Dick Button said: "In the amateur world, they count your triple jumps, and if you don't do enough they forget about your other skating.
At the same time, public interest in professional skating competitions was declining, more elite skaters were choosing to retain their competition eligibility by participating only in sanctioned events, and networks were shifting towards a time-buy model which made skating events less lucrative for producers.
In 2001, a successor pro competition produced by IMG under the name "Hallmark Skater's Championship" was held on the usual December date at the MCI Center.
In 2016 the French company Agence Combes purchased the rights of the World Professional Figure Skating Championships.
Its official name in Spanish was Campeonatos del Mundo de Patinaje Artístico Professional sobre Hielo.
The forerunner of this event was an open professional championship for show skaters dating back to at least the 1930s that was held in England, initially under the auspices of the National Ice Skating Association of Great Britain, and later organized by the Imperial Professional Skaters Association.
Past winners of this event include Denise Biellmann, Robert Wagenhoffer, Gary Beacom, Scott Williams, Pierre Panayi and Lorna Brown.