Following SailGP’s fourth season of competition, the global sports league reports new growth records and an expanding international fan-base. After hosting ten teams, 13 events, and an increase to the total prize pot of US $7M, the organization enters the fifth season in hopes of meeting its stated goal of profitability.
SailGP’s dedicated global broadcast audience had a 48% increase to 193M across the season, highlighting how the US market had the highest broadcast audience for a sailing event in 30 years, with 1.78M tuning into the Spanish event on CBS.
Digital consumption of SailGP had a 5x increase in social media video views to over 1.4 billion across all channels, with the league more than doubling total social media engagements. In Season 4, SailGP’s cumulative social following grew to more than 3.45 million fans, up from 1.55 million at the end of Season 3.
YouTube views also increased, growing from 37M in Season 3 to 157M in Season 4, with 430,000 followers on the platform – marking SailGP’s status as the sport’s number one property online. In line with market trends, TikTok was the fastest-growing social channel, with the league surpassing 545,000 followers on the platform. A viral clip of Black Foils’ grinder Marcus Hansen being swiped overboard in New York hit 76.2M viral views on Instagram.
For live attendance, Season 4 had more than 200,000 ticketed spectators, with more than 20,000 fans at the New Zealand stage making it the largest-ever ticketed sailing event.
“With significant growth in fan engagement and global reach, as well as further development of our product on and off the water, the forthcoming 2024-2025 season is set to be even bigger. and better, with new teams and an expanded presence in strategic markets around the world,” said Andrew Thompson, SailGP Managing Director.
Season 5 for SailGP will have 14 stages in 2024-25 around the globe, with new events in Brazil, Germany, Switzerland, and Auckland, as well as a return to Great Britain and New York. For the first time, 11 national teams will be on the startline, including the newly-acquired Mubadala Brazil SailGP Team, the league’s first in South America.
SailGP information – YouTube – How to watch
Season 4 Final Standings (13 events; results and total points)
1. Spain (Diego Botin), 5-1-3-6-6-10-2-5-4-1-4-7-6-(1)
2. Australia (Tom Slingsby), 2-3-2-2-3-2-7-1-10-3-7-4-1-(2)
3. New Zealand (Peter Burling), 1-7-8-DNC/6-4-1-1-3-1-2-5-1-4-(3)
4. Denmark (Nicolai Sehested), 4-2-4-7-2-6-9-2-9-5-3-8-2
5. Great Britain (Ben Ainslie/Giles Scott), 7-6-1-1-8-5-8-7-7-8-1-3-3
6. Canada (Phil Robertson), 3-4-10-5-5-3-6-10-3-4-6-2-5
7. France (Quintin Delapierre), 6-8-6-4-7-4-4-4-2-9-2-5-7
8. United States (Jimmy Spithill/Taylor Canfield), 9-5-5-3-1-8-3-9-8-10-10-10-9
9. Germany (Erik Heil), 10-10-7-8-9-10-9-5-6-5-6-8-9-8
10. Switzerland (Sebastien Schneiter/Nathan Outteridge), 8-9-9-9-7-10-8-6-7-9-6-10
For scoring details, click here.
SailGP resumes with Season 5 on November 23-24 in Dubai, UAE. For details, click here.
Season 4 – 2023
June 16-17 – United States Sail Grand Prix | Chicago at Navy Pier
July 22-23 – United States Sail Grand Prix | Los Angeles
September 9-10 – France Sail Grand Prix | Saint-Tropez
September 23-24 – Italy Sail Grand Prix | Taranto
October 14-15 – Spain Sail Grand Prix | Andalucía- Cádiz
December 9-10 – Dubai Sail Grand Prix | Dubai*
Season 4 – 2024
January 13-14 – Abu Dhabi Sail Grand Prix | Abu Dhabi
February 24-25 – Australia Sail Grand Prix | Sydney
March 23-24 – New Zealand Sail Grand Prix | Auckland
March 23-24 – New Zealand Sail Grand Prix | Christchurch
May 4-5 – Bermuda Sail Grand Prix
June 1-2 – Canada Sail Grand Prix | Halifax
June 22-23 – United States Sail Grand Prix | New York
July 13-14 – SailGP Season 4 Grand Final | San Francisco
* Added October 3, 2023
Format for Season 4:
• Teams compete in identical F50 catamarans.
• Each event runs across two days.
• Up to seven 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 $300,000.00 USD event prize money purse (increases to $400k for Abu Dhabi with the winning team now 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 the $2 million USD prize.
• The top team on points ahead of the three-boat Championship Final will be awarded $350,000.00.
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.
Source: scuttlebutt – https://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2024/07/26/sailgp-moving-toward-profitability/
