PTO Acquires Majority Stake in Challenge Family

Well, we kind of figured this was the logical step if the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) was going to get to 100 races over the next few years – as per our conversation with PTO CEO Sam Renouf last year. There was no way they were going to pick up IRONMAN without a lot more help from the current investment group (that includes funding from Saudi-backed SURJ Sports Investment and supported by Cordillera, Verance Capital and Sir Michael Moritz), so Challenge Family was the only viable solution. And today, just a few days after the Challenge Family race directors meetings that took place in Gran Canaria wrapped up, we saw that come to fruition.

According to today’s release, the PTO “has acquired a majority shareholding in Challenge Family from Y11 Sports &Media, to make it a key part of the newly announced Triathlon World Tour.”

“This acquisition and investment into Challenge Family is a significant moment in the PTO journey,” said Renouf. “As we make the Triathlon World Tour a reality alongside our partners, World Triathlon, to create a single brand and competition structure that helps professionals, amateurs, fans, media, sponsors and other stakeholders more clearly understand and engage with our sport. Challenge Family’s respected event platform, community-driven ethos and operational expertise make them a natural partner, in addition to a shared vision to transform the sport and unlock its untapped commercial potential. I look forward to working closely with Jort [Vlam, Challenge Family CEO], his dedicated team and their community of passionate race partners around the world to make this happen.”

As we reported last December, the newly announced Triathlon World Tour is set to begin in 2027 and is “expected to feature around 100 races around the globe every year, with multiple new events set to be named in early 2026.” The move is a response to a report created by Deloitte that recommended “a change from a technically driven model to a commercially driven one.” It was hardly realistic for the PTO to create that number of events over a one year period, which is why the Challenge acquisition seemed likely. The two companies will continue to run each series separately through 2026.

“Challenge Family and our race partners have spent more than two decades building a global series defined by strong local communities, athlete-first experiences, and a commitment to innovation,” said Challenge Family CEO Jort Vlam. “Joining forces with the PTO marks an important evolution in that journey. This partnership allows us to preserve what makes Challenge Family unique while contributing to a unified, globally recognized series that strengthens the sport’s long-term growth, commercial sustainability and global visibility. We are excited to work closely with the PTO, World Triathlon, and our race organisers worldwide to help shape a more connected, professional and inspiring future for triathlon.”

The new Triathlon World Tour will include both a T100 and T50 World Championship Series – the latter being what we now know as the World Triathlon Championship Series. The vision is that there will be two “Challenger” series that will provide qualification opportunities for the higher level series. Presumably the Challenge Family events will serve as the qualifiers for the T100 races, with the current World Cup and Continental Cup races continuing to serve as qualifiers for the T50 series. The details on all that will have to wait for a bit, though. Here’s how today’s press release ended:

The PTO and World Triathlon will unveil the further details of the new Triathlon World Tour, including branding, tiered competition structure and organisational set‑up, at an event in the first half of 2026, when fans, athletes, media and partners will be able to see, in one place, how a unified Triathlon World Tour will bring together the best of our sport into a single, compelling global format.

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