Planners work on choreography
Skating promoters Toby Steward and Barb Beddor consider every one of the 10,000 seats in the Spokane Arena as another potential ticket sold.
Doug Wilson, an Emmy-winning director for ABC-TV, looks at the same space and sees camera locations that will benefit the millions of home viewers for the 2007 State Farm U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
The three spent Thursday morning together, walking through an empty Arena as early preparation for the event moved from the e-mail phase to the in-person stage. Greg Johnston, director of events from United States Skating, and several Spokane Arena representatives also offered their input.
“This is a very critical aspect of the event … very critical,” said Steward, who won the bid 14 months ago, along with his Star USA partner and wife, Beddor. “The difference between 100 seats and 500 seats is major.”
Steward said more than 50,000 tickets have been sold to the Jan. 21-28 event. Tickets are marketed in “event packages,” which include admission to all 15 competitions and practices for $495. About 6,000 tickets at $60 have been sold to the Exhibition of Champions on Jan. 28.
Those who have purchased tickets are buying a place in line, Beddor explained. Ticket sales are date-stamped and tickets will be distributed two months before the event.
The Convention Center, due to be finished in mid-2006, will serve as a second venue for lower-division competition and practices. Events there will not be televised.
ABC, which owns the TV rights, ultimately has the final word as to which seats will be lost to camera placement for the good of the broadcast. The kiss-and-cry area and broadcast booth also will be determined by TV, with input from United States Skating.
The configurations will be similar to those of the 2002 Skate America event, also promoted by Star USA and produced by ABC.
Wilson, a producer and director at ABC for 47 years, said producer Curt Gowdy Jr. used 13 cameras at the 2005 nationals in January at Portland’s Rose Garden. The newest angle was provided by the SkyCam, an overhead camera that is used at NFL games.
“We were trying to find a way to have a camera to add a new dimension to the classic way skating has been presented,” Wilson said.
The computerized camera, which zips around on cables, is operated by a two-person team. It proved successful in Portland, giving home viewers the sense of skaters’ speed as well as showing the spaciousness of an arena. Wilson said ABC plans to continue using the SkyCam, along with a dozen other cameras.
Steward said he won’t know until next summer how many seats will be killed from his ticket distribution. That’s when ABC and United States Skating will return with the final configurations.
In the meantime, Star USA will continue its energetic ticket campaign drive. Its goal is to sell more than 125,000 tickets and surpass the record set at the U.S. Skating Championships in Los Angeles in 2002. During Skate America, Spokane set a four-day record attendance of 28,513, surpassing Portland, Maine’s attendance of 26,588 set at the 1986 Skate America.
“They did a great job with Skate America. It’s a friendly town,” Wilson said. “There’s an energy in a small city and a smaller space.”