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 More than 120,000 fans are expected to attend the two weeks of
ski races in the Vail Valley that conclude on Sunday and event
organizers have arranged a wide-ranging program, on and off the
piste, to give everyone attending "something special."
Whether it is Canadian rock band Barenaked Ladies, Austrian folk
singer Andreas Gabalier, thrills and spills on the ski slopes or a
'Vail-gating' party for fans on arrival, there is been no shortage
of entertainment on offer.
"We wanted to put our U.S. brand on these championships so we
thought we would treat them a little bit more like we treat our
other big sports, like football," Ceil Folz, president of the 2015
world championships organising committee, told Reuters.
"We have an official cheerleading squad and at our opening
ceremonies we had a marching band and an 'a cappella' group.
"We also have a thing called 'Game Day' before our football games
and so we've set up an equivalent of that here called 'Race Day.'
We've really borrowed a lot of things that we do in other U.S.
sports."
 Tailgating has become an integral part of both college and
professional football in the U.S. with food and drink parties
conducted on and around the open tailgates of vehicles parked
outside stadiums and arenas.
The Vail Valley version of tailgating was created to give fans at
the world championships an instant party atmosphere.
"As people pull up into our parking lots, we've got food and
beverage and we've got music going on," said Folz. "We want to make
sure that, from the minute people arrive here, they feel like they
are at something special, at a party."
ECONOMIC BOOST
The economic impact of the world championships being held in
Colorado has already been significant, and Folz expects a total
boost of around $130 million after Sunday's concluding men's slalom
on the treacherous Birds of Prey course.
"The budget for the whole event is almost $60 million, of which
about 10 percent is on our television production, about 20 percent
is all television and the rest kind of breaks down," said Folz.
"About $40 million comes from outside of the valley and $20 million
came from within but we had much more than spent here just preparing
for the championships, so we got an up-side before a single person
took a turn on the course."
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While Folz has been delighted by the number of fans attending the
world championships, highlighted by the record crowd of 25,000 for
the blue riband men's downhill on Saturday, she is especially
interested in the television audience.
"For us, it's seldom the economic impact we care about, it's more
about television and the impact of that, the number of eyeballs that
get to see the races," she said. "That's really our big driver."
Helping drive up extra interest from an American perspective has
been the make-up of the U.S. team which boasts big names such as
Lindsey Vonn, evergreen Bode Miller, four-time world champion Ted
Ligety and rising star Mikaela Shiffrin.
"With Lindsey and Mikaela so recognizable and so liked, it's really
opened up the avenue of people being interested in ski racing that
have never even skied before," said Folz. "We've been able to reach
out to all parts of the United States."
As much as the U.S. fans have enjoyed watching their country's
skiers race over the past nine days at Beaver Creek, Shiffrin and
her team mates have loved competing on home snow.
"Being at home, it has a very special atmosphere," Olympic and world
slalom champion Shiffrin told Reuters. "I just feel like a little
kid again, and the crowds are having so much fun."
(Editing by Frank Pingue)
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