As I said previously, the PTO is not an athlete's association. And that agreement is quite clear. Also, who wrote this? An Englishman? In US contracts they teach you today not to write in legalese. Delete all of the Whereas BS.

If you look through the membership agreements of the NFLPA, MLBPA, NBAPA etc...you get paid for your Name, Image, and Likeness through their licensing program. They also take in dues, but through the licensing program, every member makes back significantly more than they pay in dues. Also, NO ONE, is a contractor in any of those situations, they are Union members.

What's this? It clearly shows they're an event promoter.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

Make sure your existing sponsors are ok with paragraph 4b.

Letting them use your image and accomplishments for their promotional benefits without compensation doesnt seem great to me. In a sense, that's giving away your brand for free.

Also, the sections obligating participation in the collins cup should you qualify as well as obligating attendance at any PTO event with a certain total prize purse if you're ranked top 20, seemingly on your own dime and without any consideration for your own schedule, are questionable. That could very easily put you in a bind.

It seems like you're giving them a lot by signing this, and they are obligated to give nothing in return, outside of that initial bonus they're so proud of talking about. There's almost no substance in this as well, its constantly talking about events and races to be determined. They need more concrete plans before it's worth signing IMO, at least actually hold the collins cup

You'd be agreeing to give them quite a bit in this agreement and they're basically giving you nothing in return. It's a great agreement, for them.

It seems to me that there is absolutely no benefit to signing anything until one is ranked in the top 100. And any really significant benefits don’t seem to start until the top 50. So really why not just wait until that happens?

The main issue I see is aligning oneself with an organization that could pretty much do whatever they want and use my image to publicize it. They don’t have the depth or history yet to make me think that I might not eventually regret my decision to sign on.

Not sure what I would do differently if I were them, but I’m a bit too much of a jaded person (thanks to being a healthcare worker) to assume they’ll always do the right thing.

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Adam Feigh
Pianko Law, Speed Hound, Castelli, Sailfish, Base
Feighathlon.com

Thanks all for the input. As I'm unfortunately not in the top 100 yet, I was leaning towards not signing it but wanted to get more eyes on it. I really do want them to succeed but man, as of now it's just hard to see happening.

On a mostly unrelated note, they sent out an email today encouraging us not to participate in Ironman's Virtual Racing. Something about how they don't think its appropriate for people to be focusing on sport while the world is in crisis...

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

I found that odd too.
I'm not sure participating would be a negative thing, perhaps the contrary – provide some light, some fun, some inspiration. Don't do it like nothing else is going on in the world, acknowledge the elephant in the room, but if one is healthy and able, then go for it.

I will not be signing the agreement until I see more come out of PTO. I feel sorry for them; they finally got things together and then Covid-19 thwarts their plans...so, we may have to wait another year before we see the real thing. I did appreciate the extra payout, even if it did nothing for me personally.

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Group Eleven – Websites for Athletes / mikael.racing / @mstaer

Well, Rachel Joyce is an English Lawyer by trade

there are PTO BOD members who are still owed prize money from last year by a Business Board member event.

If there is anything the PTO should be doing is making sure the athletes are getting paid by RD's that offer prize money and not waiting nearly 11 months for their prize check.

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

It's a pretty predatory contract. I can't believe all of the top end folks signed that.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

I coach a top 10 athlete, it's worth signing at that point.

This is total BS. Their goal (overall, and with the PTO contract) is to have control on where the pros race that they can then use as leverage. Per the contract, PTO could hold the Collins Cup the same day as Kona and the top pros would have to attend (and do so without any sponsor logos). The contract is pretty one sided; the only good part I see is that you can quit at any time (no notice period).

Of course they don't want you to independently race in any IM branded event. Did they also ask you to not race on Zwift? #hypocracy

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ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
Depression, Neurocognitive problems, Dementias (Testing and Evaluation), Trauma and PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

Don't worry, an athlete board member is participating.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.