They say the house always wins. Profitability for casinos is guaranteed in the long run by the so-called "house edge," a statistical bias in all the games which functions like a slightly tilted floor. This design ensures that any loose change rolls toward the center, right into the casino's vault. The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) is now positioning itself to be the house. The international governing body of the sport has developed a new corporate entity, World Table Tennis (WTT), with the expressed aim of elevating table tennis into the major leagues of profitability. Toward this end, ITTF CEO Steve Dainton has found a corporate partner whose reach matches his grasp. New York's International Management Group (IMG) has its fingers in a lot of pies, from marketing to modeling. Of greatest interest to Dainton, however, is the capacity of the IMG ARENA division not only to broadcast table tennis internationally, but to control all legal gambling on the sport. "Partnering with IMG ARENA to distribute our sports betting live streaming and betting data rights is an important strategic development for WTT," says Dainton. "IMG ARENA has a strong track record of working with federations and international sports organisations to both protect and grow sports via their innovative products and solutions." In addition to broadcasting the new WTT events, including four yearly "Grand Smash" events and other splashy, big-money innovations, IMG will put its substantial weight behind event production, promotion and sponsorship. According to Freddie Longe (pictured), Executive Vice President of IMG ARENA, the deal will be mutually felicitous. "This exciting new partnership with WTT is a longstanding agreement that truly incentivizes both partners to build a world-class suite of products," says Longe. "Table tennis is at an exciting juncture in its history, and the plans to redefine the sport through WTT will provide sportsbooks with high quality and engaging year-round content." The current gold rush of gambling on table tennis during the COVID-19 pandemic has surely not gone unnoticed by Dainton, nor Longe and his stakeholders at IMG. Why, then, should they not capitalize on the booming popularity of their own product? "Operator feedback tells us table tennis is a property that has significant untapped potential and one which the industry feels will benefit from an improved sports betting solution," reports Longe. "Our move into the sport will allow us to significantly enhance the betting interface and boost engagement amongst existing and new fans." Dainton, the driving force behind WTT, is understandably excited to see his dream take shape. "The World Table Tennis era will revolutionize the sport forever and we are delighted to be welcoming on board an industry powerhouse in IMG, whose wealth of expertise will help us to make this historic transformation for table tennis," said Dainton. "This is fantastic news for the sport, the players, the fans, the host cities, the commercial partners and everyone who will be joining us on this exciting journey." You don't need an MBA to see that the ITTF, DBA WTT, will get a substantial ROI with IMG. The house always wins. You can bet on it.

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