Last weekend, a lot was written and said about the lack of broadcasting of the first stage of the Russian Cup in cross-country skiing on the federal public television channel.
It would be strange if I had no opinion on this – I do not hide it, after the end of my sports career, I see myself in television sports marketing. In simple terms, by organizing events that are interesting for a mass audience and well monetized. That’s why I’m still actively interested and know the details: for example, how much does it cost to organize a World Cup-level television production. I think if we talk about the absence of a TV show, we have to talk about numbers, at least approximate. What I want to do in this column.
And I will say right away: I don’t know why experienced TV managers, including those I consult, don’t want to say all this. I think, without irony, that they are busy with more important and voluminous cases. Well, I can afford – we have a morning off.
Any sporting event has four parts.
Organizer. It is the company or the public body that has the right to organize such competitions. It can be the world championship or the “water pumping championship” – it doesn’t matter. It has an owner and only that owner can sell anything related to this tournament. The main thing that can be sold, which makes money, is media rights. In concrete terms, this means the right to broadcast the competitions on television or on the Internet.
For the show to take place, it is necessary to invite “actors” to this show. In our case, the athletes. Here, I hope, everything is clear: the higher the recognition of these actors, the higher the interest of the public. In order for athletes to be incentivized to run/swim/score, they need to organize some sort of cash prize.
To make the competition look like a product that can be sold, you need to hire a television production. These are specialized companies that produce a television image at the level indicated by the customer, on a turnkey basis. It can be like the World Cup – but for millions. And you can, as the Finnish organizers did at the 2021 Junior World Cup in Vuokatti – for a few thousand euros a day, at a minimum, and “by a thread”.
Now when you, the organizer, have two main elements of the show – the athletes and the production – you can start selling the product. That’s exactly what happens at the Cross-Country World Cup. All figures are conditional, but it looks like this: the expenses of the organizers are 100,000 euros per day, we sell the rights to Germany (they are still territorial) for 30,000 euros, to Norway – for 20,000 , to Finland – for 15 thousand, to Russia for … .I will not say how much, but you get the idea. In the end, everything creaks, but somehow it works and the sales revenue covers the expenses. It’s certainly not football or the UFC, where the benefits far outweigh the costs. But whatever.
Now imagine the Russian Cup. The expenses of the organizers, of course, are less. And our production is cheaper than in Norway, and the price money is a little different. But the costs are still high and the organizers want to cover them. Fair? I think so.
I asked knowledgeable people to estimate how much it would cost to produce a “photo” of Choi’s peak. I was told that no one had ever done serious TV production from there, it’s hard to estimate – but somewhere around 10 million rubles for two days of racing.
I highly doubt that a Russian TV channel would agree to buy a TV product for that kind of money, even at cost. Also, the early morning races, to say the least, are not prime time. The problem, as far as I can tell, is not in the cost itself, but in the fact that ski races for that kind of money don’t give any share or audience coverage. The costs do not correspond to the results. Alas!
But I would ask all blatants: “Why is the Russian Cup taking place so far, why not in Toksovo or Krasnogorsk?” calm down a bit and look at the question from the other side.
Firstly, in November such snow conditions in the European part of Russia are simply impossible, except perhaps for Apatit.
Second, what are we striving for, philosophically, as a whole? Increase the popularity of cross-country skiing among the masses? Hundreds of children, teenagers and young skiers train here next to us. For them, it’s an opportunity to look at us, to communicate with us. I can’t assess whether it’s important or not, but when I’m 12, such a chance would be extremely interesting. I came to the Top of Tyoya for the fifth time, I also won the Russian Cup races – but, of course, not at all in the same composition as this year. Then all the strongest raced in the World Cup, and it was like a “second league”. This year it became the highest and people liked it – I’ve never seen so many fans near the track. They shout, support – why not the World Cup?
I think that in order to popularize our sport, it is more correct to organize races with the participation of leaders in the Top of Choi than in the Moscow region. For development in professional sports, it’s worse. Without TV – nowhere.
I am an actor in this theater and I play my role both on stage and on the red carpet. The team sponsors and my personal sponsors care about TV viewership – why else are they providing us with all this inventory and clothing? Without television, they will always think carefully if they need to.
These are such mixed emotions. Decide what is most important to you. For me, it is absolutely clear that we ourselves have to work on awareness and interest. Among millions, not hundreds of thousands, of hardcore ski enthusiasts. Then everything will be fine.
Source : MatchTV
I am Sandra Jackson, a journalist and content creator with extensive experience in the news industry. I have been working in the news media for over five years. During this time, I have worked as an author and editor at various outlets producing high-quality content that attracts readers from different demographics.
