The IBU published a traditional press release before the start of the season, which talks about rule changes, new visions, prize money, as well as other interesting and not-so-interesting things, including a report on television audiences.
So, we watched the World Cup over the last three seasons:
2020/2021 - 95 million people
2021/2022 - 86 million people
2022/2023 - 58 million people
However, the matter is not only about the loss of the majority of the Russian and Belarusian audience, and part of Ukrainian, because last winter they had problems with electricity. If you look at the statistics by events, you can see that at the 1st event, there is almost no difference between the 2020/21 and 2022/23 seasons, and at the second event it is not significant. But then part of the audience becomes bored with watching the disadvantaged men's biathlon, and they gradually leave. The complete dominance of the Norwegians contributes to this primarily.
The seventh event of the World Cup 2 years ago was watched by 108 million people, but this year only 37 million.
This year could push audience numbers even lower. The Norwegian hegemony, apparently, will continue if you look at the races in Sjosjoen, where the Norwegians were totaly dominated. And two North American stages will also not add interest.
Hope there will be intrigue this season.
