The International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) and the national ski associations (NSAs) have finalized the process to centralize international media and broadcast rights for World Cup events.
This comes eight months after the FIS Council voted in favor of centralization, which was a core part of Johan Eliasch’s presidency when he was re-elected for a full four-year term in 2022.
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All major World Cup NSAs, except for Austria, have reached an agreement on the centralization of media rights.
The FIS said the move will now allow it to commercialize the rights to the FIS World Cup competitions “as a strong global package.”
During the consultation phase with all relevant World Cup NSAs, numerous revisions were made to the original FIS proposal.
These changes stemmed from the ‘Snowflake’ project, which was put forward a year ago by several NSAs as an alternative model.
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By GlobalDataThe centralization will be implemented under a new governance model agreed between FIS and the World Cup NSAs, including the newly formed decision-making and advisory bodies FIS Media Rights Panel and the FIS Media Rights Executive Board with representatives of the World Cup NSAs and FIS.
The council also approved a long-term calendar framework until 2033-34.
Eliasch said: “This is truly a historic day for snow sports. With a centralized approach to international media and broadcast rights, the sport takes control of its own destiny.
“This landmark step will allow us to develop our product collectively, maximize the commercial value of our media assets, enhance content accessibility, expand storytelling opportunities, attract new audiences, and ultimately increase prize money for athletes. Today marks the moment snow sports step fully into the 21st century.”
The move has allowed FIS to conclude its exclusive agency agreement with Infront after the two parties called a truce on the centralization matter by agreeing a new long-term deal last July.
Under that deal, the international media and broadcast rights for all FIS World Cup events, except those in Austria, will be marketed by Infront.
The partnership will take effect starting from the 2026-27 season and run through the 2033-34 campaign.
The FIS stated that the agreement “guarantees increased revenues for all participating World Cup federations, greater control over rights management, and exciting new possibilities for fan engagement through innovative digital offerings.”
Infront’s international distribution of multi-platform World Cup rights is expected to generate more than €100 million ($104 million) above the figure raised under current rights sales.
The current sales agreement sees Infront hold individual rights deals with all national associations except the Austrian Ski Association, which has separate deals with Eurovision Sport, the sports arm of the European Broadcasting Union, and international sports and marketing agency IMG.
Bruno Marty, Infront senior vice president of ProSports, added: “This new set-up takes Infront’s well-established, two-decade-long partnership with FIS and its member associations to the next level.
“Its confirmation is fantastic news for the snow-sport family, the athletes, media rights licensees, and ultimately the fans. Our exclusive agency agreement with FIS will provide a single point of sale for the vast majority of FIS World Cup races, allowing us to substantially grow media rights revenues based on our expertise and in-depth knowledge of the sports media industry.
“This ensures long-term planning security for all stakeholders involved. We are looking forward to closely working together with the FIS family to increase attractiveness, exposure, and impact of the FIS World Cup globally.”
A framework has now been established “that allows the interests of all World Cup NSAs to be fairly integrated into a unified centralization structure.”
After concluding the agreement, FIS and the NSAs will now work on “further actions” to “collectively secure the future viability and sustainability of skiing and snowboarding as a product.”
All parties involved will prioritize “product development” in the coming months, which will specifically explore opportunities for additional investments, expanded partnerships, and enhanced collaborations.
Eliasch added: “There was never a doubt that a centralized rights approach is the most beneficial format for FIS and the NSAs – the question has been about how to set it up.
“FIS and the World Cup NSAs have been working diligently over the past 18 months to agree on a governance framework, and we are proud to have achieved this milestone together. This is how meaningful decisions are made: collectively, for the successful future of our sport and our athletes.”
