History

In 1995, the skating federations of Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and the United States talked about creating a series of figure skating events with substantial prizes funded largely by the sale of international television rights.

However, the International Skating Union (ISU) claimed ownership of those TV rights and took over the series. Originally known as the ISU Champions Series, it became as the Grand Prix of Figure Skating until in 1998.

A Russian event was added in 1996 and the German event was replaced with one in China in 2003. There are currently six events in the Grand Prix, beginning in late October and ending in early December, followed by Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in mid-December. The final rotates among the six participating countries.

The six events are: Skate America; Skate Canada International; Cup of China; Trophée Eric Bompard; Cup of Russia; and the NHK Trophy in Japan.

A point system based on placings at those events is used to determine the top six skaters or pairs in each discipline, and they compete for the overall championship in the final.

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