New U.S. Ski & Snowboard CEO Sophie Goldschmidt Amplifying Sports’ Visibility—And Revenue

She’s a Brit who, until taking over at the helm of U.S. Ski & Snowboard in 2021, had never worked in snowsports—and yet new CEO Sophie Goldschmidt is leading the organization into a golden era of visibility and profitability.

As the national governing body (NGB) for competitive skiing and snowboarding in the U.S., U.S. Ski & Snowboard oversees all aspects of competitive skiing and snowboarding in the country, from grassroots programs all the way up to Olympic teams.

And while the brand, which has existed under various names since 1905 and under U.S. Ski & Snowboard since 2017, has a strong foundation—the NGB accounted for 60.2% of the United States’ total medals at the three Olympics from 2010 to 2018—there was still obvious room for growth in the areas of broadcast and streaming revenue, as well as for more impactful sponsorships, partnerships and diversity initiatives.

Goldschmidt, who served as CEO of the World Surf League (WSL) from 2017 to 2020 and notably led the historic implementation of equal prize money for men and women, saw these opportunities for growth at U.S. Ski & Snowboard. As an avid lifelong skier herself, then, it was a no-brainer to step into the President and CEO role in October 2021.

In so doing, she became the first woman at the helm of the NGB and the first non-athlete in the role in at least 25 years.

“It’s always a great opportunity when you have a chance to mix both personal and professional interest,” Goldschmidt told me by Zoom in April. “I felt that while the organization was in a good place, I saw a number of opportunities on the business side and sports side. Coming into a new role, I want to make sure I can make an impact and have value, and there were certain areas in which I saw the potential to elevate things and evolve the business to see even more success.”

A little more than a year removed from her first Winter Olympics at the helm of U.S. Ski & Snowboard—an event that occurred just four months after she joined the organization—Goldschmidt is in a position to reflect on some of her early wins with the organization—and what she still aims to accomplish.

Those early wins have been significant. Since taking over, Goldschmidt has shifted the organization’s revenue and partnerships into a new gear.

Two of the biggest deals that have increased visibility for the sports in the U.S. included an NBC Sports extension and an Outside Interactive partnership. Given that U.S. Ski & Snowboard had heretofore never been paid for broadcast, these deals marked an enormous jump for the organization.

In October 2022, U.S. Ski & Snowboard and Outside Interactive, which encompasses Outside magazine as well as its related media, digital, and technology platforms, announced a new partnership for the latter to become the streaming partner for U.S. FIS
FIS
World Cup alpine, cross country, freestyle, snowboard and freeski events.

More than a mere distribution arm, however, Goldschmidt and the organization were looking for a partner that would help increase visibility for their sports and increase access to their athletes—from the winningest alpine skier in history, Mikaela Shiffrin, to halfpipe snowboarding back-to-back Olympic gold medalist Chloe Kim, and countless other world-class competitors.

For the 2022-23 season, the events streamed included the Killington Cup, Xfinity Birds of Prey at Beaver Creek, Aspen World Cup, Palisades Tahoe World Cup, Freestyle International at Deer Valley, the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Mammoth and Copper and the Visa Big Air at Copper.

And while only U.S.-based World Cup events were available through Outside channels this past season, the U.S. hosted more World Cup events than ever before—another strategic initiative by Goldschmidt and her team.

As of April, U.S. Ski & Snowboard had aired nearly 100 hours of World Cup content on Outside—an audience of 87 million—across web, mobile apps, and linear television. That’s more than a 200% increase from last season.

U.S. Ski & Snowboard live streams are generating an additional 300,000 unique viewers.

Having a go-to streaming hub for non-Olympic U.S. Ski & Snowboard events is a major development. Fans of these sports know how frustrating it has historically been to search across apps, YouTube, social media and linear TV networks to see a given competition, with varying degrees of success.

Speaking of network TV, during 19 hours of coverage in the NBC Sports extension, U.S. Ski & Snowboard events saw 429,000 viewers per minute, with a total of 10.1 million unique viewers reached by April of the 2022-23 season.

This is a 13% increase from the same period last year—notable because Olympic years are typically the strongest for NBC viewership. The men’s World Cup in December at Beaver Creek, the Xfinity Birds of Prey, averaged 686,000 viewers per minute, up 25% from NBC’s average in that time slot.

