As the road to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games begins this weekend with WTCS Alghero, many of triathlon’s leading figures appear united around one central challenge – how to take the sport beyond its existing core audience.

For reigning men’s Olympic champion Alex Yee, accessibility remains a major issue and one of the sport’s biggest barriers to growth.

After his marathon heroics in 2025, he made his triathlon comeback at WTCS Yokohama earlier this month and then posted on his Instagram page: “If people want to watch this racing and are struggling please comment and let me know it’s important there is access for all!”

And speaking to TRI247, Yee explained: “When I was growing up, World Series racing was on the BBC.

“I could just turn it on and watch my heroes.

“Now it’s stuck behind a paywall, which I think is a real shame.”

There had been hope that in the year the WTCS returns to the UK, with July’s race in London, free-to-air coverage with a mainstream broadcaster would again be available but at the time of writing that has not yet materialised.

How much does it cost to watch?

Triathlonlive.tv, which costs £10.99 a month in the UK or £37.99 for an annual subscription, is currently the only way to watch the WTCS events.

And it’s only fair to point out that ahead of this article being published we reached out to World Triathlon for the very latest position and a spokesperson told us: “We are still in negotiations with the BBC and other potential broadcasters in the UK – we really are pushing for them to show the WTCS events, at least the London one, on free TV.

“As an international federation we are of course interested in having as much exposure as possible and are willing to make it work. When there’s a WTCS event in the UK, the organisers of the event have the domestic rights on free TV at least for that event, and we are working together with the LOC (PTO in this case) and have offered that possibility to many takers in the UK.”

Which does raise the question as to why the BBC and others don’t appear keen to give airtime to a sport which was voted by the public as the Team GB moment of the last Olympic Games in Paris as Yee cut down Hayden Wilde on the run to win gold.

The spokesperson also added that there will be offers around Triathlonlive.tv subscriptions both this weekend and in the lead-up to WTCS London.

Beyond the core audience

It’s also something we have discussed recently with the men at the top of World Triathlon and the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO), who have combined forces to develop the Triathlon World Tour from 2027 onwards.

Sam Renouf is the PTO’s CEO – interestingly their T100 races this year are free watch on Triathlonlive.tv – and he believes triathlon has historically been too focused on serving existing fans rather than attracting new ones.

“Live streaming works for us to speak to our existing audience, but it doesn’t help grow it,” Renouf told us.

“We need to be on mainstream broadcasters.

“Making sure we get triathlon content in the places where people can see it, can access it, and not necessarily those who know what triathlon is – that’s the priority because that’s what will bring more people in.”

A ‘paradigm shift’ for the sport

Under the planned World Tour structure, the PTO and World Triathlon hope to dramatically expand the scale of triathlon coverage through a more unified broadcast strategy.

Renouf says the long-term aim is to create a year-round product capable of competing for attention alongside established global sports.

“We’re competing with golf and tennis,” he said.

“One of the logics of the Triathlon World Tour is to be able to go to broadcast partners and provide a slate of 500 hours of programming.

“It’s completely different. It’s a paradigm shift for the sport.”

The PTO’s existing relationships with broadcasters including Warner Bros Discovery are expected to form a key part of that strategy.

Making triathlon easier to understand

Alongside accessibility, Renouf believes triathlon also needs to improve how it tells stories and explains athletic performances to casual viewers.

“You need to understand the athleticism of the athletes,” he said.

“If you had Formula One without any of the graphics or the context for the commentators, it would be like watching paint dry.

“That’s what triathlon’s been lacking.”

That process has started in the T100 but the next phase of coverage is expected to include more live data, biometrics and enhanced storytelling designed to make races easier to follow for wider audiences.

Olympic visibility – and the challenge beyond it

World Triathlon President Antonio Fernández Arimany knows that the Olympic Games remains the sport’s biggest shop window — but says triathlon must build visibility outside those four-year peaks.

“We have to make our World Championship series bigger and more known,” he told TRI247.

“This is exactly the goal of creating this Triathlon World Tour.”

When asked directly about the current paywall, Arimany suggested that for those who already “love the sport”, it is “affordable”.

But he did add: “We cannot speak only to triathlon people. We need to go where the audience is.”

For Yee, the goal is simple: making sure future generations can discover the sport as easily as he once did.

“I was able to watch so many of my favourite athletes,” he said.

“I think creating that accessibility and that relatability is really important.”

**UPDATE**: On Friday, World Triathlon announced that this weekend’s race in Alghero would now be screened FREE as a gesture of thanks after its Instagram page hit 500,000 followers and also to mark the start of the Olympic qualification period. Viewers wishing to make use of the free pass should sign up for the race as usual, but use the promotional code: MYRACEPASS.