The final financial make-up of WTT India is still under consideration, SportBusiness has learned, but it will be majority-owned by WTT, with outside investment being sought, and based in Mumbai, India’s commercial capital.
Early-stage investment discussions are taking place with Vita Dani, co-founder and chair of the India-based UTT franchise league, which has just finished its sixth season.
Steve Dainton, chief executive of WTT, told SportBusiness that more small investors may come on board, with the establishment of WTT India set to cost anywhere between $3m (€2.6m) and $5m in total to get operational.
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In 2024, UTT said the league saw 20 million viewers across TV and OTT, a 1.3-times increase from the previous year.
Those numbers will impress WTT, given its struggles to find an Indian broadcaster willing to commit to a multi-year deal to help build local interest in the sport. Outside of the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, there is little to no coverage of elite table tennis on Indian television.
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While Indian athletes have competed in WTT events and the sport’s World Championships at both team and individual level, broadcaster buy-in has been somewhat selective.
In 2023, when India debuted as WTT event host with a Star Contender in Goa, the series was only available in India via WTT’s YouTube channel. Sony Pictures Networks did come on board to show the 2024 event in Goa, with both network and streaming coverage, as it did for this year’s Contender event in Chennai, but these have often been sporadic deals with no deep coverage commitment.
Indeed for this year’s ITTF World Championships in Doha in May, there was no television coverage at all in India, with fans having to turn to the ITTF’s own YouTube channel.
Dainton said: “We have a big job to do, not only in broadcast, but in sponsorship, and in general awareness. We’re starting small, humbly, but I think we will have a better chance if we have local professionals helping to drive that for us from there.
“Now the goal is for us to go in a different direction, probably together with UTT and package it up, so international [WTT] and domestic [UTT] rights in one bundle. That will ensure it is a bit more of a solid offering, rather than just their three-week domestic event and the few events that we have [in India].”
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Dainton continued: “2026 will be about building up WTT India’s capacity as an event organiser so that we’re ready, either from 2027 or beyond, to take one of the bigger events there.
“The long-term goal is of course to bring either a Champions or a Smash to India, and maybe even looking – although it’s a different pathway – at a future ITTF World Championships. That all links to India’s ambition of hosting the 2036 Olympic Games, as well.
“But for us, right now, this is really about establishing WTT India and growing that market and, hopefully, having India as one of the powerhouses in our sport in the long-term.”
