Comeback kings help deliver record-breaking season-opener in Sölden

It seemed impossible that the opening of the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup 2024/25 season in Sölden, Austria, could live up to the hype that preceded it. Yet, somehow, it did.

For weeks, the skiing world was immersed not only in talks about the heroes from last season, but also about two household names that made a comeback to the circuit representing their mothers' homelands: eight-time overall World Cup champion Marcel Hirscher, who benefitted from a rule adopted by FIS this season and applied for a wild card − now competing for the Netherlands − and 2022/23 Slalom Crystal Globe winner Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, originally from Norway and now racing for Brazil (even gracing the crowd with some impromptu samba for good measure).

All that anticipation translated into record-breaking audiences. During the weekend, 34,000 spectators were at the Rettenbach glacier: 16,800 on Saturday, to watch Federica Brignone become the oldest winner of a women’s World Cup Giant Slalom, and 17,200 on Sunday, when Norway swept the podium and Pinheiro Braathen and Hirscher recorded, respectively, the fastest and third fastest times on the second run.

The excitement on Austrian territory was not limited to Sölden, though. Television viewers switched on in huge numbers, with just over a million watching the men’s race on Austria’s main public broadcaster ORF, a market share of 67 percent.

That was another record for the season-opener, which, for reference, compared favourably with a figure of 685,000 (27 percent market share) for the Mexican F1 Grand Prix that same evening, also on ORF1. The women’s Giant Slalom attracted a TV audience of 622,000, a 47 percent market share.

Fans around the world could also tune in via YouTube and FIS TV. On Saturday, the livestreams on both platforms recorded more than 14,000 views, totaling 1,927 hours of watch time. The men's race peaked at 15,000 livestream views, with a total of 2,643 hours of watch time. Notably, half of the YouTube livestream viewers on Saturday came from Australia and New Zealand, while Brazilian fans were well-represented on Sunday, making up 5.3% of the livestream audience for the first run and 13.9% for the second run.

Sunday’s race also yielded around 430,000 net views on ORF’s streaming and video-on-demand services with at least 40,000 of those watching the action live. FIS on-demand content saw strong engagement as well, with the highlight of the Women’s Giant Slalom being the most-watched video on both platforms: 11,785 views on FIS TV and 23,915 views on YouTube.

The Austrian curtain-raiser and the performance of the two comeback heroes bodes well for the season ahead, with Saalbach set to host the FIS Alpine Ski World Championships 2025 from 4-16 February.