Since the ITTF issued its Commercial Rights Tender in March, the level of interest has been very positive with 50 companies expressing an interest to assist in the remodelling of table tennis’ commercial rights and boost the sport’s global growth.
The conversations held since then, including a number of meetings during April’s World Table Tennis Championships, have been extremely encouraging and the ITTF is buoyed by the prospect of joining forces soon with the perfect partner in order to revolutionise the world of table tennis forever.
WORLD TABLE TENNIS & THE ROAD TO 2021
From 2021, all commercial rights to all major international ITTF properties will be available and the ITTF wants to remodel the way in which these rights are monetised and main products are run, to finally unlock the full potential of table tennis so that it can compete among the highest-profile sports in the world.
All of the ITTF’s core commercial assets will be held within a brand new commercial vehicle, called ‘World Table Tennis’ (WTT), and it is proposed that the Strategic Partner that comes on board will be a key partner of WTT to help shape the transformation and drive success in this revolutionary commercialisation of table tennis.
The comprehensive range of commercial rights available include the following areas: Sponsorship; Media: Digital, Social and TV; Gaming and Data; Event Hosting; Licensing; Players; CSR; Future Products.
The road to 2021 is already under way, since all of the ITTF’s commercial rights were brought back in-house in 2017 and the ITTF Strategic Plan was launched in 2018. Significant progress has already been made to improve competition structures and commercialise international events, assisted by the ITTF’s close collaboration with Deloitte Sports Business Group.
“THE DAWN OF A NEW ERA”
“It’s a time of challenge for many International Federations and, based on the recent ASOIF report, we believe that splitting the commercial and governance arms of the organisation will be fundamental to driving our commercial growth via our new commercial vehicle, World Table Tennis. We believe this modern approach is the key to success.”
Thomas Weikert, ITTF President
“This is the dawn of a new era for the ITTF, but also the moment of truth after years of hard work and preparations. Since we brought our commercial rights back in-house in 2017, we have set out to revolutionise our key products, such as the ITTF World Tour and World Championships, always with the bigger picture in mind of what we can sell from 2021. As we edge closer to that date, we are confident and excited to join forces with the right Strategic Partner to really hone our long-term strategy for professionalising and commercialising table tennis like never before.”
Steve Dainton, ITTF CEO
“For the first time ever, we have stopped and looked at the way we are running our commercial operations and decided to make a fundamental change about how we do business. We are very happy about how the tender process has been run together with our professional consultants at Deloitte Sports Business Group and Withers KhattarWong and the results seen so far. It is very refreshing to see the market show such an immense interest in our tender process and we are sure that this new way of doing business will unlock the undoubted commercial potential of table tennis. We are looking forward to seeing many innovative tender proposals on Friday!”
Matt Pound, ITTF Marketing Director
NEXT STEPS
Upon receiving bids this Friday, the ITTF will compile a list of shortlisted candidates and a negotiation period will run through June before final bids are submitted in July. After a thorough review process, the Strategic Partner will be announced in October this year.
Click here for more information about the Commercial Rights Tender.