2x Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin is standing on the brink of success. Having registered 99 wins, she is gearing up to clinch her 100th victory in the alpine ski racing discipline. And much to her delight, Shiffrin has a chance to turn her 100th victory into a fairytale experience. Coincidentally, her next two races, scheduled for November 30 and December 1, will take place in her home soil of Killington. 

Having studied at the Burke Academy, the Vermont resort has been one of the happy hunting grounds for Shiffrin. As a matter of fact, it is Shiffrin who has the record of registering the most victories at the resort. Thus, her chances of making history in front of a buzzing home crowd are looking pretty bright. Now, while many would flock to the resort to watch her perform live, there would be thousands tuning into their television set to catch the historic moment unfold. 

And this is where the problem begins. The Alpine skiing broadcasting in the United States is pretty much fragmented. There is no stable way for the fans to catch all the action, which is a huge problem. In a recent announcement, the US Ski & Snowboard team mentioned that the broadcast rights of the World Cup have been decentralized. This only added to the problem further as the fans will now have more difficulty in smooth access of their alpine skiing content. Frustrated at the situation, Shiffrin had stated earlier, “May not be the most ideal situation, because broadcast rights for our sport are not yet centralized, but here are the details for how to watch this year’s @fisalpine World Cup”.

Now, taking her stance on the matter further, Shiffrin reflected about how the US could be a huge market. Looking at the passion and the excitement of the fans, Shiffrin seems to be thrilled. After all, there were thousands of fans celebrating Shiffrin’s 6th slalom victory on the superstar course. Speaking with Olympics.com, the legendary skier stated, “I feel like in Europe, it’s just assumed that you know skiing and you’re a fan of the sport, and in the U.S., the fans that you connect with, they don’t get the access to it that much. They really, really are so passionate about it.”

Shiffrin also went on to praise the energy of the fans. Despite not having proper broadcasting access, the passion levels of the US audience impressed Shiffrin significantly. She also addressed the fact that in order to watch ski racing in the US, people had to sacrifice their sleep and wake up in the middle of the night. This happened due to the fact that there were no prime-time races in America. Meanwhile, it is not just Mikaela Shiffrin who is concerned about the broadcasting issue. Lindsey Vonn too, had her frustrations expressed recently.

Lindsey Vonn reflects on poor alpine ski racing coverage in the US

Iconic Lindsey Vonn had been a former teammate of Mikaela Shiffrin. And she has been addressing the issue of the broadcasting problem for a long time. Vonn has always advocated for providing better exposure to the sport. Giving her two cents on the matter, the alpine skiing legend said to Olympics.com, “Right now in the United States, you really can’t watch ski racing, which is crazy… We can only watch Austrian races, and it’s only on one channel at three in the morning. So not a lot of people are watching ski racing in the U.S. right now.”

Vonn also doubled down on another root cause that is allegedly hampering the growth of the sport. She said that everyone has the vision of making the sport a global success, but very few are willing to put in the hard work to make it happen. Thus, Vonn stressed the fact that everybody needed to work together in unison to help the sport attain better exposure and reach a diverse audience. Well, with lingering doubts looming over the future of ski racing, it remains to be seen whether the authorities will adhere to the advice chimed in by two of the greatest athletes the sport has ever had.