ALPINE SKIING - FUTURE VISION
Motto: We don't know which sport is the most beautiful in the world. Alpine skiing has the most beautiful environment of all sports.
1. The most important problem - It is absolutely incomprehensible that skiing will voluntarily disappear from the media for 8 months. Football is on for 10 months, tennis and cycling are also on for 10 months, F1 for 9 months. The typical winter sport, ice hockey, is also played for 9 months. The Alpine Ski World Cup lasts only 4 months. The World Cup needs to be extended immediately to Australia, to New Zealand, to South America. And also to ski halls. Alpine skiing simply has to become a year-round, worldwide sport. Messi, Hamilton, Federer, Sagan dominate the media all year round. But where's Pinturault?
2. Teams. The occupation of the World Cup by national associations is an anachronism. The national federations have the World Championships and the Olympics. Leave the World Cup to the teams. The same model works in football, basketball, hockey, cycling. In motorsports only teams work. In tennis, even only individuals, associations only organise the Davis Cup. It's easy to imagine 10 teams nominating 5 athletes for each event. The sponsors behind the team names are guaranteed 10-15 minutes of live advertising. Unlike F1 or cycling where the cameras only record the best. And there is one significant marketing element - transfers. In the months when football, F1 or cycling are not taking place, sports news is dominated by speculation about transfers and new contracts for athletes. Teams also naturally provide much of the marketing for alpine skiing.
3. Earnings. It is also true that athletically gifted children and especially their parents consider suitable sports in terms of earnings. Many sporting talents thus take up tennis, football, hockey and cycling. In skiing, such an option is virtually non-existent. And it is the entry of teams into the World Cup that can ensure a decent income for skiers. And for parents, motivation to get their kids into skiing.
4. Separation of slalom and downhill. A World Cup for all disciplines is a great thing. But times have changed. The downhill champion Beat Feuz cannot be overshadowed by the overall World Cup winner. Slalom (+ giant slalom) and downhill need to be completely separated. Downhill and slalom will have a separate race calendar and separate ranking. Each discipline will have its own stars and winners. It will be a much clearer system for the fans.
5. Broadcast times and breaks between races. A three hour gap between slalom rounds is unthinkable. It can be a maximum of 15 minutes. If the aim is to attract a younger audience to the screens, the 10:30 race time is too early. The explanation is simple - they are still asleep at that time after their Friday and Saturday binges.
6. Scoring. Absolutely simple World Cup scoring needs to be introduced. Race wins are added up and the skier with the most wins will be the World Cup winner. Similarly, the second, third, fourth... places will be counted for the next ranking. The champion must go for the win in every race and not calculate points. Moreover, there is no reason to score just 30 riders or to express the difference between places as 20 points or one point. Of course a more sophisticated system is possible. It is even applicable to all sports, including team sports. It objectively compares, for example, a skier with a tennis player or a football player. The project is ready. But that is, of course, a topic for another e-mail.
7. Netflix. Its F1 series has attracted many new fans.
8. A simulator of all the World Cup tracks. Maybe focus on computer games as well.
9. Promotion of World Cup venues and services. The Tour de France is the model here. But much more can be done. If the organisers are going to pay big money for the allocation of a race, they need to be allowed to present their resort during the TV coverage. Also the hotels, restaurants, shops and services in the resort.
10. Making television broadcasts more attractive. It is possible, for example, to sequence times in short sections and then compare with the leading competitor in which gate or section the skier lost the most time. It is also possible to make the broadcast more attractive with a virtual parallel slalom - the screen is split into two parts and a recording of the lead skier's run is played in the right half of the screen next to the current run.
Author : Jozef Stasík, Slovakia
E-mail : info@belgof.com
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