Where is competitive bodybuilding going?

[xdude]

So Last year the elite pro division was anounce and Since then it seems to me to have been a disaster. This is an open question as to where this sport is going? we look atht e Prague Pro and the Arnold Europe and see the disater of Scheduling the same weekend . The result was Neither show was able to keep the same level of prize money and Neither show had the same caliber of contestants.
just look at these lists , one year appart


Arnold Classic Europe 2017 Results & Prize Money

1. Big Ramy ($40 000)
2. William Bonac ($25 000)
3. Shawn Rhoden ($15 000)
4. Roelly Winklaar ($12 500)
5. Nathan Deasha ($5 000)
6. Maxx Charles ($2 500)
7. Petar Klancir
8. Victor Martinez
9. Marek Olejniczak
10. Fred Smalls
11. Michael Lockett
12. Gerald Williams
13. Johnnie Jackson
14. Manual Canadillas
15. Jaime Atienza
16. Mauro Pulido

Arnold Classic Europe 2018 Results
1 Michael Krizanek
2 Szymon Lada
3 Michael Muzo
4 Alexander Westermeier
5 Mika Sihvonen
6 Carlos Blanco
7 Gregory Bellot
8 Ilya Lukovets
9 Tomas Kaspar
10 Omar Pellejero
11 Marcos Herrera
11 Abel Martin
11 Tony Gutierrez
11 Abdelkaim Ammari

you can argue that the first place are justified , and that it is a matter of taste as to the winner between Big Ramy and Michael Krizanek ( ie mass monster vs esthetics and balance ) but the bench is not as deep. just looking at these 2 list and look at the top 5 and you can see that the competition is just not as deep a bench. Can you really compare Mika Sihvonen to Nathan Deasha.
The Prague Pro is even worse .

OK This may have been a screw up in scheduling , but now the Arnold Class US has just occurred and you can see it has also spread to America. I can you really say AC USA had competition this year was as good as last year.

2018 COMPETITORS

Arnold Classic
Lionel Beyeke
William Bonac
Maxx Charles
Jonathan DeLaRosa
Dexter Jackson
Steve Kuclo
Cedric McMillan
Lukas Osladil
Paul Poloczek
Justin Rodriguez
Fred Smalls
Roelly Winklaar
Dennis Wolf
Hidetada Yamagishi

Arnold Classic 212
Gaetano Cisternino Jr.
Charles Dixon
Kamal Elgargni
David Henry
Kyung Won Kang
Jose Raymond
Samir Troudi

2019 IFBB PRO LEAGUE INVITATION & COMPETITOR LISTS

Arnold Classic (13)
Lionel Beyeke
William Bonac
Rafael Brandao
Brandon Curry
Charles Dixon
Steve Kuclo
Joshua Lenartowicz
Victor Martinez
Cedric McMillan
Luke Sandoe
Mikhail Volinkin
Akim Williams
Roelly Winklaar

well for starters where is the 212 class. OK there are retirements on this list ( quiet a few) And the veterans are better and still moving up but the new quys don't seem as impressive.
( OK Akim Williams is a Beast and is impressive , not pretty but massive)

Is this just changing of the guard, changing to new judging standards , or the beginning of the end?
There are more pros's now then ever, and the prize money is not there. So where are all these pro going to compete.

Just an open letter to get the discussion started.

[xdude]

Oh and something else that will factor into this,the collapse of the Weider organization.Yes the Wieder's ruled with an iron fist , and you can argue they didn't pay well, but they did get the winner's prize money up there. IIRC the first Olympia was $1000, and by the time they left it was over 100K. American Media is in financial trouble
the Weiders relied on magazine sales for most of their income, magazines are thing of the past.That magazine sold magic powders and protein drinks.

Could we see the last Olympia this year... I hate to say this , but this could be a true.

[MuscleAddiction]

We shall see what happens...but yeah things are changing. No money...no sport.

[mookymonkey]

these guys are spending 100000 plus on drugs and nutrition and win 25000 !!!!! not to good... ;)

[MuscleAddiction]

So a reputable source who was working at the Arnold Classic this year mentioned that the 4 days brought in 64 million dollars in revenue, up from 53 million last year so they are making money, so the big shows are still pulling in the fans and sponsors. There are also new shows starting up this year in the NPC circuit, and the show we just had last month we had a record crowd in the audience for the evening show.

[xdude]

yeah I would expect Arnold to land on his feet.. the darts, pole dancing and ping ping probably help :)

either way good to here that should survive

[xdude]

bringing up this old thread because it seems to fit. apparently the EVLS prague pro is canceled for 2019...
This show used to have prize money over 100k and was one of the biggest shows in Europe . Had an Amateur show with pro cards .
they say they will be back in 2020



http://www.evlspraguepro.com/en/info/