I think WTT Macao is a really good test event for WTT. The branding stuff is really good.
From a commercial point of view, some of the changes are probably a bit over the top.
Biathlon is maybe the sport that has changed the most. However, they have some core elements that never change. You start and ends with cross country skiing, with x shootings in between. Always 5 targets (never 3 or 4). Always a penalty if you miss (time or a small extra lap). In most cases you win if you cross the goal line first. The change is that everything is open, instant and in a standard frame. The sport is the same, even if it is a show indoors in Gelsenkirchen. (Yes. Indoors. Skiing. Shooting. 50 000 spectators)....
Table tennis has allready done these changes.
We play to 11, you must win by two.
After 20 -twenty - years we are finally close to telling the world that this is the format!
(No, we don't play to 21 any more.....)...
To keep the core of the game is important for commercial reasons! We need people to play tt in basements, in schools, on kitchen tables. To make it fun, you need to know how you play. First to 11, win by two. Easy.
If you need a short showcase: Play one game to 11, win by 2.
If you need to show exciting, important points on television: Keep the deuce at 10-10, win by 2.
The sudden death is for me the strangest change from a commercial view. Why reduce the amount of important and exciting rallys? Why not make the suspense last a litte bit longer?
This is not how you write a crime novel, or a film. You build, build, build, cliffhanger, suspense, release, tension, suspense..........................boom! As my grandmother said...., "it wouldn't have been a movie orherwise...."...