1. that's pretty cool

2. where are they getting their $ from and how deep is that pot? I don't see them making anything near their outflow

3. it may be less expensive for them if they give pros a subsidy for the ACA vs going out and trying to develop their own plan.

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

Last year Michael Moritz gave them a $10M grant (7.5MGBP). They have a helluva high burn rate. As I'm mentioned before, the PTO plays themselves off as an Athlete's Union. However, they are not. There is no membership fee.

So if the athletes don't fund their association, at some point this comes to a head. How do they generate revenue?

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

im not with it. the point of elite level in sport is to make sacrifices to be the best. and that maybe putting of children for a bit... there is no guarantee when athlete returns they will be at that level. that being said, this benefit can be used towards better individual pay

This is great news. I hide synthetic's posts so can't see what he posted but already know its likely ignorant & biased. Not even 5 posts in and we can't all celebrate a great thing for our sport.

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808 > NYC > PDX > YVR
2024 Races: Taupo

Can someone explain to me the PTO business model? While this is nice and all for its members (but not all as only top 100) how is this sustainable? I don't really see the long play here on how this works long term.

I don't think anyone knows that yet. I, like many others, am skeptical of the sustainability but I'm just going to trust the powers that be in the PTO know something the rest of us don't.

My coach has taken to calling it "hot money". Get it while it's hot cause it won't last. Considering I haven't been positioned to "get it" yet, I'm hoping he's wrong (or at least that we've got a few years worth of hotness).

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

The best I can tell is to be an event promoter and sell the rights to their specific events for broadcast and sponsorship. However, if they never got the Moritz money this would still be a social channel biting at Ironman in the Public domain.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

This is objectively great. I hope their business model generates the necessary revenue to sustain this and some of their other initiatives. It's good for the sport.

So... no paternity leave? I'm all for this, but doesn't this policy violate Title VII?

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@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri

I’m not a lawyer, but I don’t think the PTO is technically an employer so I they would fit under this act.

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Matt

After I posted it, it dawned on me. I think you're right.

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@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri

There is a 4mth parental leave policy where the ranking gets suspended so you don't lose eligibility for year end bonuses
Also looks to be registered in the UK, so US law not relevant
And it's a union, not an employer

I really hope that PTO can land on a sustainable model as this sort of policy is great for athletes

They got the $10MM in order to be leverage in the WTC sale. When that flopped, they have $10MM to figure out how to have a viable business.

Their theory seems to be that the revenue lies in running events. Their thesis that they can have pro-focused events that make $$$ off of the broadcast rights is laughable; they need money from AGers and that's a tough ask, as IM has a pretty solid lock....and PTO's whole focus is on pros (with AG as an afterthought, if at all).

They will spend their $10MM to keep the pros engaged (the only lever they have) while they try to figure out a model. I agree that this is "hot money" and PTO will pay the pros and itself until the well dries up. Right now there is no realistic model.

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

Push out any planned kids now, the shelf life of this program and all things PTO enhanced is 3-4 years max.

Wonderful idea and very kind of the funder to do this but unfortunately we’ve all seen triathlete union efforts before. They aren’t the most cohesive group and a widespread general public triathlon market just isn’t there, at least in the US.

I mean, they’re dumping over a million into Daytona and there’s more threads about Galveston. Triathletes are a strange bunch.

Rachel Joyce talking with Witsup chief Stef Hanson live on the witsup FB page right now..
https://www.facebook.com/witsup/videos/1311053792568156/?notif_id=1605665131436330&notif_t=live_video_explicit

sacrifises that jan frodeno craig alexander braden curry terrenzo bozzoni etc etc did not have to make

No it's not.
"Elite level in sport" doesn't have a specific meaning anyway. Do you mean professional sport?
Professional sport is about paying athletes so they can concentrate on their sport for the entertainment of others, such that sport is their job. Since paid maternity leave is the norm, and rightly so, in most developed western countries (and maybe everywhere else, I'm not sure), why should it not apply to this job? Whether or not the PTO is an employer is a separate matter, but your apparent proposition that the concept of paid maternity leave for athletes doesn't make sense is ignorant at best.

i'm ambivalent about it.

i'm definitely pro union, and have been a union member, and been on strike, and benefited from collective bargaining.

on the other hand, i'm not sure how i think of pro triathletes. definitely, if they can organize themselves, bargain collectively, and secure these sorts of benefits for their members, that's great. more power to them. but i guess there's a philosophical question here about who pro triathletes 'work for,' or whether they're independent contracts/entrepreneurs.

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____________________________________
https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/

What makes that a philosophical question? Surely it's a simple matter of fact.
I don't know how professional triathletes are typically set up, or whether they all do it the same way, but if they've got a contract or a company, pay taxes, etc, this is not going to be ambiguous.
If they're employees, I see no reason that maternity pay shouldn't apply as for any other job.

Here is a business model. Get everybody to sign up to PTO as they have done. Approach Ironman as a group. Ask them to pay race attendance fees for pros and increase prizes if they ever want to see a PTO member race Ironman again. Use part of the funds to pay PTO membership fees. Ask Ironman to part fund their maternity policy and health insurance scheme along with Challenge if they want PTO members to race. Get a share of the TV revenues from the PTO World Championship at Daytona and from the Collins Cup (looks epic next year). Everybody is happier, triathletes will get some dignity back as human beings, Ironman will be a little less profitable - it was profitable plenty given the recent sales price. New Ironman owners get screwed, sorry, should have seen it coming all you needed was to read ST forums to realize that a business that has customers and suppliers angry all the time, maybe doesn't deserve top dollars.

The issue of employee vs. contractor makes all the difference in this situation.

If the athlete is an employee, then a wise, thoughtful employer will provide desired benefits. Paid family leave (whether maternity or paternity) is a great benefit if the employer can swing it. If the athlete is a contractor, and if paid family leave is important enough to her/him, then he/she should negotiate it into their contract.

I, too, do not know how pro triathlete compensation works. My assumption is they get sponsorship from manufacturers/brands (contractors, therefore) and then compete for prize money. Perhaps some get appearance fees and in this situation, they may either be employees or contractors with the RD's. Although my sense is they remain contractors as most RD's want as few employees as possible.

I am for the paid maternity leave. But if you think all pro triathletes will sign up with PTO and boycott Kona and other Ironman races, that would be impractical. A bunch of second tier pros would show up and win and get the Kona glory. The reason is, because the fans don't care which pros show up. It could be anyone. Since the fans are age groupers, they just want their own race. The pros end up being a "nice to have, but not required part". Its sad, because this sport was built off pros originally. Now they almost don't matter.

As someone mention, it seems on ST people care more about what will happen with a cancellation of Galveston or IM Arizona than which pros are showing up at Challenge Daytona. I am personally more interested in the latter, but likely in the minority.

The thing is the majority of AG athletes racing in Ironman events could care less if there is a pro race or not. Been around this sport long enough to where I bet over half the athletes racing couldn't name you a single pro athlete. Still don't see how this is a viable business model and I would be shocked if it lasts more than 4 years.

I have no more than an idle curiosity in professional triathletes and I think that's as it should be.
Sports may use their elites for advertising and PR, but the elites are not what keeps the sport alive. The grass roots are the sport. Without everyone else, there can be no elite. Celebrity culture, of which elite sportspeople are an element, is hugely harmful if taken too seriously. The only people justified, IMO, to take elite sports seriously, are the elite sportspeople themselves and those administering the sport.