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USSA sees big potential for big air in 2018

The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association is energized over the new revenue opportunities afforded by the International Olympic Committee’s decision this month to add big air snowboarding to the 2018 Winter Games.

The IOC always has an eye on TV ratings and marketability when choosing new sports, but the snowboarding addition is particularly appealing for two reasons, said Michael Jaquet, USSA’s chief marketer. First, the sport requires virtually no additional expenditures, and emphasizes a discipline that can be sold as ticketed events, unlike traditional mountainside races.

Big air snowboarding in the 2018 Olympics has the potential to add to the USSA’s bottom line.
Photo by: ESPN IMAGES
In addition to big air snowboarding, the IOC added an alpine skiing team event, mixed-doubles curling and mass-start long-track speedskating to the Pyeongchang Games program.

“Alpine team and big air snowboarding, these are seven new medals we get to compete for in Korea, with pretty much no new athletes, no new coaches, no new officials that are needed,” Jaquet said.

In the past, IOC additions have allowed USSA to sign new apparel deals with The North Face (for the freeski team in Sochi), and triggered expansion clauses with Burton Snowboards when slopestyle snowboarding was included.

But the added Olympic disciplines generate the most value by adding inventory to USSA’s Grand Prix series, Jaquet said. Big air already is influencing contract extension talks with audio equipment manufacturer Bose, whose contract expires this year, and the USSA will try to leverage the additions in luring a Grand Prix title sponsor to replace Sprint.

Big air snowboarding, in which athletes compete for distance, height and trick execution while launching off a man-made jump, also can be contested in contained, urban areas, said Luke Bodensteiner, USSA executive vice president. That means they can sell tickets in the city rather than ask spectators to go to mountain resorts. “It lets us get into some new markets,” Bodensteiner said.

Wade Martin, president of Powdr Enterprises, the marketing and entertainment arm of ski resort owner Powdr, said the new events “will mean more visibility and exposure for the sports, which is always good.” He hopes it’s a repeat of the Sochi Games, when casual fans saw freeski in a half pipe for the first time.

The new mass-start speedskating discipline brings the crowded ice and direct competition that’s made short-track popular to the traditional long course. Ted Morris, executive director of U.S. Speedskating, was hesitant to predict any direct financial gain but said the crowd at last year’s world championships “was on its feet” for the last four laps of the mass-start race.

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