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lazuliblade · 7 years

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Victor’s High-quality Lifestyle

Simply put - yes, he could support himself with figure skating, although not purely by competing. The majority of his earnings would come from sponsorships, endorsements, ice shows, contracts, and royalties.

Victor is definitely the highest paid skater of his time. Besides the big sponsorships that can cover a portion of costs, he’ll have magazine shoots and interviews, be invited to ice shows, and have endorsements in various fields (such as sportswear, jewelry, and food).

Training Cost

This post does a great job of explaining the cost to compete, and mentions how skaters need some way to support themselves - whether that be ice shows, a job, or a bit of funding from skating federations in certain countries. It’s not just coaching fees and equipment (boots and blades), but ice time, travel costs, choreography fees (although Victor does his own choreo), music composition fees, costumes, physical therapy, consulting a nutritionist, dance instruction, day-to-day expenses....

It’s only the very top athletes or the very promising ones that companies are interested in sponsoring. For those top athletes in countries that care for figure skating, they'll likely get good contracts at some point.

Lucrative sponsorships help to cover a chunk of training and travel costs. ANA covers Yuzu’s travel costs, is his biggest sponsor, and is listed as his skating club. Mizuno and Lotte are also large sponsors -- you’ll see him wearing Mizuno’s athletic clothing and sporting Lotte’s logo on his official Japan jacket. Amino Vital is the sports drink you see Yuzu with at the boards.

I'm not exactly sure how the Russian federation works when it comes to letting their skaters sign deals (another thing I've been attempting to hunt down with little luck) but there shouldn't be a cap to the number of sponsorships a skater can accept as long as the skater works things out between the companies and it doesn’t affect their skating. I don’t follow any Russian skaters super closely and wasn’t around in the days when Plushenko and Yagudin were the stars, so if someone follows/ed their daily life, feel free to reblog and add info, or send an ask/message. I believe the JSF allows only 5 TV commercial contracts per year, but they don't have a cap on the number of magazine shoots, interviews, or endorsements.

Making Money Through Skating

Victor would be contracted for ice show tours during the off-season. He’s popular enough where he’ll receive multiple tour offers and decide: 1.which offers he’ll take, 2.if he’ll show up for just one city in the tour, or 3.simply not accept any offers for performances. He can afford to decline in order to recover from the strain of the past season and focus on training for the next one. Most skaters love doing ice shows because of the fun and fulfilling atmosphere, and for the chance to interact with fans who support them, so there’s a good chance that popular/successful skaters will perform in at least a few shows over the off-season.

To reference a few real-life skaters, when Daisuke Takahashi or Mao Asada were listed on programs for a show, stadiums would fill up and tickets would sell out FAST if there wasn’t a lottery already in place. Yuzuru will get multiple offers every summer and decide what works best with his training schedule. He loves ice shows, but knows to let his body heal and not strain it too much prior to the start of another season. Plushenko would do all sorts of ice shows during the off-season -- even to the point of ignoring his federation. There are one-time shows that appear in a city for a couple of performances, and long-standing tours that go around the country for a few weeks, so popular skaters have some flexibility here. Japan in particular is a favorite country for many skaters because of the enthusiastic, informed audience and good contracts. I have no doubt that popular tours such as Stars on Ice (Canada, U.S., Japan), Fantasy on Ice (Japan), as well as others throughout Japan, North America, and Europe would sell out with Victor’s name on the program.

With his talent, Victor might even offer his services by choreographing some younger skaters’ programs or doing some coaching for camps and classes. Misha Ge did a little of both while competing.

Of course, every time a skater wants to participate in an exhibition or other such event, it has to be approved by their country’s skating federation. However, regulations in the ISU general handbook ensure that skaters are not unduly constricted from participation and no more than 10% of their earnings are to be taken by their federation.

Examples of Earning Off-ice

To bring real examples of what a skater as popular as Victor might do for TV programs and commercial deals:

skating on an iceberg (Shizuka Arakawa),

laying down on a custom mattress, (Yuzuru Hanyu with Tokyo Nishikawa’s &Free)

skating in collaboration with a major film (Daisuke Takahashi with Studio Ghibli’s “Omoidase no Marnie”/”When Marnie was There”)

All you have to do is look at Plushenko licking lolly pops, Patrick Chan and his ice wine, and dental fairy Yuzuru to see the varied forms that endorsements can take on.

