Darren

Biathlon is very popular in Europe. Consequently, competition to host
a IBU World Cup event is approximately equivalent to hosting the
Super Bowl in the United States. With a calendar of about 10 events
per year the openings fill quickly. This is one reason the U.S. does
not have a World Cup in 2005. I will guess that the 2004/2005
calendar was almost completed when Fort Kent held the World Cup.

The U.S. record for spectator attendance at a IBU World Cup was set
on March 6, 2004 in Fort Kent at approx. 6500 people. Not bad
considering Fort Kent has a population of about 4000. Lake Placid had
about 500 spectators the week before. In Europe it is common to have
40,000 spectators at any one event. 100,000 is not unusual. This is
the second reason for no U.S. event in 2005.

I will speculate that the U.S. will not hold a IBU World Cup in 2006
due to the Winter Olympics being held in Italy that year. And, I will
make a educated guess that Fort Kent will hold a IBU World Cup in
2007 or 2008 due to the attendance numbers from 2004.