The new agreement ensures Japanese table tennis enthusiasts will continue to enjoy watching their national stars on the WTT stage, including world number two Mima Ito, winner of back-to-back titles during the WTT Contender Series events in Doha, and 17-year-old Tomokazu Harimoto, world number four and last month’s WTT Star Contender Doha champion.
Fans will experience a refreshed TV presentation with greater production levels showcasing the incredible talent of athletes like never before, completed by WTT’s new brand identity that will transform table tennis.
TV Tokyo boasts a long history of broadcasting global table tennis events that commenced with the 2005 ITTF World Table Tennis Championships. The new deal signed with WTT will see TV Tokyo broadcast extensive coverage from the World Youth Championships through to WTT’s new Grand Smash events, allowing the story of a player’s journey from day one to world number one to unfold in front of the fans very eyes.
The new venture with TV Tokyo highlights the progress WTT continues to make in bringing the sport to the masses, and marks a significant milestone for the organisation which welcomes its first television broadcast partner.
ITTF CEO and WTT Director Steve Dainton said: “We are delighted to welcome TV Tokyo as WTT’s first television broadcast partner. TV Tokyo has been a strong, long-term broadcast partner and we value their loyalty. Through this partnership, we are pleased to provide our Japanese fans the opportunity to watch table tennis of the highest standards as well as catch their favourite local heroes compete against the best in the world.”
President of TV TOKYO Corporation, Ichiro Ishikawa, said: “We are very delighted and excited about being able to continue our relationship with WTT. With the World Championships and new WTT events, we continue to strive to provide the best actions of Japanese players as well as the players across the world to the fans in Japan.”
The global distribution of WTT’s broadcast rights, including the production of WTT events is managed by Endeavor-owned sports marketing agency IMG.
About World Table Tennis
Successfully launched in 2021, WTT heralds a new era for professional table tennis with the new WTT Series showcasing the sport’s best and up-and-coming table tennis players in up to 34 events around the world. The WTT Series features four Grand Smashes as the pillars of the sport, eight single-table, single-gender WTT Champions events, the WTT Contender Series and the season-ending WTT Cup Finals, all of which will entertain fans and inspire future generations of table tennis players. Complimented by the global WTT Youth Series, WTT creates a pathway that showcases the journey of a player from day one to world number 1 through the ITTF Table Tennis World Rankings. For more information, please visit worldtabletennis.com.