The World Cup has no title sponsor five weeks before Ruka. Here is who actually pays the prize money

Analysis · Published · Updated

The Cross-Country World Cup starts in Ruka on 27 November, and it still has no title sponsor. Coop, the Norwegian grocery chain, said in June that it would not renew after eight seasons. If no deal is signed, Adresseavisen reported on Thursday, it will be the first winter in 28 years that the World Cup runs without one.

Terje Lund, events manager at the Norwegian Ski Federation and chair of the FIS advertising committee, told Adresseavisen that FIS is in the middle of a sales process but “holding its cards close to its chest”. A recent meeting agreed that each World Cup organiser can negotiate with FIS to buy back the advertising space that would normally go to the title sponsor. Lund said he still hopes a good partner can be found.

Why prize money comes into it

Lund linked the gap directly to athletes’ earnings. FIS only finances part of the prize money, he said, so if the rights go unsold, FIS loses income, and that can affect how much prize money it is able to pay. He said discussions about cutting prize money are already under way inside FIS.

That lands on top of a wider money problem. At its autumn meetings, FIS reported that its equity fell by 47% between 2021 and 2025, from CHF 81 million to CHF 43 million. President Alexander Ospelt called it “a critical moment that requires immediate and decisive action”, and the FIS Council backed cost cuts and new revenue measures. The Coop deal was worth between NOK 15 and 20 million a year, Adresseavisen reported in June.

Who pays what

The 2026/27 World Cup rules spell out where the money on race day comes from, and most of it does not come from FIS.

  • Individual races: at least €62,000 per race and gender, paid to the top 20. The local organiser pays €51,400 (83%); FIS reimburses €10,600 (17%). The winner gets €14,000, second €11,000, third €7,000, 20th €500.
  • Team races: at least €48,000, paid to the top 10. The organiser pays €39,500 and FIS €8,500.
  • Overall World Cup: €238,000 per gender for the top 20 at the end of the season, €55,000 for the winner. Each race adds to this pot, and FIS pays about two thirds of that contribution.
  • Tour de Ski: €496,000 per gender over eight stages, most of it (€407,000) for the overall standings.

What is at risk

The race-day prize money is the safest part. It is a minimum fixed in the rules for this season, and most of it is paid by organisers such as Ruka, Davos or Holmenkollen, not by FIS. A missing title sponsor does not make that money disappear before Ruka.

What is exposed is the FIS share: the €10,600 per individual race, most of the overall pot, and FIS’s budget in general, at a time when it is already cutting costs. Any cut agreed now would most likely show up in the rules for 2027/28 rather than in the middle of this winter, but FIS has not said how or when it would act.

The buy-back option also moves part of the burden to organisers. An organiser that takes over the title sponsor’s space gets something to sell locally, but it also pays FIS for it. For big Nordic venues with strong home sponsors that may work. For smaller organisers, who already pay most of the prize money, it is another bill.

For fans, the most visible sign will be the World Cup branding in Ruka. If the space that has carried Coop’s name since 2018 shows a local sponsor or nothing at all, FIS has not found its partner.