The Professional Triathletes Organisation has added Facebook parent company Meta’s director of sports partnerships Peter Hutton to its board of directors as the sporting body continues to develop its media reach.
The PTO represents male and female triathletes looking to grow the sport and its audience. In October the PTO’s first Collins Cup, an international team competition, drew 7 million viewers globally. The group is also focused on non-live content, creating everything from documentaries to social-media video featuring its competitors.
“One of the things that attracted me to the PTO is that they’ve clearly grasped that concept [that] their athletes are their best ambassadors, and as such are putting content out in multiple ways, but using the athletes as core to their distribution strategy,” Hutton said.
Before joining Meta (previously known as Facebook), Hutton held executive positions at Eurosport and Fox International Channels. Hutton will join the PTO’s other external board member, Chris Kermode, a retired tennis player and former president of the Association of Tennis Professionals.
“Peter has vast experience in the ever-changing landscape of sports broadcast distribution and commercializing media rights,” PTO CEO Sam Renouf said in a statement. “Our aim is to … make the superhuman exploits of the PTO professionals household names, and Peter’s experience will help us to do just that.”
Last week, the PTO announced its tour calendar for 2022, starting with Canadian and U.S. Opens, in addition to the Collins Cup. Asian and European Opens will be added in 2023. The events will include age group competitions, as the PTO looks to include amateur athletes in festival-like atmospheres.
Hutton said he’s eager to help the PTO inspire more people to be active themselves—starting with himself. “I’m hoping it also motivates me to keep running, swimming and biking,” the 55-year-old said. “I need motivation at my age.”