Exclusive: America’s Cup deal opens door to sailing prize money
The new commercial partnership signed as part of the coming 38th America’s Cup opens the door to the world’s oldest sporting trophy offering prize money, Morning Wire can reveal.
An agreement signed by the defending champions, The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, and the British challenger, The Royal Yacht Squadron, is seen as a seismic shift in commercialisation for the America’s Cup, which began in 1851.
The boats will now carry a crew of five, including one woman, and be able to invite a celebrity or VIP onto the racer.
A £75m cost cap will also be introduced ahead of the next regatta in Naples in 2027, while a final partnership agreement will be produced in September after entries open next week.
But sources close to the agreeing parties have insisted the generational new commercial partnership opens the door to the America’s Cup offering out prize money for the victor of the Auld Mug.
America’s Cup prize money
The competition, despite the prestige and sponsorship associated, does not pay out official prize money to regatta winners.
Britain’s last challenger, a Ineos Britannia partnership between Sir Ben Ainslie and Sir Jim Ratcliffe, reportedly spent way over the incoming cost cap but made it to the final where they lost to defending champions Team New Zealand.
Ratcliffe and Ainslie have gone their separate ways with the British challenger this cycle called Athena Racing.
Prize money would add a new element to the oldest international sporting competition in the world, which Great Britain has never won.
Brands such as Ineos, Prada, Pirelli, Oracle, Louis Vuitton, Emirates and Omega spent millions on sponsorship for the last regatta, hosted in Barcelona, with sailing, through SailGP, becoming a much more investable product in a congested sports market.
There could be five or six competitors already lined up for the 38th America’s Cup but an extra, local, Italian team could join the party with the rare occasion of hosting a regatta too good to pass up.