PTO Catch Up: Prize Money Payments, Investor Updates and New Sponsors

Recent reports that athletes were still waiting to receive prize money and bonus payments from last year’s T100 Triathlon World Tour prompted us to reach out to the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) for some updates. We caught up with PTO CEO Sam Renouf, who was able to provide some insights on the prize money and bonus situation, along with other updates on where things are at on the investor front. All that came on the eve of an exciting new announcement of a three-year deal that Sokin has become a “foundational partner of the T100 Triathlon World Tour” and the title partner of the San Francisco event.

Renouf, who we caught during a business trip in Abu Dhabi, was quick to point out that the athletes were all well aware of the payment situation and when they would be paid.

“Earlier in the year, given what was happening in the region — in the Middle East — we anticipated there could be some delays to payments,” Renouf said. “That’s linked to all of the different economic situations over here, whether it’s sponsors, hosts and all the rest. So we informed the athletes that by early May, prize money from the end of season would be paid. Which is exactly where we are now, and it’s exactly when they’re being paid. We were just hedging — we’ve worked in this market before, and we know things take time.”

“We also want to be respectful of our partners in the region,” he continued. “If we’re talking about sponsorships with folks, they have bigger things on their minds at the moment than trying to finalize sponsorships. So we’re being respectful of that and the broader situation. It’s really nothing much more complicated than that. The more specific point is the athletes have been paid for the event prize money. Now we’re finishing up with the last payment, which is the series prize money, which will be in the next few weeks in May.”

Renouf also addressed reports that there are any concerns about investments, specifically from SURJ Sports Investment, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

“I find that article shows a fundamental misunderstanding of where triathlon’s role is within the sports world and the investment world,” Renouf said. “Without even needing to compare ourselves to golf or tennis — those are sports that are all about publicity and promotion. The investment from Saudi Arabia and SURJ to us was very different. It’s around two things, and they’re on record saying this: one is driving an economic return — they’re investors, they want to see a financial return, no different from Michael Moritz or the other investors we’ve had. But, more importantly, it’s also a sports investment to drive participation in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”

“The fact that they may be pulling back from other high-profile international sports sponsorships doesn’t impact the desire to get their population doing more sports,” he continued. “We announced Saudi Arabia would be a location for the T100 a few months ago. We will be announcing soon the specific date, timing, and location — that’s been slowed down by everything happening in the region. But, if the situation stays calm, we’ll be announcing the specific event fairly soon.”

SURJ’s CEO, Danny Townsend, was also quick to point out that there is no plan to reduce the investment in the PTO.

“SURJ’s approach has always been deliberate and long‑term,” Townsend said. “Our mandate is to invest in global sports IP that delivers clear local benefit – strengthening Saudi Arabia’s sports ecosystem through sustainable growth, participation, talent development, and long‑term sector capability. Today, we actively manage a diverse portfolio spanning different audiences and formats, including PFL, DAZN, T100, ATP Masters 1000, and Kings League among other sports industry service providers – while remaining disciplined in how and when we deploy capital. That discipline ensures every investment aligns with our localization and impact objectives, supports the Kingdom’s wider tourism and entertainment ambitions, and creates enduring value – not just near‑term activity.” 

According to Renouf, SURJ is attracted to the PTO and triathlon because it is a sport that can “drive participation and health outcomes that you can also invest in.”

“Secondly, we’ve always positioned triathlon’s high-value demographic — people who travel around the world — alongside the fact that the component sports, swimming, cycling, and running, are practiced by 1.1 billion people regularly,” he continued. “That’s the market we really look at. So, at an event in Saudi Arabia, without doubt we will have more swimmers, cyclists and runners than full triathletes in the early stages. That isn’t a negative thing — that’s us building the sport and providing a great platform to grow all three disciplines as well as triathlon.”

Investors

According to Renouf, the PTO isn’t currently searching for more investors at the moment.

“That’s not to say that in the future we might decide to do more and bring in other investors,” he said. “But we did our big investment round last year — we added SURJ … and Verance Capital and Cordillera Investment Partners, two US funds. We’re not proactively looking for new investments now. We get called on an almost daily basis from people who might like to invest, but it’s not a focus of the business.”

Renouf also explained the motivation for many of the new investors to become involved with, and why many in the world of triathlon struggle to understand the new business model.

“Like many venture-backed businesses, it can seem unusual to the market you’re operating in when you bring a different business model,” he said. “No one would have predicted Airbnb to grow to what it is. Basically, all the businesses that Michael Moritz has backed were always relatively unusual, and now they’ve become mainstays of the community — that’s the venture capital model. So when people put out articles saying they don’t understand us, or that this doesn’t make sense, or predict the end of the T100 — it’s perhaps natural not to understand it, because if it were so obvious, it would have already been done. That’s the nature of venture capital businesses. We are one, and hopefully we have the same success as the other investments our backers have made.”

Sokin San Francisco T100 and Escape From Alcatraz Triathlons

Global payments and financial platform Sokin will become the official global business payments partner for the T100 Triathlon World Tour, and will also become the title sponsor of the PTO’s San Francisco event.

The PTO will now have access to utilize the Sokin platform and “streamline its global payments” and benefit from “more efficient and scalable international business operations.”

“The US is a major growth market for Sokin and having the honor of putting our name on the legendary Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon puts us in front of exactly the kind of business audience we want to reach there,” Sokin CEO, Vroom Modgill, said. “Sports partnerships have been one of the most effective ways for us to build brand presence in international markets and sports organizations like the Professional Triathletes Organisation have the global reach and complex business operations that Sokin’s platform is built to support. That dual fit is what made this an obvious partnership for us.”

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