Sometimes behind the hype lies sober reality, especially when things don't go the way the boss wants. And in the case of the Cup, this is currently Ellison, who is reportedly spending between 300 and 400 million US dollars on the successful defence. But he also wants to recoup some of that. "The night of the long knives", is what colleague Stuart Alexander from the Independent called the latest, but probably not the last, head rolling at the America's Cup Event Authority (ACEA). Following the departure of ACEA director Craig Thompson, chairman Richard Worth has now also been assigned a different role. The tall, slender man was hired in 2010 because he is one of the most successful sports marketing experts. He spent around 20 years at the broadcaster ITV and also helped set up the Football Champions League for television. But now he is to take care of the development of the America's Cup World Series. Until further notice, his current post will be held by Stephen Barclay, a member of the ACEA board.
So Worth has to prove himself in the ACWS, which is a development league for the real Cup, but also a laboratory where new things are tried out, both in terms of regatta technology and organisation. The ACWS is well received by the sailors, but is not the commercial success that Ellison expects. Worth should open up new markets and make the Cup accessible to a wider audience. Despite good initial successes, such as in Plymouth, the "transformation of sailing into a media product for a broad consumer base, away from the elite base" that he is striving for will not be easy. "Sailing is not one of the top five events that people buy to watch on TV," said Worth in a Video interview. "It's very difficult to convince broadcasters to show this on their channels."
Also being phased out is Gary Lovejoy, formerly of Eurosport, who previously held the role of Director of Media Production. He will leave the ACEA in September and will continue to work as a consultant until then. New Zealander Denis Harvey will take on his expanded role as Executive Producer of America's Cup Television. Indeed, the TV product has set a new standard for televised sailing with its innovations in graphics and camera angles, but at an exorbitant cost. Stan Honey, who was in charge of this, when asked by YACHT online: "Of course I know what it costs. I could tell you, but then I'd have to shoot you." Although agreements with the British broadcaster SkySport and the US network NBC were recently announced, current media data and a list of the production costs incurred to date were not provided by the ACEA, even after repeated requests.
Even at the ACWS event in San Diego, it was rumoured that only a few cities outside of Europe and the USA were coming forward as venues, and that those that were on board were not paying the millions in fees originally demanded by the ACEA. Then there are the problems with San Francisco, the venue for the next Cup, where a tug-of-war over facilities continues. According to the latest reports, the city itself now wants to repair Pier 30-32 for the team bases, albeit at a tenth of the originally estimated cost.
The few teams that are expected to take part due to the exorbitant costs of the AC72 catamarans are also dampening expectations. Apart from Team New Zealand, whose boss Grant Dalton has already announced that he will abandon the AC72 catamarans if the Kiwis win the Cup, only Artemis and Luna Rossa have been confirmed so far. Many experts doubt whether anyone else will join them, as the contribution money and the development costs of a completely new type of boat are beyond the means of the small ACWS teams.
Like all the others, they will present themselves at the next ACWS event with the AC45 cats from 7 to 15 April in Naples.
Find out more on the Event page
