How a financial services firm built the largest partnership in U.S. winter sports history — and what it means for brands looking beyond the quick win.
By Paul Bryant Birdwell - paul@roaringforkagency.com - 415 730 - 4854
In May 2025, Stifel Financial Corp. and U.S. Ski & Snowboard announced an eight-year extension of their title partnership, running through April 2034 — the largest sponsorship deal in the organization's history. The agreement covers three Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, including the home Salt Lake City-Utah 2034 Games, and positions Stifel as the title partner of nearly every ski discipline under the U.S. Ski & Snowboard umbrella: alpine, cross country, freeski, moguls, aerials, ski jumping, nordic combined, and Para alpine.
But here's what makes this deal genuinely fascinating from a sponsorship strategy perspective: Stifel didn't start here. The partnership launched in October 2022 with just the alpine team. By January 2023 — barely three months later — Stifel had already expanded to include event naming rights and development-level competitions. By March 2023, they'd grown the partnership again to cover all ski teams. And now, in 2025, they've committed for nearly a decade. At Roaring Fork Agency (www.roaringforkagency.com), we spend our days dissecting what makes elite sponsorships work — and this partnership offers a blueprint for how the most sophisticated brands approach sport.
Starting Narrow, Scaling Fast — The Anti-Vanity Play
One of the most instructive aspects of the Stifel partnership is how deliberately it started. In October 2022, Stifel came aboard as the title sponsor of the U.S. Alpine Ski Team — a focused, high-profile entry point that included stars like three-time Olympic medalist Mikaela Shiffrin and Olympic silver medalist Ryan Cochran-Siegle. This wasn't a sprawling, logo-everywhere deal. It was strategic: invest deeply in one vertical, measure the impact, then expand if the data supported it.
The data clearly supported it. By January 2023, Stifel had already broadened the partnership to include naming rights for three U.S.-based World Cup events (Palisades Tahoe, Aspen, Killington) and title sponsorship of the Stifel Success NorAm Tour — the development pipeline that feeds the elite teams. Two months after that, in March 2023, Stifel expanded again to become the official team naming partner of all ski teams under U.S. Ski & Snowboard.
For brands evaluating whether to go big on a property from day one or start smaller and scale, this partnership offers a powerful counterargument to the "go big or go home" approach. Stifel's methodical escalation allowed them to validate ROI at every step before committing more capital — and ultimately, it led to a decade-long, record-breaking agreement.
The Business Case Was About More Than Visibility
Stifel isn't a consumer brand that needs mass-market awareness. It's a wealth management and investment banking firm serving individual investors, professional money managers, businesses, and municipalities. So why invest this heavily in winter sports?
The answer lies in understanding what Stifel actually sells: trust, precision, long-term relationships, and the cultivation of talent. As Stifel Chairman and CEO Ron Kruszewski put it when the partnership launched, Stifel is a firm where "success meets success" — a company that prides itself on identifying up-and-coming talent, investing in that talent, and promoting from within. U.S. Ski & Snowboard operates the exact same way, building athletes from grassroots development all the way to Olympic podiums.
The parallel is deliberate. Stifel didn't just want logo placement. They wanted brand alignment with an organization that mirrored their own values — and they wanted to be associated with a sport that rewards patience, precision, and long-term investment. In that context, the partnership isn't a marketing expense. It's a brand positioning statement.
Critically, Stifel's leadership had deep personal ties to the sport. Ron Kruszewski has served on the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Foundation board of trustees for 13 years. Board member Thom Weisel, founder of Montgomery Securities, has been involved for 45 years, including serving as chairman from 1983 to 1994. This wasn't a pitch deck that landed on a CMO's desk out of nowhere. This was a relationship built over decades, activated when the strategic fit became undeniable.
The Results: Record Growth Across Every Metric
Since the partnership launched in 2022, the returns have been extraordinary — not just for Stifel, but for U.S. Ski & Snowboard and the athletes themselves. Here's what the data shows:
World Cup expansion: The number of World Cup events held in North America grew from 4 to a record 11 in the 2024-25 season.
Audience growth: Streaming and broadcast audience doubled.
Media impressions: Earned media surpassed 30 billion impressions.
