Telenor and Norwegian Ski Federation to prolong sponsorship

Fornebu - Telenor and the Norwegian Ski Federation (NSF) today announced that they have prolonged an agreement in which Telenor continues as main sponsor for alpine skiing. Telenor will also continue as main sponsor for Telenor Karusellen, a skiing competition for children.



The agreement is worth approximately NOK 40 million over a period of four years, and its scope is equivalent to the agreement from 2006.



“We are happy to be part of an agreement that allows us to accompany some of the world’s best alpine skiers into the future”, says Petter Svendsen, head of sponsoring in Telenor.



Similar characteristics
Svendsen underlines that alpine skiing is a major international sport with massive interest in several countries, especially in Central Europe.



“High speed, precision, safety and innovation is essential in alpine skiing, characteristics which are also key elements in Telenor’s product development. At the same time, the athletes in the national teams are fantastic profiles, and we are privileged to team up with them,” Svendsen says.



The President of NSF, Sverre K. Seeberg is happy to have a major and competent international player on board for four new years.



“This is a significant agreement, not only for Alpine but for NSF as a whole. Telenor is one of the most international companies in Norway. We are very pleased that they continue as main sponsor for our most international discipline, and also for the largest non-elite project for children among all disciplines. This agreement is an important foundation for our continued ambitions to be a great nation within alpine skiing,” says Seeberg.



The new dimension in the agreement is that Telenor contributes with a NOK 50,000 scholarship to young athletes.



“This is really great from our perspective. It provides security to younger athletes who spend several years making it to the top. This scholarship will be welcomed,” says Claus Ryste, head of Alpine Skiing at NSF.



The agreement gives Telenor a bigger exposure on jackets and speed suit, but Telenor does no longer have exclusivity on headgear exposure.



“Several alternatives were evaluated, and we chose the one that best suited our needs. With this agreement, Telenor maintains its exposure, while resources are freed up to support non-elite initiatives. This has also been well received by NSF and the athletes,” says Svendsen.



Telenor Karusellen a success
Telenor has co-operated with NSF since 2005. The following year Telenor became main sponsor for the alpine skiers. At the same time “Telenor Karusellen” was established, where NSF and Telenor create attractive and exciting skiing competitions for children up to 12 years of age. Telenor Karusellen has grown each year, and last season served a record high 57 000 children.



“This is great. When we entered into the agreement five years ago, we put up a daring target saying we should be able to include 75 000 children. This figure does not seem unrealistic now, given the development over the past years. We will contribute to build the world’s largest non-elite winter activity for children, and this is of equal importance to us,” Svendsen says.



Good fit with Telenor’s sponsor strategy
“Our sponsor strategy is to support both elite and non-elite activities, and we are a major contributor to different sports. Within football we support Telenor Cup, Norway Cup, several teams in top and lower leagues, as well as the national team,” Svendsen says.