SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Skidförbundet, the Ski Association of Sweden, has announced that Svenska Spel will serve as its new ‘principal partner’ for the next five years.
Through the agreement, the state-owned lottery and betting shop operator will become the lead sponsor of Sweden’s pro-skiing federation, committing an investment of SEK 125 million (€12.5 million) in Skidförbundet’s pro-athlete and youth development programmes.
Svenska Spel’s announcement as new sponsor coincided with Skidförbundet announcing its men and women’s ski teams will be competing at this winter’s World Ski Championships in Oberstdorf, Germany (23 February – 7 March).
Furthermore, Svenska Spel outlined its duties to fund Skidförbundet’s new ‘social directive’ to encourage skiing as an ‘equal opportunity sport’ within Swedish society’.
“We know that Svenska Spel works hard to get more children and young people moving on the snow, and that is exactly what we and our activists are also passionate about,” said Karin Mattsson, chairman of Svenska Skidförbundet.
“With a strong partner, we get an even better opportunity to reach out and inspire more people to experience real snow joy.”
Prior to its sponsorship, Svenska Spel had served as the lead sponsor of Skidförbundet’s cross-country ski team. The new agreement will see Svenska Spel act as the principal partner of all Skidförbundet pro-teams, covering alpine skiing, cross country, snowboarding, ski-jump, freestyle and ski-cross.
Svenska Spel Group CEO Patrik Hofbauer marked the importance of Svenska Spel representing ‘Sweden’s most beloved sport’. He said: “Skiing and snowboarding are popular and stand for many positive values. Here we find many of our most beloved national teams and athletes. As the country’s largest sports sponsor from grassroots to elite, we want to be involved and contribute to our national team skiers continuing to be successful and enable young talents to develop.”
