WTM Introduces ‘Teams’

From the World Trail Majors’ press announcement:

We value teams, we value brands. They are part of the sport. Here at Gran Canaria World Trail Majors we want to give them some extra exposure. We present you the Team’s League 2025.

…

The intention is to provide an opportunity for brands to promote their athletes and their brands as participants in a high profile, competitive, global league.

I see two distinct audiences for this:

• Clearly this effort is aimed at brands to encourage their athletes to run the races on their calendar? Is this a sign that the idea by WTM to pry elites away from the UTMB circuit has not been as successful as they had hoped?
• Another fun side benefit might be that friends could get together to race a few of their races and call themselves “a team”. The requirements are simple and inviting enough.