The talent on the U.S. Ski Team is deep this season. A new broadcast plan to elevate the country’s colorful ski racers is even deeper. Donors to the team are setting records.
Alpine ski racing takes the stage this weekend in Aspen and next week in Beaver Creek, a back-to-back homestand that the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association is betting sparks the best season ever for America’s top ski racers.
“We are certainly firing on all cylinders,” said Michael Jaquet, the association’s marketing chief.
Television coverage, the vital tool that keeps U.S. ski racing alive as athletes traverse far-away lands, seemed threatened in October when NBC announced it was shutting down its Universal Sports TV, which has broadcast World Cup skiing and snowboarding for nearly a decade.
But new technology and the proliferation of video streaming and on-demand viewing is delivering increased access to ski racing this season.
And even though NBC and its NBC Sports Network will be broadcasting 6½ hours of coverage of the Aspen and Beaver Creek races, USSA didn’t have to pay big money for time slots for live NBC coverage. That means more USSA money is going into the events and the association’s athletic development programs.
Jaquet called the new broadcast deal “a total game changer.”
NBC’s high-definition streaming of nearly every snowsports World Cup contest this season — including freeskiing, alpine racing, snowboarding, cross country and ski jumping — is an exponential increase in coverage beyond former broadcast deals that only covered ski racing.
“Now we have the ability to sustain our athletes’ stories through the whole season because of the availability of the content,” Jaquet said. “It’s a different way to market and promote the athletes and their sports.”
Last season’s investment in Beaver Creek for the hosting of the 2015 Alpine World Ski Championships has enabled the USSA to cut spending for the Dec. 4-6 Audi Birds of Prey races. The fiber optic cable buried along the race course supports super slow-motion cameras. The media room and television compound is already wired for broadcast.
In previous years, race hosts Beaver Creek, the Vail Valley Foundation and the USSA shared the cost of renting equipment and running cables up the course.
Still, the association will spend $2.8 million hosting World Cup racing in Beaver Creek and Aspen. While the focus of the two weekends of U.S. racing is on the athletes, the business and investment behind the scenes this year is aimed at raising the profile of alpine ski racing.
Community support is already at an all-time high. The USSA partners with both resorts and communities in Aspen and the Vail Valley, spreading the financial risks and rewards of hosting weather-dependent races that need broad television coverage to thrive. The resorts can spark a strong season with images of snowy slopes and villages splashed across the world.
“Those partnerships put everybody in a position to win,” Jaquet said.
The Vail Valley Foundation is launching a festival around the Birds of Prey races, hoping its new “America’s Winter Opening” celebration sparks an annual party across the Vail Valley. The foundation is spurring a week of live music, parties and gatherings designed to fill the valley in a typically slow part of the ski season.
“What we’re saying with the EverBank America’s Winter Opening is that we’ve seen the enthusiasm of the fans, we believe in ski racing’s future, and we are ready to really turn this into a days-long festival event that is the official kick off to winter,” said Mike Imhof, the president and chief executive of the Vail Valley Foundation.
In Aspen, where the annual Winternational celebration revolves around women’s World Cup slalom racing, Aspen Skiing Co. is planning to replace its 44-year-old Lift 1A as part of a larger base-area redevelopment to help bolster its hosting of the Alpine Skiing World Cup Finals in March 2017. That’s a big deal for Aspen, hosting the third-most prestigious event in ski racing, behind the Olympics and the ever-other-year World Championships this weekend Aspen gets an additional day of racing with the rescheduled slalom contest from Finland.
All this comes in a year when more Americans than ever before are medal contenders.
It wasn’t that long ago that fans of U.S. ski racing considered a top 10 finish a win. Now, they expect the team’s athletes to climb multiple podiums.
As the host, the U.S. gets extra starting slots too, which allows up-and-comers to test their mettle on the world stage, not just in practice runs.
That helps “bridge the gap” between alpine superstars like Ted Ligety, Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin and the contenders in their shadows, said USSA president and chief executive Tiger Shaw.
“Those extra home start positions are a huge advantage athletically over the long run,” Shaw said.
The new broadcast deal, the deep roster of podium-ready skiers, community support and the ski association’s growing financial efficiencies are drawing record donor dollars as well. Recent donor events where racers mingle with the ski-loving titans of business — in New York City and atop DaVita HealthCare Partners’ headquarters in Denver — have seen fundraising reach all-time highs.
Those dollars do more than support ski racers. The association’s Olympic medal-harvesting freeskiers and snowboarders are thriving as donations expand USSA infrastructure for training and development.
“We have a solid formula for success but there’s still a gap for from what we provide and what we can do compared to what our competitors are doing. There’s more we need to do,” Jaquet said.
Jason Blevins: 303-954-1374, jblevins@denverpost.com or @jasonblevins
Where to watch
The Nature Valley Aspen Winternational’srescheduled women’s slalom race from Levi, Finland, begins at 10:15 a.m. Saturday. Women’s slalom racing continues at 10 a.m. Sunday. NBCSN will air the Saturday race live at 1:30 p.m., and NBC will air the Sunday race live at 1 p.m.
The Audi Birds of Prey men’s downhill racing starts at 10:45 a.m. Friday at Beaver Creek. Men’s super-G race starts at 11 a.m. Dec. 5. Men’s giant slalom race starts at 9:45 a.m. Dec. 6. NBCSN will air Friday’s race live at 10:30 a.m. NBCSN will air the Dec. 5 race live at 11 a.m. NBC will air the Dec. 6 race live at 3 p.m.
