imswimmer328 wrote:
All of this, plus the focus on long distance triathlon means it's never going to get any viewership. Does anybody seriously think the PTO is going to succeed?
Well as an cou terargument do you think the top 20 pros in the world would all have sig ed up if they think g that is a flash in the pan.
I have no idea if pto will succeed but I think what they are doing right now is good for the sport as it shakes things up.
If we imagine 70.3 worls would happen this year it would be only an age group world's as all the big names are going g to tace in daytona
what pto seems to try is to try to race the profile of pros which is needed ( if it works is to be seen )
If they really had enough money to buy ironman I would think to invest their money this way could be cheaper.
The biggest issue I see only Roth could be the full world champ and Felix has always said this was not going to happen but I dare to say this killed challenges expansion as they won't get a full race off the ground unless they had slots for Roth and back then wirh out the investor the races that worked ironman bought the race .
If that was changed ie Roth the challenge world champs I could see it work
so I guess it's 4 things
how much money and for how lo g does the investor have and do they find a way to make is sustainable ( difficult but in some countries it can work )
can they keep the pros on board and promote them so the can promote the races
Can they convince Roth to become a quali event or make it a 2 day event
what is ironman going to do. Are they going to sit it out or lime in frankfurt where they have to pay good appearance fees to get the top pros go that route . I think it's probably the first time in a while ironman loos a bit vulnerable ( I think most people agree it was not a good value deal for the new buyer and the timing g could not have een rose to buy a company with so much debt just before most of the season was wiped out.
I think at the end of the day regardless if you like ironman or not competiton is good