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03/10/09
Promoting a professional bodybuilding show is very expensive business. Promoters must rent an auditorium, pay for insurance, staff, lighting, and a million other things. They must also advertise the show locally, sell tickets, and cut checks for the winning athletes. And, they typically have to run an NPC show on the undercard to help pay for most of the above, as professional bodybuilding shows don’t garner near as much ticket sales as the amateur shows do. NPC shows (amateurs) involve local athletes who invite their family, friends, and co-workers out to the show. Professional bodybuilders don’t have that luxury.
As a result of all these costs, and often limited ticket sales, promoters often take a loss on shows. Or, if they do make a profit, it’s a very slim profit. They are always lucky to break even, and use the show to springboard another interest of theirs. Or, they simply do it because they love promoting a show. Whatever the reason, the fact remains they aren’t doing it for the money, because there isn’t a great deal of money in bodybuilding.
While lack of prize money might hurt professional athletes, it doesn’t hurt the amateurs, who don’t receive a paycheck anyway. More remarkably, it might actually help bodybuilders. Why? Because steroid testing is very expensive. A steroid screen for a bodybuilding show contestant can cost anywhere from $150 to $700, depending upon the compounds searched, the speed required, and other factors. With so many weight classes and competitors, testing every competitor in a show for steroid use can run into the tens of thousands of dollars, an amount that no promoter has to spare.
As a result, most promoters do zero testing. Even amateur federations who pride themselves on being natural will often only test the winners of each class. Even then, the tests are often limited in scope. You’ll often find the word “random” thrown around at bodybuilding shows for drug testing. But if the promoter is running the show on a shoestring budget, there’s a good change there will be little to no testing.
Bodybuilders who use anabolic steroids will be happy with this situation. They get to use, and they don’t get tested. Natural bodybuilders might resent it, as it means they are competing against cheaters who know they will never be tested to reveal this cheating. It’s all part of the sport of bodybuilding. When you get into it, you know that money isn’t the reason - reaching one’s own level of potential for physical development is the goal.
