Million pound deal to secure top triathlons for 5 years?

Friday 03 November 2017

The world's top triathletes look set to be visiting Jersey for the next five years, with local officials now pushing for a long-term arrangement with the organisers of the Super League event.

Economic Development Minister, Senator Lyndon Farnham has confirmed that his team are pushing for a five year deal, worth more than £1m in total.

The recent event on the St Helier Waterfront, involving top olympians such as the Brownlee brothers, was supported with £200,000 from the States, and Senator Farnham confirmed that his team would be budgeting for at least that amount of support for each year of the new deal. 

He said that deal hadn't yet been signed but may well include a break clause so that his department could assess the value for money before continuing:

"As Super League grows there will be other places around the world with bigger budgets than us, so we hope to come out of the negotiations with a five year deal."

Senator Farnham said he expected the deal to be signed before the end of this month. 

Pictured: The Super League Triathlon brought some of the world's best triathletes to Jersey. 

This year's event was held in September, and was a weekend-long sporting extravaganza that saw 50 of the world’s best triathletes - including 25 Olympians - pushed to their limits to compete for generous cash prizes in a challenging course around the island’s Waterfront. 

The rationale behind the States support for the event, a Ministerial Decision report explained, was the belief that the investment would pay dividends in the form of tourism and increased interest in Jersey.

“It was further based on advice from Visit Jersey Limited that the event had the potential to be ‘wonderful for Jersey and to bring 2,000 visitors to the Island in the first year. These visitors would be anticipated to spend approximately £800,000, based on the average spend of £400 per visitor’,” it read.

Around 375million people saw Jersey on their TV screens as part of Super League coverage, which aired in 142 countries. 

That included live feeds on seven international channels to 107 countries and delayed shows broadcast on 11 international stations to 35 nations. The technology was supported by JT.