The ITTF is very proud to announce a long-term tripartite agreement between the Oceania Table Tennis Federation, the ITTF and TMS International.

This new and innovative agreement will see the Oceania Table Tennis Federation taking on a new challenge with focus on television coverage and marketing of its events. The ITTF and the OTTF worked hard together in 2009 to secure a 3-year agreement with FOX Sports TV to produce and cover several events in Oceania. To sweeten the deal, the ITTF, through its Marketing Director, Steve Dainton, agreed to include in the Fox Sports package the marquis ITTF events such as the World Championships and World Cups. This combined Oceania-ITTF package made it interesting enough to Fox Sports to agree to a 3-year deal provided all the events carry the ITTF label and are professionally presented. I would like to thank Mr. Scott Houston, Oceania Development officer, for his great help in securing this agreement

Once the TV package deal in place, the challenge is to present the Oceania events at a professional and TV-worthy level. This is where TMS International comes into the picture. TMS will provide the sponsorship guarantees for the Oceania events as well as get involved with the ITTF’s Marketing Director and the Oceania TTF to give a face-lift to Oceania’s events and take the presentation of the events up to the Fox Sports standards.

In order to enhance the image and satisfy the Fox Sports requirements, the Oceania TTF will be allowed to use the ITTF logo and to adopt the “brand name” ITTF-Oceania, while maintaining its own official name and identity. In addition, the main continental events in Oceania will also carry the ITTF stamp, ITTF-Oceania Championships and ITTF-Oceania Cup, and both events will be pre-requisites to the World Table Tennis Championships and the World Cups respectively.

This agreement is a win-win deal for everyone involved. The ITTF is very pleased to be involved in a practical way in helping lift the image of our sport in Oceania and the ITTF appreciates TMS International sponsorship guarantees, which will allow the Oceania TTF to focus on the staging of the events. Of course, the ITTF-Oceania events will also be made available on ITTF’s own itTV live and on demand.

I personally thank Mr. Patrick Gillman, President of the OTTF, for this innovative approach; which I am sure could be used as a model for other Continents.

Patrick Gillman and Christian Veronese (TMS)
sign the official agreement document


Adham Sharara, Patrick Gillman
and Christian Veronese (TMS)
seal the deal 

Photo's By: Remy Gros