I’d imagine Victor gets asked to feature in occasional photoshoots for Russia’s equivalent of An-an or Men’s Non-no (fashion magazines targeted to the 20-30s demographic). With his striking looks, high-end brands may ask him to model their seasonal lines for a couple of magazines.

“This year’s [Tommy Hilfiger/Banana Republic/Prada] winter fashion!” model: Victor Nikiforov “Our new line of jewelry for that special someone this holiday season” model: Victor Nikiforov

In addition to advertisements, he’ll also have had interviews and articles in various magazines, and been the subject of multiple short documentaries for local TV stations. I would venture that Victor has a few photobooks, an autobiography/biography, and at least one documentary DVD of his own-- all of which bring in royalties.

“A Young Hope Blooms Forth,” “Road to the Olympics,” “Spirit of the Legend” “Platinum and Gold” ...I can come up with a dozen likely titles for programs that TV stations could have aired over the years of his career. Furthermore, it seems he’s been to the Olympics two or three times, and Olympic fever always means more interviews, offers, and special collaborations.

A Few Extra Real-life Notes

I want to point out a skater who’s known for his high-end fashion: Johnny Weir. His family was humble, he doesn’t have Victor’s legendary record of golds, and he wasn’t the highest paid skater when he was competing (that would be Plushenko, Yuna, and Mao). However, he was such an icon and the media latched on for better or worse. Where Victor has a penchant for choreography, Johnny has one for costuming and fashion. He’s a middle-of-nowhere-small-town boy who loves pretty things and grew up to be fabulous on and off the ice. It’s not like the stuff he wears is cheap, but he’s a conscientious spender. Now that he’s turned pro and does commentary for nbc, it seems he’s relatively well-off.

It was mentioned in an interview* that fans would send Johnny expensive gifts in the mail -- like Chanel handbags -- because they knew he couldn’t afford them at the time. This isn’t limited to him. Denis Ten once received dog toys for his pet, and Yuzuru has received clothing. If a skater is well-loved, the fan base might send stuff that a skater wants but can't afford to splurge on or justify buying.

(*Caution that the interview, especially the second part, has traces of homophobia.)

Many skaters are from affluent families - the sport is one of the most expensive in the world - but there are plenty of skaters who start from poorer conditions and make it to the top through a combination of support, sacrifice, hard work, and grasping at opportunities. For a more drastic example, all it takes is a look at Plushenko’s life story to see that starting out with near nothing money-wise doesn’t mean a skater can’t rise to the top.

Tying It All Together

Victor doesn’t have much of a life outside of skating and Makkachin, so after the usual costs that come with competing and daily life, he’s likely saved quite a sum over the years. Perhaps Victor only splurges when it’s worthwhile. A condo and designer furniture are purchases that last for a long time-- and the times he’ll need a good suit are infrequent enough where he would be able to keep their condition for at least a year. He might buy several coats and a collection of suits which last him years. Good clothes, good personal products, and a few good books every now-and-then for his expansive library…

One must remember that he’s been competing internationally since he was at least 13 years old, and likely starting to earn enough himself to cover most costs from the time he was winning Euros at 18. Ten more years of success, with five of those being literal golden years, and he’s at the point where he can ship half of his stuff across the world without worrying too much about his bank account. He seems in touch with economics enough to know how to spend and save money (“if only the euro was down~”), and while we see him furnishing a room at the start of his stay in Yutopia, we have little comparison for spending practices during the rest of his time in Hasetsu, have no comparison for prior years, and this year is the first he feels like he’s living. Of course he’ll go all-out to start this new and exciting chapter.

For all that YOI tells us that he’s a Living Legend and shows us the kind of media attention he receives, Victor’s lofty image is deconstructed throughout the season so we see him as a lovable person rather than an icon. Watching his personal life while focused around Yuuri’s journey means we don’t see exactly how much of the face of figure skating he is, and as a result it’s easy to forget all that it entails.

#yuri on ice #yoimeta #informational post #victor nikiforov #yoi #yuri!!! on ice #ask response #roseofenglandstuff

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