Bloomberg Sports recently ran a short TV spot on the move by World Triathlon Corp (WTC) to make ‘Ironman more mainstream’ with its new 5150 triathlon series.
The report by Michele Steele at Bloomberg cited the growth of Ironman, but noted that there is “only a finite number of people who can or even want to complete that kind of race.”
Commenting on the appeal of 5150, WTC President and CEO Ben Fertic, said in the interview, “From the media side of the sport of triathlon, in general, an Ironman can be 17 hours. That’s very difficult to put on TV.
“But with 5150, it’s way less than 2 hours for the professional athletes; and it’s going to give us a real opportunity to do a lot of unique things with media – including potentially showing an event live on television.”
While 5150 does not currently have a mainstream TV partner, Fertic reportedly told Bloomberg Sport that WTC is currently in talks. Fertic cited the attractive demographic that triathlon brings to sponsors and the media in general.
