For the first time in 24 years, there will be no World Cup cross-country skiing events in Germany. This is a crisis for FIS. Germany is the economic engine in the World Cup circuit.

So, there will be no World Cup races in Oberstdorf, Oberhof, Dresden, or any other German venues. Not even in the Tour de Ski are there German races on the program this winter.

Surprising to many, as German cross-country skiing is on the rise, primarily through strong results including Olympic gold for Victoria Carl and Katharina Hennig, as well as the emerging talent Friedrich Moch.

“It has to do with very complex TV and marketing contracts,” says Stefan Schwarzbach of the German Ski Association to xc-ski.de.

And Schwarzbach has been one of the foremost advocates against the plans of FIS President Johan Eliasch, who wants FIS to reclaim the marketing rights. Today, it is a major source of income for the host countries, and several of the largest nations have threatened to withdraw from FIS and establish their own world federation if they lose TV revenues.

This is the plan called “Snowflake.”

Germany’s Ski Association now also does not want to spend money on organizing World Cup events in cross-country skiing, Nordic combined, and skicross. According to the association, it will incur extra costs.

FIS admits that it is a setback that an economically strong nation like Germany is now not on the World Cup map.

“The German federation and the organizers have been good and reliable partners, and the German national team has been on a positive trend for several years. There are several very strong cross-country skiing communities in Germany. And last but not least, the German TV market is very important to us,” says Michal Lamplot, race director for cross-country skiing at FIS, to VG.no.

The commercial interests in Germany are enormously important for FIS, which for a period essentially only had German sponsors in the World Cup in cross-country skiing. The country with over 80 million inhabitants is also the most important TV market, and there cross-country skiing has lost ground in recent years.

Today, biathlon is a significantly more important winter sport on German TV channels than cross-country skiing, which is hardly broadcast live on TV anymore.

Another problem is also the lack of snow and warmer weather due to climate change. Many surely remember broadcasts from, for example, Oberstdorf with only a narrow strip of snow, rain, and chaotic races.

VG has compared the viewer numbers in Germany and Norway last winter when one of the stages of the Tour de Ski had 3.7 million viewers on the German main channel ARD while TV3 in Norway (Viasat) had an average of 226,000 viewers during the season (linear TV).

Read More: FIS unveils 2024/2025 cross-country skiing World Cup calendar