The ski festival in Trondheim was expected to generate a surplus of NOK 20 million. But behind the scenes, a financial deficit is growing. Internal documents reveal an emerging financial crisis.

The bills are piling up for the organizers of the 2025 World Ski Championships in Trondheim, despite sponsorship revenues reportedly being NOK 10 million over budget.

The budget for the 2025 World Ski Championships indicated that the organizers would end up with a profit of around NOK 20 million, provided they sold over 200.000 tickets. They comfortably exceeded that target. The championships at Granåsen were held from February 26 to March 9. It was a hit with spectators and was carried out almost flawlessly.

Multi-million deficit

The intention was for the profits from the World Ski Championships to be reinvested into Norwegian skiing. But in the aftermath of the championships, it appears the organizers are facing a multi-million-kroner deficit.

The ownership company behind the event, “Trondheim 2025 AS,” is owned by the Norwegian Ski Association (60 percent), Sør-Trøndelag Ski Association (30 percent), and Trondheim Municipality (10 percent).

“It was noted that the company’s financial situation has significantly changed from what was previously reported at earlier ownership meetings, where the forecast at the last meeting before the championship showed a solid surplus,” states the meeting minutes from May 12.

According to Langrenn.com, the reason for what appears to be a large financial shortfall includes several unexpected costs that the organizers had not accounted for before the championships.

Millions unaccounted for

The minutes from the May 12 meeting, attended by Norwegian Ski Association President Tove Moe Dyrhaug, Championship Director Åge Skinstad, Chair Åsne Havnelid, and other leaders from the Norwegian Ski Federation, make for grim reading. They show that the World Ski Championships have received several million-kroner invoices that were not anticipated.

• The International Ski Federation (FIS) has sent a NOK 5 million bill for timing services. This amount was reportedly not known to Trondheim 2025 until now.
• The transportation company AtB is warning of a NOK 6.5 million invoice.
• Security firm Ramudden has issued an additional invoice of NOK 6 million.
• Ticket sales totaled NOK 84 million – six million below the budgeted figure of NOK 90 million.
• In addition, arena sales were below expectations, which the minutes attribute to poor weather.

Debt collection notices

The company behind the World Ski Championships has received several debt collection notices in recent weeks. Most are for smaller amounts. However, a loan from the Norwegian Ski Association has not been repaid. According to VG, this amounts to about NOK 8 million.

The Ski Association is demanding a complete overview of the situation so they can assess whether they need to implement “further and independent measures.”

“As the main owner of the World Ski Championships, we have emphasized that it is important to get as detailed an overview of the situation as soon as possible, no later than the next ownership meeting of the company on June 3,” said Ski Association communications manager Espen Graff to VG.

Two people from the auditing firm BDO are now working to gain a full overview of the situation in the championship organization.

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