Where is the big $ going in skiing? Let me tell you, not to anyone you want. The money goes to ESPN through x-games viewership, and Ski Resorts. A few giant ski manufacturers still make bank, but outside of K2 and Volkl, they aren't making real bank either.
This is going to take a sec, but go ahead and read it. In football, the NFL owners and broadcasting networks make a ton of money. But in return, the active players get great pay and healthcare for risking their bodies. Each player still makes a tiny percentage of what the organization makes, but a "low paid" NFL player still makes $600,000 a year. This did not used to be true. Before free agency and a true free market and a strong union, nfl players also got paid shit. Other than the biggest superstars, they also had to work summer jobs and sometimes go into serious debt just to pay to play the game they loved. The key for enacting a real free agency was unionization.
In skiing, those who have proven to be the most valuable stand out. Either in the x-games or popular webisodes, they have the potential to make the most for their sponsors. There will be a wait and see period, but after the Olympics skiing should see some jolt in cash. But if skiers collectively bargain, they can demand the most valuable get paid the most. People like Andy Parry and Steve Stepp have proven they can be just as marketable as people like Torin and Bobby B, but they get paid shit in comparison. In a true free market, Steve and Bobby would get paid based on how many skis/gopros/condoms they could sell in a season, and if one company isn't willing to pay that they go to the next eager company who sees that they have a great opportunity. Unfortunately, without a strong union to bargain together, its totally up to the sponsors. The idea of a Skiing league might sound weird, but with how much money the average mega resort makes, along with surrounding towns, its necessary to have one. Say Aspen has to pay so much money to the league based on how much they make for x-games, and that is distributed to each company based on their participation, and that company, per contracts, has to divide that money to the skiers based on their market value.
Maybe my NSL is a crap idea, but it seems the biggest factor holding back athletes AND smaller ski companies is the fact that the Lions share of the revenue that they create ends up in the pockets of resorts, towns, and broadcasting. Without the collective voice of the ski community, it won't change.
