Debate in winter sports about TV rights: stage victory for Eliasch

There was wrestling and poker until the end, promises were withdrawn and promised again. On Wednesday evening, according to SZ information, it was clear: The World Ski and Snowboard Association (Fis) received the green light for its central TV rights marketing with the Infront agency. So happy holiday news for the entire winter sports family?

In the eye of the storm until the end: Fis President Johan Eliasch. He has wanted to bundle the TV rights under the umbrella of his world association for around two years, instead of letting the national ski associations negotiate deals with individual agencies. Now the 62-year-old has reached his goal for the time being: the Fis can market the rights centrally with the Infront agency from the 2026/27 season, so more money will flow to all associations over eight years.

At least officially, peace has returned to skiing earth: With the exception of the Austrian Ski Association (ÖSV), which wants to continue its rights agreement with the IMG agency, all of the important ski associations that organize World Cups have agreed to the deal. After the German Ski Association (DSV), the Swiss association also agreed on Wednesday, which in turn prompted Canada and the USA to come on board. (Almost) nobody wants to be completely alone.

But things won’t be contemplative behind the scenes. Some associations’ own interests are obviously too great. According to reports, Eliasch had recently played this out cleverly by negotiating with many individually. The DSV had, for example, demanded that certain World Cup events in Germany be anchored in the Fis’ long-term calendar in the future. He also wanted to be assured that the media rights, which will be bundled under the Fis umbrella in the future, will be transferred back into the ownership of the individual national associations. “Many decided in the interests of their country, but not in the interests of sport,” says an insider, summing up the outcome of the negotiations. The unity of many associations that had created structures in recent years in order to break away from the Fis in the worst case scenario – in any case, it is audibly crumbling.

The Austrian Ski Association is suing in Vienna against the Fis and centralization

The alliance of winter sports athletes is completely different. The majority of them have been critical of the Infront deal since the private equity firm CVC officially offered on December 2nd. to join Fis for 400 million euros – roughly speaking, in return for bundling all rights, including those for international TV marketing. Up to 71 athletes had written several letters asking Eliasch to put the deal with Infront on hold and to check whether CVC’s offer promised greater profits in the long term. After Eliasch complained that the letters were “not to be taken seriously,” the athlete and the Fis president met on Tuesday for an online discussion. However, participants say that the Infront deal was not a dominant topic. The Fis had previously spoken to CVC representatives and then confirmed that it did not currently need any fresh capital from an investor. In any case, after Eliasch’s harsh statements, the majority of athletes are unlikely to care much for an Fis president who supposedly negotiates the best for them and their sport.

Until recently, the athletes also called for the prize money to be increased appropriately in all disciplines, and they see the influx of external capital as a more effective lever for this. In its first, still vague offer, CVC had promised to distribute 375 of the promised 400 million euros for the first three to five years among the winter sports family – but for all rights. With Infront, This is what Fis and Infront promised in the summer of 2023at least 100 million euros more will be paid out to everyone involved over eight years, only with the international TV business. However, it remains questionable whether this will make everyone involved, including athletes, better off in the future. He had Eliash German press agency Most recently said that the centralization deal “will not be as profitable as it could” – because, so the suggestion goes, the Austrians had opted out recently.

Their role is already an exciting one: The Austrian Ski Association is currently suing the Fis in Vienna and is attacking the centralization that has now been decided. This represents “a kind of blackmail”.ÖSV General Secretary Christian Scherer said before the first negotiation at the end of November: “Because he explicitly states that if you sign this, you will receive that in return”. The Munich Regional Court essentially confirmed this legal opinion at the end of October. Some experts even read in the judgment that the planned centralization should fundamentally not be implemented.

However, another aspect was more important to the German Ski Association, which had brought the lawsuit, at the time: that the national ski associations were the original owners of the TV rights, regardless of how they were marketed. This helped the DSV when it recently negotiated the details of centralization with the Fis. According to reports, the ÖSV was willing to pursue its lawsuit in full until the end.