What happens next?

ÖSV against FIS deal: “Thankfully declined”

FIS President Johan Eliasch has prevailed with his marketing deal - the ÖSV is still against it.

(Bild: Birbaumer Christof/GEPA)

A marketing deal pushed by the Ski and Snowboard World Federation FIS can come into force after long negotiations. As reported by the Süddeutsche Zeitung and Blick, enough nations have agreed to centralized marketing of international media rights by the company Infront - the ÖSV is not one of them, as CEO Christian Scherer confirmed. Austria's ski association wants to continue to market its international media rights itself.

Central marketing has recently been the subject of heated debate between the FIS, which has long been vehemently calling for this under President Johan Eliasch, and some national associations. The world federation is hoping for higher revenues, while some associations have opposed the plans. The German Ski Association (DSV) even obtained a temporary injunction in a Munich court. The Austrian Ski Association also took legal action - but there has not yet been a ruling.

Until the very end, the FIS made concessions to the individual national associations in order to get them on board. After the DSV, Switzerland, the USA and Canada also agreed to the deal this week, according to which the Swiss-based agency Infront will market these rights to the World Cups of the various sports from the 2026/27 season until 2034. The deal is not yet official.

Austria still opposed
Only Austria continues to reject central marketing. "We also had an offer from the FIS, but we declined after a short period of consideration. We would have had to break existing contracts, which is not in line with our culture of values," said Scherer. "Even if the FIS had indemnified and held us harmless, we would have declined." The ÖSV wants to continue its rights contract with the IMG agency. "We have already extended certain international contracts and are now working on expanding and extending certain territories."

Christian Scherer

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Scherer said he does not know whether anything will change for ski consumers in general from 2026/27. "The FIS will have to say whether they want to move to pay TV, for example." This is an important point for the ÖSV. "We want to determine where our races are broadcast at home and abroad. For us, it's a showcase for tourism and sport in general. We are not always interested in maximizing revenue, but it has to be an attractive overall offer." When asked about possible economic disadvantages, the ÖSV Managing Director said: "The market development will show. It is a very competitive environment."

Investor issue not off the table
The Infront deal should not be confused with the possible entry of an investor, which recently caused a stir in the ski world. The financial company CVC approached the FIS with a proposal for a partnership and an investment of 400 million euros. In his own words, Eliasch had demanded more details from the company in this regard, but also emphasized that a future collaboration was "not off the table".

This led to an exchange of letters between a number of athletes, who accused the FIS management of going it alone and lacking transparency, and Eliasch. The FIS President claimed in interviews that many of the athletes had not even understood what was at stake. Last Tuesday, there was an attempt at a debate at an online meeting. An FIS spokesperson reported that the discussion was "pleasant and informative".