Bob Dunlop: Two Decades of Organizing Events for U.S. Figure Skating

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The United States Figure Skating National championships was first held in 1914 in New Haven, Connecticut, and has been the spot for fans of the sport to see the best in the history of the sport, including Dick Button, Scott Hamilton, Brian Boitano and Nathan Chen on the men’s side, to women’s sports icons such as Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hammill, Kristi Yamaguchi and Michelle Kwan. This year’s event is in San Jose, California, at the SAP Center. SportsTravel Managing Editor Matt Traub talked with Bob Dunlop, the senior director of events for U.S. Figure Skating about what goes into organizing the national championships, how the event is more than just the elite competition seen on television, working with destinations and venues over the years including during the pandemic, best practices in the business and the one event that he still wants to check off his sports bucket list. We hope you enjoy the conversation.

Among the topics discussed in this episode:

• Why San Jose has become a popular destination for USFS (2:00)
• Timelines for arena buildup and takedown in any venue for planning a major championship (3:27)
• The relationship between USFS and host cities and venues and its importance in having a successful event (4:29)
• The importance of making the juniors competition similarly in quality to senior competition (6:21)
• The growth of synchronized skating (8:38)
• How the working relationship has changed with host cities and which pandemic protocols are continuing (10:21)
• How the event bidding landscape has changed over time (13:02)
• The sharing of best practices in event organization and protocols (14:37)
• How long the process takes to evaluate bidders and select a host city (16:24)
• The one event or venue that he still wants to see in person (18:18)

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