“Every four years we get turbocharged,” Goldschmidt said, referring to Olympic broadcasts. “But we want a consistent drumbeat of coverage. We need to educate the U.S. market even more on this. We spend seven months week in and week out competing on the World Cup stage; some would argue winning the [crystal] globe is more important than the Olympic medal.”

Goldschmidt likens the U.S. Ski & Snowboard World Cup circut to Formula 1, golf or tennis—boasting a regular schedule of events, though many viewers are only aware of the major competitions.

“We doubled the number of alpine events in the U.S. this year, and we’re hoping to add more,” Goldschmidt said. “Consistent coverage is really important for us. We further enhanced the marketing and promotion this season, and the ratings just proved the potential.”

Increasing visibility and seeking broadcast rights deals is a clear focus of Goldschmidt’s tenure, but that’s only part of her goal. She has also been working to bring in big-name partners and sponsors to not only support the athletes at the very top level—the Shiffrins and the Kims—but to ensure the grassroots network that acts as a feeder is robust as well.

Major deals and initiatives U.S. Ski & Snowboard has inked under Goldschmidt include a title sponsorship and partnership expansion with Stifel Financial
SF
; an airline partnership with United Airlines; a technical apparel partnership with Kappa; a female empowerment initiative (Heroic Initiative) and climate change–themed race suits through environmental partner Protect Our Winters (POW).

The four-year titleship sponsor deal with Stifel for the U.S. Alpine Ski Team, announced in October 2022, was already the most signficant naming deal in the organization’s history. In March 2023, it was expanded to include all the ski teams under the brand’s umbrella: the U.S. Cross Country Ski Team, U.S. Freestyle Ski Team and U.S. Freeski Team, in addition to the Alpine Ski Team.

Just this week, the organization also announced the official integration of the U.S. Para Alpine Ski Team and U.S. Para Snowboard Team onto its roster—a crucial step in promoting inclusivity and equal opportunities within winter sports.

“These individuals have consistently showcased their extraordinary talent on the international stage, earning admiration and respect within the snowsports community and I am thrilled to welcome them onto our team here at U.S. Ski & Snowboard,” Goldschmidt said in a statement. “With these athletes on the team, we will continue to see more success on the world stage.”

Goldschmidt’s tenure has, however, faced challenges. In February 2022—during the Winter Olympics in Beijing—former U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes and a former employee brought allegations of sexual assault and misconduct against U.S. Snowboard head coach Peter Foley. Foley, who had coached the team since 1994, was placed on leave with no athlete contact on February 21 and the organization terminated his employment on March 20.

The U.S. Center for SafeSport, created in 2017 as a reformed reporting system for abuse of athletes and minors involved in U.S. Olympic sports, in March accused U.S. Ski & Snowboard of interfering in its investigation of the allegations against Foley. The NGB released a statement on March 25 detailing its timeline of events and an internal investigation it made “into a broader array of workplace issues” that briefly overlapped with SafeSport’s.

In that statement, Goldschmidt pledged the organization would put “additional channels and resource opportunities in place so that athletes, staff and all members of our organization have options to communicate concerns regarding this situation and others that may arise.”

The NGB and Olympic skiing and snowboarding face broader challenges, as well. U.S. Ski & Snowboard, like many NGBs, has many stakeholders and oversees seven different sports from grassroots clubs all the way up to Olympic teams.

“We live in a bigger ecosystem globally and face quite a few changes and challenges at the FIS [International Ski and Snowboard Federation] and global level—calendar structure, broadcast rights,” Goldschmidt said. “It still isn’t optimal; we need to improve that for the sake of our athletes and sports. We’re working toward more cohesiveness and cleaner alignment and leadership.”

And though the Outside and NBC partnerships have provided a more centralized home for and greater access to U.S. Ski & Snowboard events, Olympic viewership overall is declining.

The Beijing Games drew the lowest TV ratings ever, with an average total audience of 11.4 million, down from the 19.8 million average for the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.

Of course, Beijing 2022 presented a host of unique challenges, including no spectators in attendance, a major time difference, a host nation with a problematic human rights record and limited broadcast teams due to China’s strict protocols.

However, the Beijing Games were also the most streamed Winter Olympics ever, with viewers watching 4.3 billion minutes of events across digital and social media channels.

Of the 25 medals the U.S. captured in Beijing, 15 (60%) were won by skiers and snowboarders, with freestyle skiers contributing eight.

