You remember Jean-Michel Jarre, right? Of course you do. Who could forget the French musician's record-breaking 1979 concert in Paris, creating a new category in the Guinness Book of World Records with over a million people in attendance? Impressive, to be sure, but Jarre was just getting warmed up. Seven years later, he drew 1.3 million to downtown Houston. Jarre then returned to Paris in 1990 with a Bastille Day bash with 2.5 million of his closest friends. After a few pretenders to the throne took their turns, Jarre dealt the coup de grâce at Moscow's 850th anniversary party in 1997. An inconceivable 3.5 million showed up to dance the night away, a record which stands to this day. Steve Dainton, the CEO of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), could be the heir to Jarre's throne. Dainton, an affable Australian living in Singapore, has been a driving force behind the ITTF's new commercial vehicle, World Table Tennis (WTT). On Tuesday, Dainton hosted a webinar promoting WTT which attracted 800,000 viewers. Granted, these are not exactly Jarre numbers, but it is nonetheless a solid debut, equaling the crowd drawn by the New York Philharmonic at the Statue of Liberty's centennial celebration. (Sorry, Garth Brooks and your paltry 750,000 in Central Park-- your thunder just got rolled!) To be fair, Dainton drew heavily on table tennis star power to attain such lofty ratings. The forum, streamed on three popular Chinese video platforms, featured Grand Slam winners Ding Ning and Ma Long, headlining a star-studded international cast of table tennis titans. Japan's Kasumi Ishikawa, Quadri Aruna of Kenya, German's Timo Boll and Lily Zhang of the United States also popped onscreen to say hello. Dainton no doubt ingratiated himself with his largely Chinese viewership with his command of Mandarin. Speaking with Ding Ning and Ma Long in their native tongue, Dainton answered questions about the new WTT format. By all accounts, players and viewers alike were excited by the prospect of big-money "Grand Smash" tournaments and other innovations, set to launch in 2021. While both the format and the message of the forum reflected concessions to safety in the age of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ever-sanguine Dainton assured table tennis' largest market that the best was yet to come. Whenever World Table Tennis does officially launch, rest assured that Steve Dainton will throw the biggest party permissible by circumstance. After all, he's got Jean-Michel Jarre right where he wants him: lulled into a false sense of security, thinking his attendance records can never be broken.

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