updated 12:03 a.m. ET Jan. 19, 2008

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Lord knows Johnny Weir has done his part.

With his taste in costumes running a tad on the eccentric side, his wardrobe gets picked apart more than a celebutante’s. He says what he thinks, often colorfully so. He’s a fan favorite all over the world, so much so foreign groupies now visit his rink.

Yet it’s not enough for his sport. After a decade of being the best soap opera in sports, figure skating has fallen flat. Oh, sure, there are still skating specials on TV seemingly every weekend, no other Olympic sport has anything close to its following, and the Americans have depth like never before in women, men, ice dance and, believe it or not, pairs.

But the buzz is nowhere close to what it was in the Tonya-Nancy aftermath, and with Michelle Kwan, Sasha Cohen and Sarah Hughes all off doing other things, skating is searching for its next big star.

“We had a lot of stars back in the day, a lot of celebrities and things for people to grab onto. Somewhere along the way we’ve lost that,” said Tanith Belbin, who is going for her fifth ice dance title with partner Ben Agosto at next week’s U.S. Figure Skating Championships in St. Paul, Minn.

“People still love skating. We’re still putting out a great product. We just need to find a way to sell it.”

Which is what makes figure skating’s woes seem so drastic — maybe more drastic than they really are. For much of the last 15 years, the sport sold itself.

“We’re in a transition from the Michelle Kwan era to the next era,” said David Raith, executive director of U.S. Figure Skating. “We are right in that transition of developing and identifying the new stars. I truly believe once that those new stars emerge, we’ll have a different discussion.”

Unlike other Olympic sports, which are all but forgotten in the three years between games, figure skating has always enjoyed privileged status. Its national and world championships are televised each year — and in a decent time slot, not 2 a.m. on a Tuesday — and there was always a special or two featuring past and present stars.

Ice shows, be it Stars on Ice or Sesame Street on Ice, played to big crowds throughout the country. And skaters were considered celebrities as well as athletes.

After Tonya-Nancy, skating’s popularity exploded. Americans would watch anything if it was on ice, which explains shows like “Ice Wars” and “Too Hot to Skate.” The touring shows became as tough a ticket as rock concerts, and skaters were raking in serious cash.

And while Oksana Baiul, Tara Lipinski and Hughes disappeared from view almost as soon as they won their gold medals, Kwan was always there to fill the void. She won nine U.S. titles and five world championships from 1996 to 2006, and was adored by fans and corporate America alike.

But Kwan began curtailing her schedule after the 2002 Olympics, and hasn’t skated competitively in almost three years. Cohen, the second-biggest name in the sport, is working on her acting career.

So for the first time in decades, skating had no star-in-waiting. Throw in a complicated new judging system and the increased competition for viewers in a 400-channel world, and it’s no surprise figure skating ran into problems.

Slide show   Week in Sports Pictures Pain on the skating rink, flying high on the hardwood, upsets on the football field, and more. more photos

“It’s, unfortunately, kind of the perfect storm,” said media consultant Neal Pilson, the former president of CBS Sports who was in charge of the network’s Olympic coverage in 1994.

The national championships don’t have a title sponsor, and ABC ended its 43-year partnership with U.S. Figure Skating last spring — a deal that was paying the governing body $12 million a year. The International Skating Union has yet to sign a deal with a U.S. broadcaster for next year’s world championships, which are in Los Angeles.

U.S. Figure Skating does have a new, three-year deal with NBC, but it doesn’t include rights fees.

Champions on Ice still hasn’t announced its schedule for this year, and there is speculation the 38-year-old tour will either fold or merge with Stars on Ice.

“Skating is (driven) by the women. Right now we have baby girls competing against each other for national and international titles,” Weir said. “They don’t have the star quality like Katarina Witt or Kristi Yamaguchi or Michelle Kwan because they’re so tiny. And they can’t grasp the males, especially the older males who want to watch the hot girl.

“It’s just a rough time. We don’t have someone that everyone can relate to.”

But others say prospects aren’t that bleak.

After being shuttled between ABC, ESPN and even the Family Channel in recent years, all television coverage of next week’s nationals will be on NBC, a network everyone has. Skating will be on in prime-time Saturday and Sunday nights, with the women’s final being broadcast live Saturday. NBC is giving skating the star treatment, too, announcing Wednesday that Bob Costas will co-host its coverage.

MORE FROM FIGURE SKATING

Economy not clouding figure skating's future - yet

Economy not clouding figure skating's future - yet Joubert takes third Euro title Injury forces Meissner out of nationals Figure skating news and features   Add Figure skating headlines to your news reader: