U.S. Figure Skating enters this week's Prudential U.S. Championships with revenue equal to the same time a year ago -- when it was heading into the Sochi Games -- thanks to two new sponsors and renewals of a pair of key deals. The NGB has added one-year deals with Viking River Cruises and Consumer Cellular, which signed on in September, a month after AT&T decided not to renew as official sponsor in the mobile category. Prudential also has renewed through '18, while Smucker's renewed through '16. Financial terms were not available. USFS reported revenue of $17.5M in '14. USFS CMO Ramsey Baker said, "To be flat coming off of the Olympics for us is a great victory. It's a situation that we have not been in coming out of the last two Games." A key source of stability for USFS is its ownership of domestic broadcast rights for all Int'l Skating Union events. This also allows the NGB to package media into its partnerships and broadcast all ISU events on its streaming service, Ice Network. Baker: "Having the TV property is a value prop that isn't dependent on the Olympic hype. It allows us to be more independent and have conversations with our partners in different ways."
GETTING READY FOR THE SHOW: On-site activation at this week's U.S. Championships at the Greensboro Coliseum includes 12,000 handheld radios provided by Prudential and distributed to spectators. The radios will allow fans to listen to technical specialists who critique skaters' performances with the same scrutiny that the judges do. The event also includes a fan fest with a small ice rink created by Ice Rink Events, which will feature demonstrations by skaters and victory ceremonies for winners. The fan fest also features activation by some of the event's 35 local partners, including BB&T, Kipling and Greensboro's local newspaper, the News & Record. The large size of the Greensboro Coliseum complex, which includes the Special Events Center that will host the fan fest, factored into the choice to bring the event back to the city after it hosted in '11. Local Organizing Committee Chair Hill Carrow said, "We were the first local host committee to be able to do everything in one event, which I attribute more than anything as one of the key factors to bring the event back so quickly." The event began on Saturday with novice and juniors competitions. Olympic-level competition begins tomorrow, with broadcasts on NBC set for Saturday and Sunday.