Kim defended her halfpipe snowboarding gold medal from 2018. Jessie Diggins became the first American female skier to win individual cross-country medals. Veteran snowboarders Lindsey Jacobellis and Nick Baumgartner took gold in the mixed-team snowboard cross event. Baumgartner, at 40 years, 57 days, became the oldest snowboarder to win an Olympic medal, while Jacobellis was the only U.S. athlete it Beijing with multiple gold medals, having won the women’s snowboard cross event.

Climate change is an obvious threat to the health of competitive skiing and snowboarding, not just in the U.S. but around the world. U.S. Ski & Snowboard, which works with leading climate advocacy nonprofit POW, aims to lean more directly into using its athletes and its voice “to amfplify the challenges and educate people on what they can do,” ultimately having a “more proactive, stronger voice.”

“We were a little placid on what we spoke about and what we stood for, and we have a role and an opportunity to really make more of a statement and communicate more and use our different channels to address key topics,” Goldschmidt said.

As a sports organization so uniquely affected by climate change, U.S. Ski & Snowboard received some pushback when it announced its partnership with United.

However, Goldschmidt explained why that criticism is shortsighted. It’s not only about having a seat at the table, but also about being pragmatic. “Are we never going to travel on planes again? Our athletes wouldn’t have a career on the World Cup circuit,” Goldschmidt said.

“We wouldn’t have partnered with United if they weren’t committed to climate change initaitives,” she continued. “They are also one of the leaders in the airline industry around the fuel they use and how they are offsetting what they are doing and being progressive on that front. It’s important we are working with partners who are trying to do better, and collectively, we can make more of a positive impact.”

At home, Goldschmidt firmly believes that building up the grassroots infrastructure for all seven sports in the U.S. and investing in newer sport growth can not only retain but attract a new snowsports audience in the country. She points to the breakthrough of cross country, with Jessie Diggins, Rosie Brennan and Ben Ogden leading the way to a new era of success.

“And I would be remiss not to highlight what Mikaela has achieved,” Goldschmidt said. “We’re fortunate to have her on our team as an amazing role model. These moments can really turbocharge an organization and a sport, so hopefully more to come from her and many other athletes.”

Highlighting the recent successes of women athletes is a major aim of the Heroic Initiative, but only part of its focus. Participation of women in skiing and snowboarding continues to grow, but women comprise only 25% of skiing and snowboarding coaches, with even less representation at the elite level.

The program is spearheaded by women within U.S. Ski & Snowboard, including Director of High Performance Gillian Bower, DPT; Director of Sport Science Tschana Schiller, Director of Sports Medicine Jaron Santelli, MD; and Clinical Specialist Torey Anderson, DPT.

With the organization’s focus on bringing more World Cup events to U.S. soil, Goldschmidt highlights the benefit of home field advantage for the athletes as well as visibility for the next generation.

“Traditionally, they’ve had one or two chances a year to compete in the U.S. and spent months on the road in Europe,” Goldschmidt said. “The number of times I’ve heard from our athletes that the reason they got involved in their sports as pro athletes is that they saw an event in the U.S. and saw their heroes compete live…. It’s a big reason Stifel signed with us, because we have more events in the U.S. this year.”

At the end of the day, the corporate commercial support—along with a generous donor base and broadcast partners—give U.S. Ski & Snowboard the chance to be competitive.

“Money is linked to performance,” Goldschmidt said. “There are other intangibles, too. Some of our sports are very expensive—the travel, the gear; there’s a lot of nuance and tech behind the scenes that people probably don’t fully appreciate if they’re not close to our sports.”

Globally, all the United States’ main competitors at the elite level receive significant government funding; U.S. Olympic sports receive none. The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is funded by partners and private donors; some of that funding trickles down to the NGBs of each Olympic sport.

“We’re starting a step behind out of the gate,” Goldschmidt said. “We’re fortunate to get support from the USOPC, which is meaningful, but that’s not where the majority of our funding comes from. These sports are not going to get any cheaper. Improving our performance and becoming more attractive for investment is key—making sure from a donor and philanthropic standpoint, we have a good ROI.”

“We’re proud of what our athletes are doing,” Goldschmidt added. “Coming off the back of our strongest year ever from a revenue standpoint, I’m feeling very bullish about the future. The mountain gets steeper and steeper; there’s so much more our athletes can achieve. We’ve got to continue to innovate and not get complacent.”