The KNSB and TIG Sports have extended their cooperation in Shorttrack until mid-2028. TIG Sports has been the KNSB’s event partner for international shorttrack competitions since 2011 and will also organise the Dutch championships from the 2024-2025 season.
After the World Shorttrack Championships had already been held in Amsterdam in 1985 and 1990 and in The Hague in 1996, the Netherlands was re-assigned the event by the ISU in 2017. The KNSB, meanwhile, had engaged TIG Sports and with that, the growth of the events and the sporting development of TeamNL went hand in hand. The result was a better experience for fans, more media attention and more commercial partners. The successful 2017 World Cup in a sold-out Ahoy, organised by TIG Sports, was a good example.
Suits the status that the sport of Short Track has now achieved in the Netherlands
After that, TIG Sports also organised several ISU World Championships matches in the Netherlands, as well as the 2021 World Championships held – without an audience and with Covid measures – in Dordrecht. TIG Sports has also been entrusted with organising the Nederlandse Loterij ISU Short Track World Championships in 2024 (again in Ahoy) and the 2028 World Championships recently assigned to the Netherlands by the ISU.
The KNSB, through commercial director Jeroen Kraaij, is very happy with the extension and expansion of the cooperation with TIG Sports. “The long-term cooperation has proved structurally successful with the 2017 World Championships in Rotterdam as a provisional highlight and it promises to be again in 2024. How great is it for our own riders to compete for world titles in a sold-out Ahoy! That the next generation of Short Trackers will also have that opportunity in 2028 is a challenging dot on the horizon for them,” Kraaij said. “The organisation of these events is in good hands at TIG Sports. All the better that they will also take the Dutch Championships to a ‘next level’ in the coming years. Our Dutch elite riders but also the upcoming talents deserve to ride for national prizes in a beautiful entourage. That also suits the status that the sport of Short Track has now achieved in the Netherlands.”
Niels Markensteijn, director of TIG Sports: “Short Track is a great sport to watch. The events we have so far organised in the Netherlands together with the KNSB were – apart from the corona edition in 2021 – all sold out and extremely atmospheric. The World Championships in 2024 will be another huge experience. It is very nice that the ISU has so much confidence in the KNSB and TIG Sports that we can also organise the World Championships in 2028 in the Netherlands! We are also very happy to extend and expand our cooperation with the KNSB. We are already looking forward to ‘boosting’ the National championships as well!”
Don’t miss anything from the upcoming Nederlandse Loterij ISU World Short Track Championships (15 to 17 March 2024) in Ahoy? Then order your tickets quickly. More info at Schaatsen.nl.
