PTO welcomes Facebook executive into its ranks

There’s been a lot going on with the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) lately – last week we announced next year’s PTO Tour with a huge prize purse, and on Monday we listed the Canadian pros who had earned some valuable bonus money from the organization through its year-end bonus.

$5.5 million PTO Tour kicks off with Canadian Open in Edmonton

Now the PTO has shown us how serious it is about bringing on some high-powered executives into the mix as it has added a big name from world of social media to its ranks. Peter Hutton, Director of Sports Partnerships at Meta (Facebook was recently rebranded to Meta), has been appointed to the PTO’s Board of Directors.

“One of the things that attracted me to the PTO is that they’ve clearly grasped that concept [that] their athletes are their best ambassadors, and as such are putting content out in multiple ways, but using the athletes as core to their distribution strategy,” Hutton told Sportico.com.

Before he joined Meta, Hutton was the CEO of Eurosport and prior to that he worked at Fox International Channels.

“The sport of Triathlon has a hugely valuable demographic with some of the greatest professional athletes in the world,” Hutton says. “I am looking forward to helping the PTO elevate and showcase these incredible athletes with compelling content designed to increase exposure and engagement, and distributed via a global network of media outlets, across broadcast, digital and social to attract new fans. I’m delighted to have the opportunity to work on a sport that I have followed closely for many years, and with an organisation that has already brought together excellent sporting and executive talent.”

Adding Hutton to the mix provides more evidence that the PTO is very serious about expanding its global reach for promoting endurance triathletes through its own events. While there will be just four PTO races in 2022, it would appear that the PTO is ready to pull out all the stops when it comes to coverage and promotion, including bringing in some high-powered help on its board of directors.