US SailGP Team working to grow interest

Upon buying the United States SailGP Team in November 2023, CEO Mike Buckley noted how there are three pillars they were pursuing:

1. The race to commercial viability
2. The race to change the sport
3. The race around the buoys

When Buckley added, “I’m not sure the third is the most important thing,” league CEO Russell Coutts replied, “I’m not sure how many sports teams in the world do well commercially when they’re finishing at the back of the fleet.”

As the team sits 11th out of 12 on the leaderboard, their effort to gain commercial support will be tested as the team reveals new initiatives to grow fan interest.

DJ Khaled, a Grammy-winning DJ, record producer, and hype man, is now on the US team’s board of directors to attract new fans. “Our goal is to bring SailGP to the mainstream, and the mainstream to SailGP,” said Buckley. “These are the small chess moves to do that.”

The team has also launched a new platform – Fan Capital – for fans to engage with the team through email newsletters, team website, and app. “Sailing has been a niche sport for a long time, but one of our goals since taking ownership in 2023 has been to bring sailing and SailGP to a broader audience.”

If Coutts is right, a good finish would help their cause at Los Angeles SailGP on March 15-16.

SailGP information – Los Angeles details – Crew list – YouTube – Facebook

Season 5 Leaderboard (after 3 of 14 events)
1. Great Britain, 27 points
2. Australia, 24 points
3. Spain, 20 points
4. New Zealand, 20 points
5. Denmark, 17 points
6. Canada, 15 points
7. France, 15 points*
8. Switzerland, 12 points
9. Italy, 7 points
10. Brazil, 0 point**
11. United States, 0 points**
12. Germany, -6 points**
* France was awarded points for the first two events as their F50 was not available
**Teams are awarded season penalty points for incidents during practice or racing

Season 5 Schedule – 14 events
2024
November 23-24 – Dubai, UAE

2025
January 18-19 – Auckland, New Zealand
February 8-9 – Sydney, Australia
March 15-16 – Los Angeles, USA
March 22-23 – San Francisco, USA
May 3-4 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
June 7-8 – New York City, USA
July 19-20 – Portsmouth, Great Britain
August 16-17 – Sassnitz, Germany
September 6-7 – Taranto, Italy
September 12-13 – Saint-Tropez, France
September 20-21 – Geneva, Switzerland
October 4-5 – Andalucía – Cádiz, Spain
November 7-8 – Middle East *
November 29-30 – Grand Final – Abu Dhabi, UAE
* Venue to be announced

Format for Season 5:
• Teams compete in identical F50 catamarans.
• Each event runs across two days.
• Five qualifying fleet races of approximately 15 minutes may be scheduled for each regatta.
• The top three teams from qualifying advance to a final race to be crowned event champion and earn the largest share of the prize purse (amount not confirmed; Season 4 had $400,000.00 USD prize purse with winning team earning $200k at each event).
• The season ends with the Grand Final, which includes the Championship Final Race for the top three teams in the season standing with the winner claiming a monetary award (amount not confirmed; Season 4 had $2 million USD prize).
• The top team on points ahead of the three-boat Championship Final will get a monetary award (amount not confirmed; Season 4 had a $350,000.00 prize).
• Ten of the 12 teams are privately owned, with the league having ownership of New Zealand and Spain.

For competition documents, click here.

Established in 2018, SailGP seeks to be an annual, global sports league featuring fan-centric inshore racing among national teams in some of the iconic harbors around the globe.