November 19, 2007 (Berlin, Germany) – The German Ski Federation (DSV) announced Thursday that it has signed a nine million euros contract with the public television chains ARD and ZDF, saving the Federation from a financial crisis according to AFP. The contract is valid through the 2007-2008 season, but the television chains reserve the right to renew the deal through 2011. Since a previous contract with the private chain, RTL, expired last month, the DSV has had to drastically cut costs. The RTL contract was worth 15 million euros annually, six million euros more per year than the current contract and the DSV will thus continue to enact cost-cutting measures concerning its national teams.

“In addition to the broadcasting rights for Germany’s World Cup in the alpine disciplines, in freestyle, in cross-country, and in Nordic combined, include both international and national coverage and the transmission rights in ski jumping. The TV rights for the Biathlon World Cup in Oberhof Ruhpolding and were not the subject to the most recent contract negotiations,” notes DSV President Alfons Hörmann. This is an excerpt from a Google-translated press release on the German-only DSV website.

RTL, which has been associated with the DSV since 1999, is no longer authorized to broadcast live images of many German skiing events. Hörmann noted that RTL was for many years a reliable partner and made an important contribution to the Federation.

Continuing DSV sponsors include Adidas, Audi, Bogner, and Wurth as indicated on the DSV website.

The AFP article, in French, is available here.

Visit DSV at www.ski-online.de