my biggest fear is what happens when who ever is sponsoring this runs out of money/will not sponsor it anymore. //

You mean like every race, every sport, every venue, every personal sponsorship, and everything that puts money into every aspect of sport?

They just renamed the Staples center here in LA to some virtual money group, I think the building will survive that, as well as sports in general. It is the very nature to change sponsorship, I cannot think of one thing that has stayed constant over the years. Lets not be afraid, but glad that someone is actually willing to put in the seed money to get something new going in our sport. From what I can see, if you build it, they will come, and in a few cases, someone will take over the reigns once old money drops out..

Hi Monty, good feedback and yes i was maybe a bit too negative. But lets see, i just hope it will be real races and not just top 20 pros competing against each other, PTO was about all pro triathletes right?
Maybe my worry is also more about exclusivity between brands but lets see!

That seems plausible. Would be interesting to see it be a mix of IM, Challenge, CLASH and maybe some private Pro only events. Maybe that's more breadth than PTO is capable of negotiating at the moment.

Standby for announcement Wednesday (15th). Money on the table and the Collins Cup for the PRO fop as well. Qualification for Tour events and Collins Cup based on rankings plus wild cards (assumed). Bring it on. Will surely 'force' the best to go head to head at middle distance. Those athletes who relish fierce competition will be there, but we shouldn't assume that vice versa applies.

It'll be interesting how the addition of these races affects the rest of the schedule, especially the races in Europe. This makes the 5 biggest races of the year all in North America. Will the top Europeans just decide to live over here May through November or will some of them choose to forego the opens for some more guaranteed wins at European 70.3s?

Feels like it would be the year for a not top 50 athlete to spend a summer in Europe...

---

Benjamin Deal - Professional - Instagram - TriRig - Lodi Cyclery
Deals on Wheels - Results, schedule, videos, sponsors

I think that the PTO - by developing bigger races with bigger prize purses, actually paves the way for all pros to make more money by opening up some spaces at some good money races on the IM/Challenge circuit. They aren't in place to support all triathletes I don't think - but try to provide the pathway for more pros to make more money! And I think they are on that pathway.

---

DFRU - Detta Family Racing Unit...the kids like it and we all get out and after it...gotta keep the fam involved!

It could be a fantastic year to race in Europe. Big gamble for NA pros but might be worth the adventure of a lifetime!

Have they announced the Collins Cup in NA for sure?

---

DFRU - Detta Family Racing Unit...the kids like it and we all get out and after it...gotta keep the fam involved!

Oh I forgot about the Collins Cup. I guess that would be in the top races but no, no location announced yet but I can't help but think it would be a huge mistake not to put it in Europe somewhere. Otherwise I think they risk pissing off non-americans even more.

---

Benjamin Deal - Professional - Instagram - TriRig - Lodi Cyclery
Deals on Wheels - Results, schedule, videos, sponsors

The PTO CEO was just on the Greg Bennett podcast, and went over a lot of the details on the 'majors.' A lot of it is modeled after the PGA, and the World Tour majors would be several day events, with swimming, biking, and running single-sport races, then having an AG race and the Pro race on the weekend. It sounds pretty cool to me. One of their idea is to try bringing in some single sport athletes to get interested in triathlon. Another event will be a pro-am in LA - no celebrities were mentioned, but that could certainly get media to cover an event if some higher profile folks partnered with the pros.

They also discussed revenue and that it should not come from AG entry fees, which is the model for most triathlons and RD's. The example provided was Chelsea FC - if the sole source or revenue was ticket sales the prices would be outrageous. The PTO feels that triathlon is a sport that needs proper exposure and marketing to get good sponsorships.

---

Blog: http://262toboylstonstreet.blogspot.com/
https://twitter.com/NateThomasTri
Coaching: https://bybtricoaching.com/ - accepting athletes for 2023

Haha then I'm missing the fifth race! Kona, 70.3 worlds, Canada and US opens and...Daytona?

---

DFRU - Detta Family Racing Unit...the kids like it and we all get out and after it...gotta keep the fam involved!

Both "Konas". St. George in May then real Kona in November.

---

Benjamin Deal - Professional - Instagram - TriRig - Lodi Cyclery
Deals on Wheels - Results, schedule, videos, sponsors

Duh...goodness. Haha.

---

DFRU - Detta Family Racing Unit...the kids like it and we all get out and after it...gotta keep the fam involved!

