World Tour - 1 million Dollars!

Dan

says editing a big TTD Team episode... stay tuned 👀

Dan

says editing a big TTD Team episode... stay tuned 👀
Well-Known Member
Administrator
Aug 2010
7,079
4,755
16,880
Read 72 reviews
The ITTF.com have announced on their homepage that the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals in 2012 will break all records with a prize fund of 1 million dollars for the Grand Final! The winners of the Men's and Women's singles will each receive a cash sum of $104,000 each! The World Tour Title sponsor will be announced shortly by the ITTF and the TMS International!

A staggering 2.5 million dollars will be the total prize fund of all the Pro Tours. The calender starts in Hungary on January 17th with 15 tournaments. The ITTF World Tour Grand Finals will be held on Sunday the 9th December 2012!

What a year 2012 is going to be with the London Olympics and new ITTF World Tour!

ma_long_07_12_11_Large.jpg

Photo by: Remy Gros

This is simply amazing for table tennis! What do you all think?

Remember to log into our ITTF Live Stream combined with chat when the Pro Tour series begins on the 17th January 2012 which can be found HERE if you haven't already checked it out.

 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Member
Jul 2011
15
0
15
I agree, about time.
Hopefully, the winners will put some of that back into promoting the sport.
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Member
Oct 2010
221
75
381
The increase in Grand Finals prize pool also results in reduced prize pools for the other World Tour Open's.
Kuwait Open is down to $210'000 and China has gone down too. They all offer tiny amounts except the Grand Finals!
Four tournaments offer a measly $35'000 total prize pool each, I can't imagine any of the top players going to Hungary, Spain, Chile, or Czech Open. Certainly not for that money, it won't even cover the trip!
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
May 2011
1,892
115
2,353
It is a step in the right direction :) Would be nicer if all the Pro Tour events went up in prize money. That would attract more top players to the events. Now they will play as much as they did before or even less, since you need only 5 participations to qualify for the Grand Finals. Also personally I don't like the change to 'World Tour'. :p Pro Tour is fine.
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Active Member
Sep 2011
913
66
1,009
Read 4 reviews
I don't think the name matters as much as the fact that other prizes are going down to qualify this one tournament as the highest ever tournament. It's great that it's up there in prize money, but it's bad that we aren't promoting this sport more to make this industry grow to the Billion Dollar mark. I mean can you imagine a stadium with over 100,000 participants watching the best TT players play? That rarely if ever happens in our sport.
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
May 2011
1,892
115
2,353
I don't think the name matters as much as the fact that other prizes are going down to qualify this one tournament as the highest ever tournament. It's great that it's up there in prize money, but it's bad that we aren't promoting this sport more to make this industry grow to the Billion Dollar mark. I mean can you imagine a stadium with over 100,000 participants watching the best TT players play? That rarely if ever happens in our sport.

Actually in some way Killerspin seems to get full audiences for their matches every time. I wonder what the reason of that is.
 

Dan

says editing a big TTD Team episode... stay tuned 👀

Dan

says editing a big TTD Team episode... stay tuned 👀
Well-Known Member
Administrator
Aug 2010
7,079
4,755
16,880
Read 72 reviews
Actually in some way Killerspin seems to get full audiences for their matches every time. I wonder what the reason of that is.

Probably to do with their marketing team and strategies. Perhaps over at killerspin they do lots of small promotional events which help attract people to the big events.

I don't think pro tours are well marketed if i'm honest. For example... The Pro Tour Grand Finals held in London did not have much audience. I mean, its in London, with the best players in the World. I think the ITTF need to look into more marketing ideas to help promote their events. Maybe ticket prices are to high for people? I'm not to sure but whatever it is, this issue needs to be r addressed and worked on.


The increase in Grand Finals prize pool also results in reduced prize pools for the other World Tour Open's.
Kuwait Open is down to $210'000 and China has gone down too. They all offer tiny amounts except the Grand Finals!
Four tournaments offer a measly $35'000 total prize pool each, I can't imagine any of the top players going to Hungary, Spain, Chile, or Czech Open. Certainly not for that money, it won't even cover the trip!

Well noticed. This is not good on the small tournaments. I hope this new sponsor for the ITTF can help bring in more funding. If table tennis keeps improving and gets a wider audience of viewers, more sponsorship deals will come in. Lets hope after the London 2012 Olympics their could be a boom in our sport where it really catches the eyes of the public. Maybe Timo Boll getting to the final taking on a Chinese player could be a major hit not just for table tennis players but for the non table tennis player.

At 42, do you think it's too late for me to turn pro?? :D

Hehe never to late Azlan! :p
 

Dan

says editing a big TTD Team episode... stay tuned 👀

Dan

says editing a big TTD Team episode... stay tuned 👀
Well-Known Member
Administrator
Aug 2010
7,079
4,755
16,880
Read 72 reviews
Surely butterfly could sponsor a few ,they must make absolutelymillions in profit, their ear is among the highest priced in the world..

I don't think they can, as the major Asian companys like Total Sports Asia have rights and sponsor the major tournaments.

Infact, it would be interesting how much sponsorship comes from the major companies...
 
says Check out my Podcast Talkin' Smash!
says Check out my Podcast Talkin' Smash!
Moderator
Oct 2010
2,655
1,353
4,200
Read 12 reviews
33
The increase in Grand Finals prize pool also results in reduced prize pools for the other World Tour Open's.
Kuwait Open is down to $210'000 and China has gone down too. They all offer tiny amounts except the Grand Finals!
Four tournaments offer a measly $35'000 total prize pool each, I can't imagine any of the top players going to Hungary, Spain, Chile, or Czech Open. Certainly not for that money, it won't even cover the trip!

Quite disappointing in that light :S Nobody coming to the Czech Open :D maybe I'll play haha
 
says Check out my Podcast Talkin' Smash!
says Check out my Podcast Talkin' Smash!
Moderator
Oct 2010
2,655
1,353
4,200
Read 12 reviews
33
I disagree, if you don't give the pro's prize money for competing who are we going to watch on tv? :p the purpose of having tt on tv is to get coverage and sponsors so tt can have more prize money and we can have more players who want to compete professionally. They shouldn't need to spend money getting table tennis on TV they need to create the profile events to attract the right people, it shouldn't COST table tennis as a sport to be on television
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Well-Known Member
May 2011
1,892
115
2,353
The invitations for the Grand Finals also change a bit. There will be 20 players invited instead of 16. The added 4 are the top 4 of the Euro-Africa Circuit, which is a new satellite circuit in 2012. It works as ITTF Pro Tours, but the tournaments get a lower rank. The results count for the World Ranking. I believe those top 4 will play against the numbers 13-16 from the ITTF list which are determined by Pro Tour rankings top 15 and 1 invitation for the host country (If there is no player from host country in the top-15). This will be a ple-liminary round to qualify for the last 16 of the Grand Finals. I assume from then on the concept will be the same as always.

The Euro-Africa Circuit is a pilot project, and the plan is to introduce a similar circuit for the America's in 2013 and an Asia-Pacific Circuit in 2013 or 2014. I don't know how this will affect the invitations for the Grand Finals, maybe it will be a bit like an Intercontinental Cup as in the World Cup. The idea for this has been released by the ITTF half a year ago already, but I only just read about it. I'm very curious what this will do to the rankings, but I think it is a good thing to raise interest for TT in those areas.
 
Top