2025 Arnold Classic UK – No dates on 2025 Contest Calendar.
The tentative schedule for the 2025 contest season was published by the NPC/Pro League earlier this week.
Most major events have confirmed their dates, with the Olympia Weekend still to confirm the actual dates for 2025.
The dates for the 2025 Arnold Classic UK are missing from the schedule. Athletes and fans are becoming very frustrated being left in the dark, not knowing if they should make plans to attend the event.
Athletes are even more frustrated as they cannot plan their contest prep for the 2025 Arnold Classic UK due to no dates being confirmed.
Read More: 2025 Arnold Classic UK: Silence from the Promoters Continues
As mentioned in previous articles, Evolutionofbodybuilding.net tried to reach out to the World Championship Events, the company that runs the Arnold Classic events, but no reply was given.
As it looks, unless the promoters decide to schedule the event late into the year, the 2025 Arnold Classic will not take place.
The NPC/Pro League still has to add more events to its contest calendar, and athletes and fans will be waiting anxiously if the 2025 Arnold Classic UK will be included.
Questions are not being answered
The official website of the Arnold Sports Festival UK, and all the social media pages, have not been updated since March 2024. This is a big indication that the 2025 event could be scrapped. No dates have been indicated.
Some random updates of previous events are being posted on the Arnold Sports UK Instagram page, with the majority of followers asking if the 2025 Arnold Classic UK is taking place, but their questions seem to be falling on deaf ears.
Every question is answered with the same response, “Hi, stay tuned for the latest updates”.
Fans and athletes are becoming very frustrated with this response, and they are publishing messages showing their disappointment on the official social media pages of the Arnold Classic UK.
The official website of the 2025 Arnold Sports Festival UK also does not indicate any events planned for the near future.
Professional bodybuilders are already planning to compete at the event in the UK, not having any idea that the event is still not confirmed.
The History of the Arnold Sports Festival UK
The Arnold UK made its debut in 2021 when Stephen Olexy formed a partnership with Arnold Schwarzenegger, to promote and run the event in the United Kingdom.
The build-up to the Arnold UK in 2021 was perfect. Athletes and fans could not wait for this event to get started.
The NEC in Birmingham was the venue for this great event, having more than enough space for the thousands of fans to attend the expo and events.
Thanks to the marketing genius of Stephen Olexy, Stephen managed to bring some of the world’s biggest stars to these events, such as Sylvester Stallone in 2021, and Sugar Ray Leonard in 2022.
Unfortunately for the fans and athletes, Arnold did not travel to the UK in 2021, due to an injury, and he was absent from a super seminar with his good friend Sylvester Stallone.
After a successful event in 2021, the same management and promoters put together the same event again in 2022, but this event would have a black cloud over it.
Everything goes downhill after 2022
After the 2021 Arnold Sports Festival UK ended, the company that runs the Arnold Classic, “Classic Productions”, went through some major changes and was renamed “World Championship Events Inc.”
The major change at the Arnold Sports Festival headquarters was that Arnold parted ways with his partner Bob Lorimer, and replaced him with Brian Powers, who was then named Arnold Classic Executive Director.
Arnold Schwarzenegger again did not attend the event in 2022, causing fans to vent their frustration towards the promoter Stephen Olexy, who had no control over this situation.
Read More: “Arnold didn’t show up” – Former Arnold Sports Festival UK Promoter
With Brian Powers in total command, he immediately cut ties with Stephen Olexy, allegedly removing him as a partner with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The event did not take place in 2023 and returned in 2024, but with some major changes. The amateur bodybuilding events were left out of the 2024 Arnold UK Sports Festival. Allegedly, 2Bros Pro have exclusive rights to NPC amateur bodybuilding events in the UK, and Brian Powers allegedly refused to work with them, after not seeing eye to eye with 2Bros Pro in 2022.
When Bob and Jim Lorimer were still involved in organizing the Arnold Classic, there was a fantastic relationship with the bodybuilding media, with their marketing team staying in close contact with all the media, keeping everybody up-to-date.
With Brian Powers at the helm, the situation changed drastically. The connection between the media and the Arnold UK marketing team fell apart, with a select few allegedly given preference and easy access to the event.
Brian Powers allegedly runs the event with an iron fist, reminiscent of the days when Robin Chang used to run the Olympia Weekend. Not all the press have full access to the event.
The amateur athletes that have always dreamed of competing at the Arnold UK, felt betrayed when the amateur events were removed from the 2024 Arnold Sports Festival UK.
The Arnold Sports Festival was always known for promoting amateur bodybuilding, and removing it from the 2024 Arnold UK was a bad decision.
Brian Powers might have an eye for marketing and promotion, but does he understand the sport of bodybuilding?
Of course, Powers wants the best athletes in the world at his events, and the best way to convince them to come is by raising the prize fund, but he cannot forget where the pro athletes come from, they were all amateurs at one point in their career.
A perfect example of how successful an event can be with amateur competitors is the Arnold Sports Festival Europe, organized by IFBB President Dr. Rafael Santonja and his wife Nieves.
The Arnold Sports Festival Europe attracts over 1,000 amateur athletes, competing at the highest level.
Unfortunately, Powers allegedly turns a blind eye to this event, even though it’s Arnold’s most successful international event. The 2024 edition of the Arnold Sports Festival Europe, was the 14th edition of the event.
