German Ski Federation Secures Media Rights Victory Over FIS

The German Ski Federation (DSV) has emerged victorious in a legal battle with the International Ski Federation (FIS) over media rights for the 2024-2025 FIS Alpine World Cup season. The ruling grants the DSV exclusive rights to broadcast the events in Germany, dealing a significant blow to FIS's centralized media rights strategy. The Austrian Ski Federation,  has also started legal proceedings against the FIS, could lead to new legal scenarios and further rulings.

The dispute centered on FIS's decision to award the global media rights for the World Cup season to a consortium led by Discovery. FIS and Infront  agreed terms for an exclusive agency agreement for the distribution of the international media rights to FIS World Cup events for all platforms starting in the 2026/27 season and covering eight seasons until and including 2033/34.

Highlights of the terms agreed:

• Minimum compensation more than €100 million above current terms
• Commission-based agency agreement with a minimum sales guarantee of more than €600 million
• FIS in full control over the sales process
• Infront to provide exclusive marketing implementation and international media operations services
• Immediate rights and access to digital content, fundamentally changing FIS’ ability to maximise its social media footprint:
• Free-of-charge provision of archive footage and highlights
• Extensive rights to photography, behind-the-scenes coverage, course coverage, and the production of documentaries, television series, motion pictures, or similar productions
• Free of charge OTT streaming for dark markets

In his campaign to lead FIS, Johan Eliasch made clear that centralisation would be a core part of his Presidenc

Until now, TV and media rights have been individually negotiated by national federations for each World Cup round. Eliasch wants these negotiations to be centralized by FIS, thus assigning the task of negotiating TV rights for all federation events to Infront.

“Centralization (of rights) opens the door to a world of opportunities in media and content production. It will enhance digital possibilities and engage fans like never before,” says FIS President Johan Eliasch in a press release.

However Norway’s former representative on the board, Erik Røste, was among several who were strongly displeased with the FIS board’s decision.

“This came up in the meeting without any form of preparation. Therefore, several of us argued that such a significant change to the competition regulations could not be discussed and decided without thorough preparation. Nevertheless, it was decided. To me, it’s unclear what this change will mean,” Røste told NRK in April, adding that such secret voting is highly unusual. “I’ve never experienced this in my six years, except when we allocate World Championships.”

This move was met with opposition from several national ski federations, including the DSV, who argued that the centralized approach limited their ability to negotiate favorable terms with local broadcasters.

The DSV's legal challenge argued that FIS's decision violated European Union competition law. The court agreed, ruling that the centralized media rights model was anti-competitive and that national federations should have the right to negotiate their own deals.

The court ruled that the FIS's plan, as it stood, constituted a "deliberate restriction of competition" under European antitrust law, in violation of free market rules. The court emphasised that the original ownership of media rights lies with the national federations.  "It is positive news, which we received with a certain amount of relief," said Stefan Schwarzbach, a board member of the DSV.

The DSV's victory is a significant setback for FIS, which has been working to consolidate its media rights operations and increase its revenue. The ruling could also have implications for other sports governing bodies that rely on centralized media rights models.

The DSV has not yet announced its plans for broadcasting the World Cup events in Germany. However, the decision to award them exclusive rights gives the federation greater flexibility in negotiating with potential broadcasters and securing favorable terms for German viewers.

The FIS described the ruling as "completely wrong" and said it would appeal