May 26, 2015 (Falun, Sweden) – Following the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2015 in Falun it is now clear that the preliminary financial results show the event accrued 42 million SEK before allocations and taxes. “The result exceeds our budget and expectations by far and I am very happy to present it to our main owners the City of Falun and the Swedish Ski Association,” commented Sven von Holst, CEO of Falun2015.

A festive atmosphere, ticket success and the best results of the swedish cross-country team at a World Championships ever made Falun2015, in many ways, an event beyond expectations.

Ticket sales and hospitality were the prime contributions to the successful result.
“As we got closer to the World Championships, we realised that there was room for profit, which increased along with increasing ticket sales. On the day of the opening ceremony we had sold over 170,000 tickets and we then realised that there was potential for a very good financial result. The amount of sold tickets ended at 228,000, which lead to the fact that the income from tickets and hospitality improved with approximately 25 million SEK compared to budget,” explained von Holst.

The World Championships project has been going on for five years and during that time, the turnover has increased gradually from 175 million SEK to more than 300 million SEK. This includes the business network Beyond Skiing with 59 million SEK. From the start, the World Championships project has had a financial budget within balance. The aggregated income amounts to 307,7 million SEK and the costs amount to 265,7 million SEK.

“During the whole project time, we have had a strict cost control. In the end we had considerably lower costs compared to budget when it came to accommodation and transportation of participating teams, which affected the result in a positive way,” added von Holst.

Besides successful ticket sales and saved costs, the business industry has shown a big interest for the World Championships. Sponsor income was higher than budgeted and the business network Beyond Skiing was an important part.

“I want to take the opportunity to thank our partners for their important support and contributions both financially and by products, services and enrichment of the event through experience-based presence. In addition, I would like to thank the Swedish cross-country team, which attracted the spectators to Falun through their success. Last but not the least, I want to thank all our fantastic volunteers. Without them this would not have been possible,” concluded von Holst.

Comments from the owners of Falun2015:

”The Swedish Ski Association finds it very important to host international competitions in Sweden. That is not the least shown by the fact that we will host the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Åre in 2019. Falun2015 now shows that it is possible for large events to get a positive result. For the Swedish Ski Association the profit will be a welcome contribution to our further work with developing swedish ski sport,” said Mats Årjes, Chairman of the Swedish Ski Association.

“Of course we are very happy about the good financial result of the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Falun. Our ambition is to host a new World Ski Championships within the next 10-14 years. Hopefully this positive result will lead to that the inhabitants in Falun become even more positive to arranging big events like these,” commented Jonny Gahnshag, Chairman of Falun2015 and municipal commissioner of Falun.

Facts Falun2015

– 228,000 sold tickets
– 281,600 spectators at the competition venue
– Appr. 70,000 visitors at the Medal Plaza and other activities outside the competition venue.
– 1,600 volunteers
– 57 participating teams
– 714 competing athletes
– 1,250 media representatives