will respond to this extra bonus!!!

I think skaters will think twice now about their participation in the Grand Prix!!!!

Serena wrote!

Quote:

I wonder how many will respond to this extra bonus!!!

As a matter of fact I am curious too!
Let's wait and see! WILL BE THE BONUS ENOUGH TO TEMPT THE SKATERS!!???

I wish they were making as much as tennis players. Although to me figure skating is way more interesting to watch-it's not just about hitting some ball...it's an art.

I think that not going to GP events is just because there are other chances for the skaters to make some money with all the tours ans shows, especially in North America. But couples still need to skate in GP just to gain experience and show/test their programs. This is really important for dance couples. They need GP Events to test the levels of all evements and to get feed back from the judges. An exemple from this season was Belbin and Agusto who quickly realised that their FD was not so well accepted from the judges and changed it. It was the same with Albean and Maxim. They get the chance to talk to the judges after all GP Events and the final and get extra confidence of the fact that The Seven Deadly Sins were so well accepted.

Extra money will be good though. It will help the skaters to concentrate on their amateur career.