No Norwegians And Swedes? Bad For Sport, Excellent For Popularity
Let us be blunt: Davos Nordic survived & thrived even without two out of three best teams in the world. Were Johaug taking start at Davos Dorf last Sunday, she would likely demolish the competition as per usual, she is particularly strong on altitude. Ditto for the mega-talented crop of the young female Swedish sprinters. But who wants Norwegians and Swedes to win? Not statistically significant majority of fans, not global sponsors and gear manufacturers. And not television rights holders. Those countries' populations are tiny compare to the American, Russian and German. Moreover, the Scandinavian and Finnish xcski goods & services markets appear to be saturated - unlike the big ones were the xcskiing is simply not fashionable enough. Not yet. The way it works, big countries need victories. It's…