Hahnenkamm Overcome by Media Onslaught

One of the biggest races on the International Ski Federation’s World Cup calendar is becoming a victim of its own success.

Coverage and popularity of the Hahnenkamm races in Kitzbuehel, Austria has rocketed over the years and race organizers are struggling to accommodate the growing media pack keen to report racing on the world’s most difficult ski piste.

Patrick Lang, vice president of the International Association of Ski Journalists, tells Around the Rings that nearly 1,000 media were accredited for the World Cup event last weekend. He said the press room was “jammed.”

“The organizers know that this press room is now too small. They will hopefully get the support from the government and region to buy a new conference center, which should help us improve and increase the amount of space,” he said.

The 69th World Cup at Kitzbuehel brought together the world’s best skiers.

Swiss skier Silvan Zurbriggen won the super combined to lead the combined standings.

There were only eleven finishers of the weekend's super combined event. Frenchman Julian Lizeroux stormed down the 193m vertical drop of the Ganslern course to record the first World Cup slalom victory of his career.

But the World Cup event headlines were also dominated by Swiss skier Daniel Albrecht, who crashed on the notorious slopes while in downhill training last week. The 25-year-old was being maintained in an induced coma at the Innsbruck University hospital Monday after suffering brain and lung injuries in the crash.

Media coverage of the incident also brought webcast issues for the World Cup event into stark relief. The races were streamed live on Universal Sports, the American rights holder; concerns this year included illegal pirating of race video.

“Webcasts are limited because the rights are very strict,” Lang told ATR. “A lot of Web sites stole the crash of [Daniel] Albrecht to put on their sites and immediately got a warning from the lawyers of the rights holders. They had to remove it.”

As has been the case since 1959, Austria’s ORF was once again the host broadcaster; over 40 TV stations and networks covered the event.

“I would imagine there are 20 to 25 commentary positions in the finish area, but a lot of people are commentating from home also like Eurosport,” said Lang.

“It is certainly one of the biggest races of the season with highlights and packages sent all over the world. I would say 40 to 50 million people will see some pictures of the race.”

Audi Maximizes Sponsorship Opportunity

Celebrities from business, sport and entertainment brought some glamour to Kitzbuehel. And Audi AG, the German luxury car maker, which has been the title sponsor of the Hahnenkamm races since 2001, also made its presence felt.

“Kitzbuehel for us is really a home race because Ingolstadt [Bavaria, Germany] is only nearly 200 km away so all of our guests, from seven countries this year, love to come here,” Audi spokesperson Iris Altig said. “It’s really a great place to come and meet people.”

Audi’s new Q5 was prominently on display in front of the large hospitality tent near the bottom of the famed “Streif” race course. This was also the location for the annual Saturday night Kitz Race Party hosted by the organizers. Audi Night, Friday evening’s annual kickoff party, took place downtown at the Hotel Zur Tenne with about 400 guests attending.

As of November 2007, Audi of America has also been the official automotive sponsor of the United States Ski Team.

“We have been involved with winter sports for 25 years now,” said Altig. “It started with the German Ski Federation and their alpine team. Now we are involved with nine other countries and their ski teams, the U.S. included, and we are very proud of that.”

Also available throughout the weekend was the Audi Driving Experience, an opportunity for guests and racers to receive coaching and test cars on a specially designed snow and ice course.

“We’ve concentrated on alpine skiing because of the technique,” said Altig. “There is both technique in skiing and also with driving our cars. Some of the teams are using our wind tunnel for testing in the summer also. There is a kind of synergy that we can share with each other.”

Other presenting sponsors of Hahnenkamm weekend included Red Bull, Rolex, A1, Austrian beer manufacturer Gosser and financial group Hypo Group Alpe Adria.

Written by Brian Pinelli

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