Not All Sports Cash In on the Olympics

The Winter Olympics will spark new business for ice rink operators, but NBC’s broadcast of the Salt Lake City Games is unlikely to do much for ski equipment makers and ski resorts, whose season already is half over.

The ice-skating industry is ready for rink rapture, the phenomenon that occurs every four years as Olympic hopefuls file into rinks to chase dreams of becoming graceful figure skaters and hard-charging hockey players.

But more than 300 hours of telecasts on the NBC, MSNBC and CNBC networks during coming days won’t generate a corresponding flurry of business for winter resorts and manufacturers of skis and snowboards.

NBC’s broadcasts will be welcomed, but “we don’t hang lot of hope on the Olympics yet,” said Dave Schmidt, vice president of global sales at Burton Snowboard Co. in Burlington, Vt. “They’re clearly not a primary marketing tool for us.”

Coverage of the Olympics is a boon for ice rinks because skating has evolved into an indoor sport with a season that never ends. Rinks typically are nearby and the year-round parade of made-for-television figure skating specials helps to keep Olympic-sized dreams alive.

Gracielle Tan’s love affair with figure skating was sparked by coverage of the 1994 Winter Games in Lillehammer, Norway. Her affair was solidified four years later when Tara Lipinski won the gold medal in Nagano, Japan.

Monday through Saturday, the school girl who just turned 13 travels from Chino Hills to Disney Ice in Anaheim for early-morning lessons. Gracielle’s mother initially steered her daughter into a nearby gymnastics program. Then she arranged for dance classes. Gracielle, though, held firm.

“She really was persistent, so I found a rink in Irvine where she could take group lessons,” said Grace Tan. “Now she wakes up at 4:30 a.m. every day but Sunday, when she wakes up a little later and goes to a 10 a.m. lesson.”

The Dallas-based Ice Skating Institute trade group recently sent out a quadrennial advisory that urges rink operators to prepare for the “enthusiastic rebirth of interest in ice sports that only occurs once every four years.”

The key elements of rink operators’ battle plans are decidedly simple: sharpen blades, replace broken laces and keep restrooms clean.

The prime directive, though, is to ensure that there’s plenty of open skating sessions and pick-up hockey games available so newcomers don’t lose their Olympic glow.

The influx of new skaters means “some inconvenience, to be sure, for existing skaters,” said Patti Feeney, director of member programs and services for the Ice Skating Institute. “But this is our chance to get new customers, and if we treat them right, they’ll be customers for life.”

The ski industry would love to see ski lifts jammed with people as dedicated as Gracielle Tan.

A decade ago, 30% of Americans who headed into the mountains during the winter were classified as hard-core skiers. “Now that figure’s probably down to 15% to 18% who will ski come hell or high water,” said market researcher Jim Spring of Denver. “The rest are fair-weather skiers.”

The cooling market for winter sporting goods and apparel has been reignited in recent years by the dramatic surge in the popularity of snowboarding.

Between August and the end of November, the first half of the sales season, sales of equipment, accessories and apparel used by skiers and snowboarders fell by 1.4% from the same period in 2000, to $632 million, according to SnowSports Industries America, a McLean, Va.-based trade group. That’s not bad during a recession.

But break apart the overall sales and a clearer picture emerges.

Snowboard sales rose by 14.8% during the first half of this winter season.

Cross-country ski sales jumped by 24.5%, an increase that industry observers tie to people who are seeking peace and quiet in the wake of Sept. 11.

In contrast, sales of Alpine, or downhill, ski equipment continued a years-long slide, with a 4.8% dip during the first half of the season. Sales of Alpine skis hit $241 million last season, up from $208 million five years earlier. But although dollar volume increased on the strength of increasingly expensive equipment, unit sales were disappointing.

Ski manufacturers are trying to spark interest with double-tipped skis that let skiers perform edgy tricks. They’re also introducing short skis and fat skis that will give skiers better control.

But new products alone are insufficient. The ski industry also needs new skiers. The mean age of skiers drifted up from 33 years to just under 37 during the past decade, according to Spring, president of Leisure Trends Group, which tracks participation in outdoor sports.

Young people who head for the hills in the winter are increasingly likely to be carrying snowboards. During the 2000-01 ski season, Spring said, half of people under 16 were using snowboards, not skis.

The ski industry has struggled to convert fan interest generated by Olympic broadcasts. A solid percentage of viewers who watched the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, Japan, were willing to give the sport a try, “but they didn’t have the slightest idea of what to do next,” Spring said. “These can be very intimidating sports for newcomers.”

Prior to the Nagano Games, SnowSports Industries America offered retailers a marketing program designed to lure beginners and veterans into stores to chat with knowledgeable professionals while watching the ski and snowboard contests on television.

“I can count on two hands the number of takers we had,” said Mary Jo Tarallo, the group’s director of communications.

The Winter Games don’t easily lend themselves to advertising campaigns because the broadcasts come well into the ski season, while ski equipment and apparel sales occur largely between August and December. So by the time the Winter Games are held, sporting goods stores are in the midst of staging winter clearance sales to make room for spring and summer gear.

Equipment manufacturers continue their decades-long practice of outfitting top athletes with equipment and apparel in a bid to build brand loyalty.

The tactic works with adoring fans who are willing to spend top dollar for the best equipment. But Spring doubts that a gold medal performance will persuade most newcomers to invest in expensive ski gear.

And, though aging downhill racers willingly follow in the tracks of Olympic heroes, snowboarders generally look elsewhere for their cues. The X Games broadcasts on ESPN, as well as photos in extreme sports magazines and action incorporated into videos, carry more weight than Olympic gold.

The snowboard industry does welcome the added attention the sport will gain. But even if younger viewers flock to the broadcasts, “from a sales point of view, the Olympics aren’t very well timed,” snowboard seller Schmidt said. “I don’t expect any immediate upturn at retail but you probably will see an upturn in participation next season.”