Sailgp deal values event at $200m
Sailgp, the foiling circuit run by Sir Russell Coutts and backed by Larry Ellison, has sold a minority stake to sports and content company Endeavour.
Sailgp is raced in F50 foiling catamarans, an evolution of the boats raced in the last America’s Cup in Bermuda. It is raced in a TV broadcastfriendly series of matches in venues such as San Francisco, Sydney, New York and Copenhagen and is on its second season this year.
The sale values the sports company at US$200 million, and the Endeavour deal brings expertise in rights distribution, licensing and sponsorship
“Last year we were really all about just delivering events; now this allows us to move from an events company to an entertainment company and that’s the key,” says Coutts. “We cannot just be switching on for events then switching off. We’ve got to be developing our athletes’ profiles. Those sort of things will make a huge difference: we can develop the stories around the person, give people a reason to care, create that emotional connection.”
The involvement of Endeavour could, some say, pave the way to other streaming services and potentially betting. The idea behind Sailgp is that, like F1, it could eventually become selffunding. However, F1 teams attract huge sponsorship deals that sailing teams struggle to access, not least because interest is hard to generate beyond the host cities. Race days and times for Sailgp are also short, with roughly 20-minute races spread across ten match days in 2020.
Endeavour, however, aims to find new ways to broaden the circuit’s appeal. Endeavor president Mark Shapiro says: “For the first time, the sport is being packaged in a consumable, consistent and exciting format, bringing it in line with some of the world’s top sporting events.”