2015 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Greensboro

[cityboi]

For the second time Greensboro is the host city of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. The last time the Gate City hosted the championships as in 2011. It was held in Boston last year. The finals are being televised nationally today, tonight and tomorrow afternoon on NBC

[RichardC]

Either the venue is too big for this event, or there is not enough support for ice skating in this city. I switched to NBC twice in-between watching the Wake game and the Carolina game, and the stands were half empty. Doesn't look positive for the city or the sport.

[cityboi]

Either the venue is too big for this event, or there is not enough support for ice skating in this city. I switched to NBC twice in-between watching the Wake game and the Carolina game, and the stands were half empty. Doesn't look positive for the city or the sport.

 

 

two things...yes the venue is very large compared to other larger host cities. The Greensboro Coliseum is actually one of the largest arenas in the country (not counting domed stadiums). The Greensboro Coliseum has 23,500 seats. U.S. Figure Skating typically host this event in arenas that have seating capacity between 12,000 and 18,000 seats.

 

 Secondly, the early skating nights typically have a lower attendance than the final day. It was the same in Boston and the other host cities. Im looking at the final day now and the coliseum is packed. This is the second time the event has been held in Greensboro and if U.S. Figure Skating wasn't impressed with Greensboro, they wouldn't have returned. U.S. Figure Skating has said they see a long relationship with Greensboro and the Greensboro Coliseum has a big advantage that none of the other host cities have. The Greensboro Coliseum Complex is a big enough venue to host the championships, skating practices and fan festivities all under one roof. In the other host cities, the competitors have to practice at separate venues and have to be shuttle from the practice site to the championship venue. Greensboro has benefited from the current trend with big cities building smaller arenas for the NBA and NHL.