Norway has been one of the absolute top teams in ski jumping for decades. Nevertheless, the Scandinavians are currently plagued by massive worries. The reason for this is the complicated search for the right sponsors.
The new ski jumping season begins on November 5th in Wisla, Poland. While the athletes prepare for the World Cup, Norway’s team boss Clas Brede Braathen still has a lot of work to do behind the scenes together with the federation. As the 53-year-old spoke to the newspaper “dag bladet“explained, important sponsorship income is missing.
According to Braathen, Norwegian ski jumping is missing between 10 and 15 million Norwegian kroner. That’s the equivalent of around 960,000 to 1,440,000 euros. Overall, the budget for the upcoming season should amount to 25 million Norwegian kroner (around 2.4 million euros).
“It’s a demanding job. But we have a good product as long as we talk to the right people. You’ll see that it’s worth a lot more than the price we’re asking,” said Braathen of the search for sponsors. The contracts expired after the Olympic season. Main sponsor “LO” withdrew.
Braathen: Norway’s ski jumpers “in very good shape”
However, the ski jumping official is not worried about his athletic condition. “So far we’ve managed to get our best athletes in very good shape before the start of the season,” said Braathen, adding: “We have to be able to end the season with athletes who show their worth is high. “
Nevertheless, the situation is difficult. “I have the feeling that we are on poor ground compared to what we could have achieved if we had been allowed to build what we needed after the pandemic,” said Braathen: “Then the situation with the Conflict. Things got worse instead of better.” The 53-year-old alluded to a previous dispute with the Norwegian association. The sport is at a “fireplace” due to the conflict.
At the beginning of September it became public that the contract with the insurance company “Help” would be extended by three years. As “Dagbladet” reports, the Norwegian armaments company “Nammo” is also said to be about to sign.