Paul Phillips - the TT Business Manager bringing the sport to the masses

Organisers of the Isle of Man TT races are toasting the success of their revolutionised online TT+ streaming service, with more than 200,000 racing fans from around the world now signed up to watch riders lap the 37.73-mile course.

MCN sat down last week with TT Business Development Manager, Paul Phillips who explained how the event’s 2022 return after a Covid-enforced hiatus formed part of a ‘multi-year strategy’ to safeguard the future of the motorsport festival.

“What we have as a sporting event is absolutely visceral and unbelievable and the age of high-speed internet and normalised video consumption is really good news for something like the TT because the two go together really well,” he told MCN.

“We had a place we wanted to get to in year one and a place we wanted to get to in year two and we’re beyond both. No event, or business, or organisation can thrive without growing its customer base and the TT is no different.”

Much like last year, fans from around the world have been able to watch all the two- and three-wheeled races online using the event’s TT+ streaming service – plus the practice and qualifying sessions from the first week of the fortnight.

On top of this, there have been podcasts, features, YouTube content, and much more across the year since the 2022 TT – plus a four-part docuseries called No Room for Error, which aired on ITV4 in late May and highlighted the immense physical and mental challenges faced by riders and their families during the event.

“The TT is blessed with a whole raft of interesting people,” Phillips continued. “There’s something in the DNA and the makeup that attracts a certain type of person to it. They’re very authentic and No Room For Error showed them with authenticity.

“There was no amplification of anything, no manipulation of the story. It wasn’t a programme about motorbike racing – that was the most important thing – it was a programme about people.”

More races for 2023 TT 2023 also played host to more races and a number of schedule changes – with the addition of an extra Superstock and Supertwin race to bring the total to 10.

The blue riband Senior TT was also moved from its traditional Friday slot to Saturday, June 10. In fact, it was the first time the TT has hosted racing across two weekends, with the first Supersport and Sidecar action kicking off on June 3.

What’s more, rather than the usual Mad Sunday on June 4, fans were treated to the opening Superbike race, which was won by Michael Dunlop.

“The schedule change was a painful process,” Phillips admits. “There was a lot of opposition to that, or certainly a lot of vocal opposition to it, particularly on the island.

“The idea of not racing on a Sunday afternoon feels ridiculous actually, I think. When you look at it from that perspective, why would you not?

“That’s when you put big sport on! No matter what, we’ve got to be prepared to always consider other changes. If something’s not working, we need to go in a different direction,” he says.

A greener future On top of the current changes, the TT boss also discussed how the racing might evolve in the future, hinting at a greater focus on sustainability.

“There are going to be things that will become increasingly important,” Phillips continued. “The obvious one right now is environmental sustainability and that’s become a bigger part of all our lives.

“The challenge for the TT as a standalone event is it needs to follow the rest of the industry and what it’s doing,” he added.

“There’s a real focus on the development of synthetic fuels and stuff and I wonder if [that is] the future for motor sport. It’s the visceral thing that draws us in. It’s the noise and the speed and the smells and all the rest of it.”