A group of high-profile ski racers and snowboarders, along with executives and board members, are challenging their sport’s governing body to reconsider a lucrative investment opportunity that could be worth more than $400 million.
The International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) was approached on Nov. 30 with a proposal from CVC Capital Partners, a company that’s invested over the years in Formula 1, soccer teams, rugby squads and women’s tennis.
Titled “Project Snow,” CVC was potentially offering an approximately $420 million (400 million euros) investment for a 20% shareholding in the commercial rights of snow sports ranging from snowboarding to cross-country skiing to Alpine skiing.
FIS responded days later in a letter to CVC officials that it was “very well capitalized and has no current need for further funding to help to deliver its strategic plans.”
Prominent athletes in the sport drafted and signed a letter—a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press—that urged FIS President Johan Eliasch to “reconsider your position on CVC’s proposal and to engage promptly in a constructive dialogue with them.”
There were nearly 60 athletes, executives and FIS council members who attached their names to the letter. The list included Olympic Alpine skiing medalists such as Mikaela Shiffrin, Lara Gut-Behrami, Marco Odermatt, Aleksander Aamodt Kilde and Sofia Goggia, along with Olympic freeski slopestyle champion Alex Hall and snowboarder Maddie Mastro. Also on the list was US Ski & Snowboard CEO Sophie Goldschmidt along with council members from Canada, Germany, Norway, Spain, Switzerland and Austria, to highlight a few.
“We disagree that many of the tasks outlined in the CVC proposal have been completed as part of the FIS global strategy,” read the athletes/executives letter, which was sent last Friday. “While there have been improvements in the digital area, there has been a notable lack of progress in most commercial, marketing and product development areas that are critical to grow our sports. This includes growing prize money and other improvements for athletes, which we know is becoming more of an issue for them, especially for certain disciplines.”
