Irina Rodnina: “ISU has serious financial problems. And all because the previous income from television, advertising, isn’t interesting to sponsors without Russian athletes.”
Irina Rodnina about the impact of the suspension of Russian skates on the ISU.
source: tatar-inform.ru dd. 24th May 2024 by Dergei Gavrilov
Irina Rodnina spoke about the ISU’s losses due to the suspension of Russian athletes. Here’s a translation of her comment.
“Q: And does the ban on participation in international competitions, say, in figure skating, negatively affect the development of our sport or are there any advantages?
“Irina Rodnina: Please, we are developing just fine, we have a good coaching staff. And it’s excellent that among them there are many champions; they have competed enough and are now engaged in coaching. The West won’t be able to upset us. They themselves are suffering significant losses. They have serious financial problems.
Take the International Skating Union (ISU). It is one of the wealthiest sports organizations. They still award pure gold medals. I have a kilogram of gold at home! But at the moment, this union has put its headquarters in Lugano, Switzerland, up for sale.
And all because the previous income from television, advertising, isn’t interesting to sponsors without Russian athletes. It is uninteresting to watch such competitions; hence, they bear significant financial costs,” replied three-time Olympic champion Rodnina.
Related topics: Irina Rodnina
ISU bullied its greatest star, Yuzuru Hanyu, for years, and now Hanyu’s Pro shows are all sold out and he’s reaching 300thousand attendees in less than 2 years of Pro career. Isu is going to pieces thanks to its blindness and incompetence. They just should admit their failure and resign.
ISU’s financial crisis began with the retirement of Yuzuru Hanyu. The audience has dropped drastically, sponsors and TV have disappeared. It’s a fact, 70% of the venues were occupied by those who went to see the greatest figure skater in history. Even the pratices sections were packed.
Now Yuzuru Hanyu gets sold out in his phenomenal ice solo shows, including Tokyo Dome, while the competitions are struggling. ISU should ask itself why Mr. Hanyu has had more then 260000 spectactors + the double in live stream while competitions venues are half empty.
Well, FS today is all about the ladies. Nathan Chen is on a hiatus. Malinin? After Yuzuru, commercially, single men sucks.
Many models in China, Korea and Japan are eastern slavic women. Because they sell.
Zagitova was big in Japan, Shcherbakova is still hot in China. I dont know, but she still has the Nike handle on her instagram page. In what world a reigning olympic gold medalist dont get apparel deal?
The 4CC conference is still OK. China is a large market for anything after all. I bet Nike is dying to put Shcherbakova’s billboard all over China. But I think Europe is dying. If Russia switch to 4CC, all Europe have left is that Finnish Elton John dude to sell skates, tanktops, makeup, skin care products, tampon and other feminine stuff.
Is this statement correct? Would be interesting to know;)