What is WTT and how will it change our sport forever?

WTT is the ITTF’s new commercial vehicle to drive table tennis forward in the modern era, with innovations to all facets of the global table tennis product.

Since 2018, professional consultants Deloitte and Withers were hired to assist with remodelling the way that the ITTF does business, giving birth to World Table Tennis, which will run all of ITTF’s commercial and event business from 2021 together with its new partners which will be announced shortly.

“Through World Table Tennis, we are endeavouring to build a platform that really benefits our athletes and fans, enabling better structured events and higher prize money. Lots of time and resources have gone into this, as it’s a huge project that will revolutionise our sport for good. The professionalisation of our core top products is something that had been missing in our sport. This is a great moment for table tennis, and we cannot wait to enter our new era upon overcoming the unforeseen challenges of 2020.” – Steve Dainton, ITTF CEO

“We are committed to following our new strategy. We must be transparent, uphold good governance and make sure that all of our stakeholders can follow our steps forward. We want that players are more satisfied by prize money and events themselves, while we also want to support our members by making more money to reinvest into the development of our key stakeholders.” – Thomas Weikert, ITTF President

World Table Tennis is now open for business!

Events built to entertain!

Having analysed the global entertainment market and liaised with all stakeholders, WTT is introducing a brand new event structure, which will provide a much more modern entertainment experience for the professional table tennis players, fans, broadcasters, cities and partners.

At the pinnacle of the new event structure are the Grand Smashes. Up to four times per year for 10 days per event, the top 64 men and 64 women on the planet will compete for up to USD $ 3 million. Providing the perfect mix of the highest-level table tennis, community activation and entertainment, the Grand Smashes are the marquee events that all players want to win, all cities want to host, and all fans simply cannot miss!

Providing the constant, adrenaline-filled action throughout the year will be the WTT Series, giving all athletes adequate events to play in and enabling fans from all corners of the world to watch their idols in the flesh. USD $ 8 million in prize money is up for grabs across the WTT Champions Series and showpiece WTT Cup Finals, while the Star Contender and Contender Series offer opportunities for up and coming athletes to climb the ladder of professional table tennis.

The benefits of the new event structure are widespread: greater competition among athletes to attain more attractive prize monies; separate women’s events to brighten the spotlight on the next generation of female stars; iconic venues and locations for an “I was there” experience and world-class TV production and digital storytelling to entertain a growing global fanbase.

After all, WTT events are not designed just for sports fan, but all people who love to be entertained. With events spread around the world, WTT wants people to experience live table tennis who have never had the opportunity before.

Click here to find out more about the WTT event structure and watch this space for upcoming announcements about exciting new events that you will not want to miss!

Experience and expertise

In his role as Senior Commercial Strategy Consultant, Philippe Le Floc’h will be advising on WTT leadership and commercial strategy to drive table tennis forward in the modern era.

Le Floc’h has been operating at the highest level of sports business for more than 25 years, including highly successful stints as Chief Commercial Officer at FIFA, football’s international governing body, and as Marketing Director at UEFA, the sport’s European governing body.

As such, Le Floc’h brings an invaluable wealth of experience in the field of sports marketing, thus bolstering WTT’s position of strength as it sets out to elevate table tennis to unprecedented heights.

At WTT, Le Floc’h will provide strategy on the overall master plan, event structure, media and digital rights, commercial contracts, commercial structure, sponsorship structure, public relations / communication / brand, and attend key WTT meetings and events.

“From the minute I heard about this project, it excited me. It is very rare that an international federation is so forward-thinking about the way it runs its commercial business. That is why I decided to get involved in this ground-breaking journey. I have high hopes for what this new business model can achieve and I believe that WTT will become a case study for all the other international federations. I look forward to using my years of experience to help WTT become a success and position table tennis among the global sporting elite.” – Philippe Le Floc’h, WTT Senior Commercial Strategy Consultant

It’s time for table tennis to fly! Stay tuned for more exciting developments coming soon at worldtabletennis.com.