It has been put out tender to run them next year, which given the timescale is another joke.
Puting something out to tender implies that a number of interested parties will put the best price and terms forward based on the requirments of the tender itself.
Normally the points system awarded to tender has many variables and is not always on the price which in some cases can only be 50% of the winning bid. Other things like experience, geographical location, resources, etc which can make up the other 50% ( these percentages can vary from tender to tender)
What is different with this tender is it is not like a construction tender where there is many construction companys that can bid, how many companys are there that can do this kind of work?
If you look at very recent events on the Isle Of Man when they decided to close the two main Post Offices in Douglas and Ramsey and put it out to 'Tender' they ( in there words) were 'forced' to take the only option they had as there was only one bidder!
I suspect that in this case you will find that there will either be only one bidder, or no bidder at all which will leave them free reign to make whatever decision they want to regarding the running of the TT and will have the, 'well we did put it out to tender' excuse for whatever happens in the future.
Time will tell!