I would love this! Maybe a century on Thursday, 5k on Friday, and then race on Saturday. Sounds like a ton of fun

And there we are. The only money in this sport is through mass participation. Yup, I'm out.

---

Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

 

And there we are. The only money in this sport is through mass participation. Yup, I'm out.[/quote]
Of interest, why is that? Even the PGA Tour has pro ams on Wednesdays. I would be more likely to go see an event if I could do something around it as well.

Not being argumentative - would you actually go watch the US Open if it was pro only?

---

DFRU - Detta Family Racing Unit...the kids like it and we all get out and after it...gotta keep the fam involved!

I used to be a avid golfer (80 rounds per yr). One of the things I turned me away from golf and towards triathlon was the fact that I can complete on the same course, on the same day as professional triathletes in many events. Developing a World Tour - The Majors of Triathlon - is a great idea. Making it a weekend where AGs can compete as well is nothing short of genius.

In fact as I type this I just received a notification that my wife put the PTO US Open in Dallas, TX on our family Google calendar. For context, she only does Sprint races but obviously she is stoked about this as am I.

We need to think outside of the box and beyond the Ironman brand if triathlon is going to survive and thrive.

I love this too! But I realized both in St George in May and Indian Wells 10 days ago - I would have loved to have seen the pro races. I was not that far back but didn't know who won until I was finished. Now, let me race the course - get my tri on, smile for the finisherpix cameras, do my thing - THEN I get to watch Jan and Lionel and Gustav and Blu and Sebi and Lucy and Daniela and Flora and Emma and Paula and....yes please - sign me up!!!

I hope the border situation in Canada eases up - Edmonton might be fun. Dallas in September might be fun. Pretty stoked to try the 100k distance. I think it'll be fun to have the different challenge (I think Challenge/Clash Daytona still did 70.3 even though the pros did 100k) and a good fun distance. (Did 100 last weekend - pretty fun race!)

---

DFRU - Detta Family Racing Unit...the kids like it and we all get out and after it...gotta keep the fam involved!

so single minded....

I could not be more excited for this announcement. This is only the start of what is to come. These were 5 year deals with these Citys. Every year for the next 5 years they will race in

Edmonton Canada July 23-24
Collins Cup back at Bratislava (not samorin) August 20-21
Dallas Texas September 17-18


Europe Major coming 2023
Asian Major coming 2023


$1,000,000 at each race.


This is a break through for the sport of triathlon. You can not even compare these to Challenge events, Super league ect. This will be 5 majors a year with $1,000,000 at each race. Not $15k not $75k This means instead of watching the top athletes in the world go head to head once a year in Kona we will see it 5 times a year. Also the PTO is not trying to shut down the PRO ironman events they still want those to take place. Then the top athletes in the sport can focus on majors and the lower level pros can build up their ranking in the Ironman / Challenge events. The Majors will only take the top 40 ranked athletes in the PTO ranking system. If an athlete turns down a slot to race it will roll to the next top ranked pro athlete.


Whether you're a fan or not we will be blessed at least for the next 5 years of some insane professional racing at the highest level and the broadcasting will be the best the sport has ever seen. How can we not all be excited for where the sport is going.

I went to the NCAA Triathlon National Championships because I like watching the sport. It also helped that I have affinity for ASU after getting my masters degree and the race being down the street.

I have attended a US Open. Tickets for the US Open are also not cheap.

Considering the amount of triathlon races I consume as a "punter" I would go watch the race in person if it was local and convenient.

And weirdly enough, I'm moving to Dallas. So I'll probably go watch the race haha.

---

Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

Not at all. Just not drinking the Kool aid. As I mentioned above, I'm interested in a professional only product. The racing part of my itch is already scratched.

---

Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

Sweet!!!!!! Will you have a couch I can crash on for a few days in September? lol

---

DFRU - Detta Family Racing Unit...the kids like it and we all get out and after it...gotta keep the fam involved!

They should look at how Super League does the live events. I was in Malibu and it was just so much fun to watch the pros after I did the age group race in the morning. Really one of the very best live sports events I have ever watched. Part of what was fun was that it was multiple loops so you had many opportunities to watch the pros go by. Also big screen TVs up at the finish line so you could see what was happening when the race was not near you. And the announcer was really high energy and fantastic. Conversely I had a friend who watched St. George 70.3 and she said she could not really tell what was happening and pros went by her once for a second but it was hard to know what was happening.