PTO Executive Chairman Chris Kermode made a big claim at the launch of the PTO’s T100 Triathlon World Tour in London today, as the former ATP CEO shared his ambitious plans for the future.
The ex-professional tennis player, who joined the PTO’s Board of Directors in 2020 and became Executive Chairman in 2022, was speaking at the organisation’s announcement of the eight-stop series this season.
Sharing his vision of what professional sport needs to succeed, Kermode said that the PTO’s T100 would become one of the biggest sport entertainment products in the world over the next 2-3 years.
“Sport is a very, very simple business model”
Laying down the gauntlet for the rest of the industry, the Brit didn’t pull any punches when describing the extent to which he believes the new series can be successful, stating that the business model is very simple.
“We are going to make triathlon, the PTO T100, one of the biggest sports entertainment products in the world. Fact. How are we going to do this? Sport is a very, very simple business model, and unfortunately, a lot of sports surprisingly don’t stick to this model.
“It needs, like anything, a recipe and you need ingredients for it. What are ingredients of sport? You need a season long narrative. You need a start and an end to a season just like F1, just like tennis and just like football, there’s a beginning and an end.
“There is a ranking system that you can understand that has movement up and down, culminating at the end with a winner. Due to our brilliant relationship with World Triathlon, we will be crowning a World Champion, not many sports can do that.
Talent and locations key to success
On top of the ranking system and season long narrative, Kermode emphasises the need for iconic locations and top class athletes, with the roster of professional athletes contracted to the serious and the locations of most races also announced today.
“You need to have the same talent at every single race. Imagine F1 where you have different drivers at every race. F1 would be boring because you wouldn’t care.
“We need to be in iconic locations, hence with London being obviously one of the greatest cities in the world, this had to be within our eight and we’re expanding in 2025.
“Finally, the last ingredient you need, which every sport has to have and it’s the one that do many people miss. You have to care, you have to care who wins over someone else. It’s that simple.”
If all of those ingredients come together, says Kermode, then he is convinced the PTO can make the T100 one of the best sporting events in the world.
“It’s with great pride and conviction that I stand here today and say in 2-3 years time, because we’re just at the beginning of this journey, that the PTO T100 will be in the Top 10 greatest sports entertainment products on this planet.”
