Norwegian grocery giant Coop, a major sponsor of the FIS XC World Cup for the past eight years, will not be continuing its sponsorship reports Adresseavisen.
The sponsorship package is valued between 1.3 and 1.8 million Euros annually and if a replacement partnership is not found the consequences could be enormous for the upcoming winter season.
Coop Norway has a new sponsorship strategy that prioritizes other areas such as football and athletics according to communications Manager, Silje Verlo Alisøy.
“TV coverage of cross-country skiing has been very scattered in recent years. Last winter, the rights to the World Cup were divided among NRK, TV 2, and Viaplay. I believe this is unfortunate for the sport, and that people have difficulty keeping track of what is broadcast where,” commented Bjørn Vik-Mo, Deputy Managing Director at Coop Midt-Norge.
Professor Emeritus Tor W. Andreassen from the Norwegian School of Economics told Adresseavisen, “This is a catastrophe and financially devastating. These are terribly sad news for our national sport.”
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