A new social era for FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski begins

Oct 14, 2024·Snowboard Park & Pipe

Eileen Gu (CHN) © Buchholz/@fisparkandpipe

A new era for FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski fan engagement and fulfillment begins today, as we reveal our revamped social media structure just as the 2024/25 winter season gets rolling in the northern hemisphere at the Big Air Chur.

With a combination of new and restructured pages across our already-active social channels, as well as the launch of brand new channels on an exciting emerging platform, FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski is aiming to not only better serve our various and varied communities, but to also better structure our channels for maximum reach and visibility in an increasingly algorithm-driven social media landscape.

The quality of athletes, competition, and venues across all of our events has never been stronger, and the action at our World Cups, World Championships, and beyond deserves to be seen. With the changes outlined below and FIS’s continued quest to centralise our media rights, we’re working tirelessly to bring our love of snowboarding, freestyle skiing and freeskiing to the world.

INSTAGRAM

Beginning with our most active and established platform, Instagram, fans will find the FIS Snowboard and FIS Freestyle channels no longer the one-stop-shop landing pages as they have existed for the past decade.

The main @fissnowboard channel has now become @fisparkandpipe, folding FIS Freeski into the mix and moving to a focus on both slopestyle, halfpipe and big air content and coverage for both snowboard and freeski.

In recent years we’ve seen a true coming together of the Park & Pipe communities - regardless of the equipment strapped to the shredders’ feet - and with nearly every competition stop around the world featuring both snowboarders and freeskiers on the scene chasing the same pursuit of progression, this alignment gives us a single channel with which to celebrate the most explosive athletes on snow.

Meanwhile, @fisfreestyle will see no change in titling, but will instead see the focus shift to the core freestyle formats of moguls, dual moguls and aerials. These events are the foundation from which all freestyle was born, and their well-established and longstanding fanbases will find all their favourite action at the same location they’ve enjoyed since the inception of our various social media pages.

From there, we’ve established two new Instagram channels to serve the speed-oriented communities - @fissnowboardracing and @fis_skicross.

@fissnowboardracing will be the landing point for all Snowboard Cross and Snowboard Alpine content - SBX individual and mixed-team racing, parallel slalom, parallel giant slalom and parallel mixed team competitions. All the events under the @fissnowboardracing banner feature common ground in head-to-head fights for the finish line (or, head-to-head-to-head-to-head, in the case of SBX), and the need for speed will reign supreme here.

Which, of course, means that FIS Ski Cross branches off with a channel of its very own @fis_skicross. Ski cross has always straddled the line between Freestyle (with its jumps and controlled chaos) and Alpine Skiing (with its obvious dedication to speed and power), and with an IG channel of its very own, the ski cross community can now celebrate the sport that continues to be one of the most endlessly entertaining on snow.

TIKTOK

Our TikTok channels will follow the same structure as the Instagram accounts, with @fis.park_pipe serving the slope, pipe and big air communities, @fis.freestyle for moguls, dual moguls and aerials, @fis.snowboard_racing for SBX and Alpine SB and @fis.skicross for all things SX.

We’ve seen enthusiastic TikTok growth with our initial launch of an all-in-one FIS channel last season, but it’s clear that to really grow on what is the most popular platform for the next generation of snowsports fans, tailored content from discipline-specific channels is the way forward.

Continually adapting our content and strategies to find and engage new audiences, with the goal of creating lifelong snowsports fans, is the aim of all our channels across all our platforms. However, on TikTok especially our excitement for the future is strong. Gen Z, Gen Alpha – the next wave of sports fans is using TikTok at a higher rate than any other social platform, and we need to meet them there with appealing, entertaining and engaging content that not only reels in viewers but also keeps them coming back for more.

WHATSAPP BROADCAST

The new kid on the block, WhatsApp Broadcast is quickly emerging as a hugely exciting platform for FIS moving forward. Essentially a contact list from which we can directly engage with subscribers, WhatsApp Broadcast is a reimagining of what is possible on one of the world’s premier messaging platforms.

Via WhatsApp Broadcast, fans can receive Information and relevant updates directly in WhatsApp by following their FIS channels of interest. By selecting and following FIS channels, fans will get updates in the form of text, links, photos, and/or videos. All you have to do is hit the Updates tab in WhatsApp, search the FIS discipline of your choice – FIS Park & Pipe, FIS Freestyle, FIS Snowboard Racing and/or FIS Ski Cross - hit “Follow,” and then unmute Notifications to receive the latest news.

YOUTUBE, FACEBOOK, X

On YouTube, Facebook and X the current structure will remain as it is, with @fissnowboard and @fisfreestyle holding steady as the bastions for all relevant content from all competitions under their respective umbrellas. YouTube especially serves as something of an archive for our competition content far into the history of our World Cup and World Championships competitions, and the platform will continue to do so long into the future.

FIS APP

This season, the FIS App is getting even more essential, as we integrate FIS TV video and other multimedia content into the FIS App platform. Already your most convenient on-the-go source for calendars, schedules, results and standings, moving forward the FIS App will become more fun, more powerful, and more essential.

FIS TV

Which of course brings us to FIS TV. After its soft launch last season, FIS TV will only get bigger, better and bolder as we continue to pack the platform with livestreams, highlights and special features through the 2024/25 season and beyond. A key instrument in the centralisation of FIS’s broadcast rights structure, FIS TV aims to be the one-stop-shop for all the snowsports video content needs of fans casual and avid alike.

FIS NEWSFLASH

Also important to remember is the FIS Newsletter, where anyone can sign up to receive customised content delivered straight to their email inbox, every week. All you have to do is head HERE and fill out the form to make sure you never miss a story, all season long.