While it is great to see so many potential America’s Cup challengers announced for the next edition, most people have been sceptical about how many would ‘make it’ in the long run. Despite entry fees being reduced, rules relating to requirements bent, and significant concessions being made to attract teams into the process, the America’s Cup has announced that Venezia Challenge will not participate further. In a carefully worded statement, organisers said: The Italian challenger has advised that it was unable to meet...
read moreThe America’s Cup is known throughout the world as the sport of billionaires and captains of industry. For 150 years, the people who have contested the cup have been those with enough disposable income to pursue the trophy as a hobby rather than a commercial enterprise. The goal for the future of the America’s Cup is to try and build teams that are sporting franchises, but that’s won’t happen overnight and it won’t happen while fundamental pieces of the commercial puzzle – like television deals – are...
read moreRT @valenciasailing: ACEA censors ALL web content the challengers put online! Nothing can be posted before approval by ACEA…Incredible! # Seems #acws is an accepted hashtag for the Americas cup world series. We believe It's going to get busy in social media land though… # @JimOToole really? I wonder how many of the 2 million viewers could name the sponsor. Pandering to the lowest level? in reply to JimOToole # How many Americas cup helms understand the difference between their Facebook account and their (perhaps yet to be...
read moreAs the America’s Cup World Series draws the attention of old and new sailing fans to Cascais in Portugal, the battle off the water for the hearts, minds and disposable income of those fans heats up. In the highly competitive sailing apparel market, brands have more opportunity to realise a return on sponsorship through direct sales of team merchandise. A couple of folks, who have a casual interest in the America’s Cup might buy a souvenir of an event, but real fans will want the gear worn by their team. On the back of the news...
read moreIt’s almost time for another Volvo Ocean Race. With just 100 days to go until the start of the next edition, the teams still have a lot of preparation to do. And while many UK sailing fans will have to wait until July 2012, when the race finishes in Ireland to see the boats, a couple of the teams will compete in the Fastnet Race, giving UK fans a preview of some of the favourites including Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing and Groupama. Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing Skipper Ian Walker: “We know some of the other Volvo Ocean Race teams will be there for...
read moreIt’s not the America’s Cup without some luxury timepiece sponsorship. While no official timekeeping partner has been announced at a series level yet, the French challenger, ENERGY TEAM has announced CORUM as its first official partner. Like many watch brands, CORUM has a long history supporting sailing. Traditionally, the demographic of the America’s Cup used to line up nicely with the market for upmarket timepieces. Despite a campaign to make the event appealing to a new audience, one expects a large part of the fanbase for...
read moreAudi Australia, a long-time supporter of sailing, has anounnced that it will not renew it’s sponsorship deal with the Sydney Harbour Regatta organised by Middle Harbour Yacht Club (MHYC). The title sponsorship has run for five years. Audi says it is looking for new sponsorship opportunities within Australian sailing. In May, Audi announced that they would also not renew their sponsorship of Victoria Week – a two year deal that also came to its end without being continued. The brand is a major sponsor of the Australian Olympic...
read moreThe protocol governing the 34th America’s Cup contains a few rules that seem to go against the stated goals of developing America’s Cup teams into commercially viable and sustainable businesses. While the America’s Cup Event Authority (ACEA) uses Formula 1 as it’s model when it comes to PR, the mechanism it has settled upon to control the dissemination of information via the internet seems to have more in common with the big American sports like MLB, NBA and NFL. Now, arguably the only commercially based team,...
read moreNice programme to get more women into sailing : http://goo.gl/Ce68p # Some crowd predictions in the #AC34 Environmental Impact Report. Average Peak Race Weekend Day 334,000 people. Nearly an Indy 500 per day! # @scuttbutt of course it does. Everyone loves a bit of isaf bashing… Thanks for running our piece… in reply to scuttbutt # @sophluther it's a bit more practical than a laptop for some things… Great as a reading device. in reply to sophluther...
read moreAt times, the Extreme Sailing Series and Cowes Week have seemed like strange bedfellows, but the combination of an event aimed squarely at spectators running alongside an event primarily for participating sailors has gelled a bit more in recent years with the Extreme Series adapting it’s programme to allow sailors to be part of the large crowds that come to watch the ‘stadium sailing’ format. This year, Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week, as the name suggests, has a new sponsor, and Aberdeen will activate that support...
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