Social media: Social media impressions increased significantly across the organization.
On-mountain success: U.S. athletes achieved historic performances, including multiple World Cup podiums and strong showings across all disciplines.
And on Stifel's side? The firm had a record-breaking year in 2024, with net revenues of $4.97 billion (the highest in company history), non-GAAP net earnings of $756 million, and a share price increase of 56.4% over the year. While it's impossible to draw a direct causal line from sponsorship to stock performance, the partnership coincided with a period of tremendous business growth — and Stifel clearly saw enough value to commit through 2034.
For brands evaluating the ROI of elite sport partnerships, this is the model worth studying. Stifel didn't just buy visibility. They bought association with excellence, authenticity with a community that values precision and long-term thinking, and a platform that allowed them to activate their values in a way that traditional advertising never could.
Beyond the Logo: Financial Education and Athlete Development
One of the most overlooked aspects of the Stifel partnership is what happens off the slopes. As part of the agreement, Stifel collaborates with U.S. Ski & Snowboard on a career and financial education program designed to help athletes with savings and investing strategy. For athletes who dedicate their lives to sport — often with limited earning windows and uncertain post-competition career paths — this kind of support is invaluable.
Stifel also created specialized initiatives like the Stifel Bibbo Award (recognizing the athlete who improves the most in alpine World Cup rankings), the Stifel Success Tour (development-level NorAm races feeding the elite pipeline), and the Stifel Snow Show (a weekly series on CNBC, Peacock, and YouTube highlighting athlete stories). The partnership even includes a performance bonus program for athletes and coaches based on key results during the season.
This is experiential marketing at its most sophisticated. Stifel isn't just present at events — they're embedded in the athlete journey, from development through retirement. That creates loyalty and goodwill that no amount of logo placement could ever buy.
The Timing: Three Olympics, Including a Home Games in 2034
The extended partnership runs through three Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games: Milan-Cortina 2026, French Alps 2030, and Salt Lake City-Utah 2034. That final one is the real prize. A home Olympics on U.S. soil creates a once-in-a-generation moment for visibility, national pride, and cultural relevance. Stifel locked in that association nearly a decade in advance.
For brands thinking about Olympic sponsorship cycles, this is a reminder that the most valuable positions are often secured years before the torch is lit. Stifel didn't wait for 2032 to explore options. They built the relationship early, proved the value, and locked in the commitment when the strategic opportunity was clear.
What This Means for the Wider Sponsorship Landscape
The Stifel–U.S. Ski & Snowboard partnership offers a few critical lessons for brands and properties alike:
1. Start focused, scale deliberately. Stifel didn't try to own everything on day one. They started with alpine, expanded to events and development, then broadened to all ski teams. That incremental approach allowed them to validate ROI at every step — and it ultimately led to a bigger, longer commitment than they might have made upfront.
2. Brand alignment matters more than audience size. Stifel isn't chasing millions of eyeballs. They're aligning with an organization that shares their values and mirrors their talent development philosophy. The partnership works because the fit is genuine, not forced.
3. Long-term relationships beat transactional deals. Stifel's leadership had been involved with U.S. Ski & Snowboard for decades before the partnership launched. That foundation of trust allowed them to move fast, commit deeply, and build something far more sophisticated than a typical logo-on-jersey arrangement.
4. Activation is everything. Stifel created programs that directly benefit athletes (financial education, performance bonuses, development support) and fans (the Snow Show, specialized competitions). That's how you build loyalty and differentiate your brand from competitors who just write checks.
At Roaring Fork Agency, this is exactly the kind of thinking we help our clients develop. Whether you're a brand looking to enter winter sports for the first time, a property trying to maximize the value of an existing partnership, or an organization exploring how to build multi-year, values-driven sponsorships, the Stifel–U.S. Ski & Snowboard deal offers a masterclass in doing it right. The future of sponsorship isn't about buying reach. It's about building relationships, aligning values, and committing for the long haul.
Roaring Fork Agency specializes in sponsorship strategy, brand activation, and commercial partnership development. If you're ready to think differently about how your brand shows up in sport and entertainment, we'd love to talk.
If you have any questions about event sponsorship or venue naming rights contact Paul Birdwell at the Roaring Fork Agency:
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