London, UK: The Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) has announced that STARZPLAY Sports will broadcast all its 2023 PTO Tour races live across 24 countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) this year as well as show race highlights and preview shows.
STARZPLAY is one of MENA’s top 3 subscription video on-demand services and commands a significant market share in the region. In 2022 STARZPLAY launched STARZPLAY Sports, a dedicated package that provides premium international and regional sport to STARZPLAY Sports subscribers, such as Serie A, Coppa Italia, Pakistan Super League, ICC events, UFC, World Championship boxing and more.
In 2023, the PTO Tour will start in Ibiza on 6 May with the inaugural PTO European Open before going to Milwaukee on 4-5 August for the PTO US Open and then to Singapore for the first-ever PTO Asian Open on 19-20 August.
Speaking about the appointment, Andy Warkman, Head of Sports at STARZPLAY said: “We are excited to be adding the biggest and the best triathlon races to our growing roster of sport and showcasing the superhuman exploits of the world’s best male and female triathletes. The PTO Tour’s racing, production and storytelling is impressive, and we are confident that our subscribers across the MENA region will have more reasons to stream STARZPLAY Sports.”
Tim Godfrey, Chief Marketing Officer at the PTO, highlighted the significance of the deal with STARZPLAY by saying:
“Expanding the PTO Tour’s coverage across the MENA region was high on our list of priorities when we sat down and reviewed our Year 1 effort. The appetite of the region to both host and watch premium sports content is accelerating fast, so this was an important deal for us to secure. STARZPLAY has a massive reach across the Middle East and North-Africa region and with their support we will be able to reach our audiences across these key markets.”
In its first season, the 2022 PTO Tour delivered on its goal to bring long distance Triathlon to a broader audience, including a global dedicated TV and streaming audience of 23.1 million through multiple top-tier broadcast partnerships.
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For Further Information
Professional Triathletes Organisation
Anthony Scammell E: [email protected]
About the Professional Triathletes Organisation
The PTO is a new body, co-owned by the professional athletes, seeking to elevate and grow the sport of Triathlon and take it to the next level. Each PTO Open is raced over 100km (2km swim, 80km bike and 18km run). 2023 PTO Tour races announced to date include: the PTO European Open on 6 May, the PTO US Open in Milwaukee on 4-5 August and the PTO Asian Open in Singapore on 19-20 August. The season will be underpinned by the new PTO World Rankings, helping to create a compelling season-long narrative in the sport for the first time.
About STARZPLAY
Ranked consistently among the region’s top 3 subscription video on demand services, STARZPLAY Arabia (www.starzplay.com) streams an extensive variety of premium content covering Hollywood movies, TV shows, documentaries and same-time-as-the-US series – plus live sports, dedicated kids’ entertainment and Arabic content – to 24 countries across MENA and Pakistan.
STARZPLAY has thousands of prime titles including exclusive STARZPLAY Arabia original content such as Kaboos, Say Yes to the Dress Arabia, Baghdad Central, STARZ Original content such as Power, Outlander, Spartacus and The White Queen as well as a range of content with add-ons such as AD Sports, Premier Sports (Rugby), NBA League Pass and STARZPLAY Sports, the dedicated sports package covering football (Italian Serie A and Dutch Eredivisie leagues), wrestling (All Elite Wrestling), cricket, UFC Arabia, boxing, basketball and more.
STARZPLAY Arabia has secured tie ups with a host of leading, global studios, including Lionsgate, MGM, Warner Bros, Universal, Discovery and Sony Studios along with regional producers such as UMS, Eagle Films and Falcon. Until 2022, STARZ (www.starz.com), a Lionsgate company (NYSE: LGF.A, LGF.B) was the lead investor along with media and technology investment firms including SEQ Investors and Delta Partners. In early 2021, STARZPLAY Arabia secured its first independent financing in the region of US$25 million (approx. AED 92 million) from Abu Dhabi based Ruya Partners. In 2022, E-Vision, from e& and ADQ, an Abu Dhabi-based investment and holding company acquired a majority equity stake of circa 57% in the company.
Reaching over 2.1 million subscribers, STARZPLAY Arabia allows subscribers to watch its full HD and 4K content via most internet-enabled devices, smart TVs and game consoles, and is widely available on regional IPTV services. Its iOS and Android apps – installed on over three million devices – also allow downloads for offline playback.
Social Tags: Instagram @starzplayarabia, Facebook @starzplay, Twitter @STARZPlayArabia , TikTok @starzplayarabia TikTok, YouTube @STARZPLAY-SVOD YouTube
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Srishti Soni | Janine Alamir
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