THE MS. OLYMPIA IN LAS VEGAS:
HOW IT HAPPENED AND WHY
A Q&A Interview With IFBB Vice President WAYNE DEMILIA
Wayne Demilia is an IFBB Vice President and Chairman of the Pro Committee. He has been a contest promoter since 1975, held the IFBB Night of Champions in New York since the early 1980s and staged his first Mr. Olympia event in 1984. Wayne is the promoter for this year's IFBB Olympia Weekend in Las Vegas, which will include both the Ms. Olympia and the Fitness Olympia competitions for women.. I spoke to him recently and asked him how and why the decision was made to include women's bodybuilding with the rest of the events at the Olympia Weekend.
BD: In 1999, the Ms. Olympia was first cancelled, then moved at the last minute to Secaucus, New Jersey. Were you concerned that the event might not even be held in 2000?
WAYNE: We all were. Neither Ben Weider, Joe Weider or I wanted to see that happen, but we weren't seeing the promoters and sponsors necessary to make the contest happen coming forward.
BD: Is that why it was decided to hold the Ms. Olympia in Las Vegas with the other contests?
WAYNE: Well, I think everybody involved thought it was a good idea. It couldn't happen in 1999 because we were already committed to another promoter to do the show in Santa Monica, California, and by the time we realized the contest would have to be cancelled it was too late to reschedule it for Las Vegas.
BD: How did the IFBB come to decide to hold the Olympia at the Mandalay Bay in the first place?
WAYNE: Well, Glen Schaffer, who is CEO of Circus Circus, Incorporated - which owns among other things Circus Circus, the Excalibur and the Mandalay Bay - is also on the Weider Nutrition Board of Directors. He was the one who suggested to Joe and Ben that the Mandalay Bay would be the perfect place to hold a real bodybuilding extravaganza - and judging from how things went last year he certainly seems to have been correct.
BD: Do you think having the Ms. Olympia in Vegas has been a real addition to the weekend, or is the attitude of the IFBB merely that this needs to be done to keep women's bodybuilding going?
WAYNE: There's no doubt it adds a lot to the whole weekend. It just makes the event even bigger and more important. Fans of female bodybuilders get a chance to see their favorites. There is twice as much competition to see on Friday night, with both the female bodybuilders and fitness women on stage. In 2000, when we held the Fitness Olympia on Friday night, we needed to book entertainment to fill the gaps while the fitness competitors changed and got ready for each round. With the women bodybuilders included in 2000, this won't be necessary and we were able to pretty much sell out the theater, which wasn't true when the Fitness Olympia was held by itself.
BD: Some people have said they think there is not much of an audience for female bodybuilding, at least at the pro level. Do you agree?
WAYNE: No, there is certainly an audience. But when the Mr. and Ms. Olympia are held separately, it means bodybuilding fans have to make two trips, book two sets of airline tickets, two sets of hotel reservations in order to see them both. A lot of the fans who go to the Mr. Olympia would like to see the Ms. Olympia as well - and the Fitness Olympia for that matter - but not to make a special trip to do so. When all the contests are held at the same time, in the same place, watching the women compete becomes just a matter of buying an extra ticket, or a VIP ticket, and that makes all the difference.
BD: And what about sponsorship?
WAYNE: Same thing. A lot of sponsors who might think they weren't getting enough return on their investment supporting the Ms. Olympia by itself feel very differently when the contest is included in such a big overall event.
BD: So ticket sales for the women's events are no problem?
WAYNE: Everything is going well. Word of mouth from last year is terrific. The Mandalay Bay is the perfect venue for a bodybuilding weekend. We have the beach area, which is the location for Joe Weider's Muscle Beach. The Fitness Expo is getting bigger every year.. The hotel is elegant and comfortable, the rooms for this event are reasonably priced, you've got so many nice restaurants in the hotel, and a theater than is just about perfect for both audience and competitors alike.
BD: Do you think the controversy over the judging guidelines for women has had an effect on ticket sales?
WAYNE: I don't believe so. Judging in women's bodybuilding in a process of evolution. There have been some complaints about the outcome of individual contests, but that is normal in bodybuilding and always has been.. But I think the important thing is that we are going to continue to have an IFBB Ms. Olympia and as long as we are sure the contest and female bodybuilding will survive that will give us the time necessary to work out all the details and refinements necessary to make the sport a big success.
Olympia Weekend tickets are available through Ticketron or the Mandalay Bay box office or can be ordered directly from Wayne Demilia at (914) 638 9290.
