Having lived and breathed the 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona from the inside for over a year – initially as a member of the Joint Reconnaissance team and later as part of the AC37 onsite media team – I feel like I am in a good position to bear witness to the impact sailing’s oldest and highest profile event had on the already bustling Catalonian capital.
From the gigantic national flags the six teams flew high above their bases every time their AC75 went sailing, to the Louis Vuitton branding adorning the beachfront tower of the Montjuïc cable car, the packed free-to-enter viewing areas dotted around the city, the buzzing AC37 Race Village on the Moll de la Fusta – where locals and visitors could watch the racing on jumbo screens during the day and enjoy free entry concerts and events at night – to the thousands of spectator boats – including 200+ superyachts – that somehow squeezed themselves in and out of the Port Vell on every single race day, there was simply zero chance of not being aware that the America’s Cup was in town.
It’s no real surprise then that the findings released this week from the post-event economic impact study conducted by the University of Barcelona and the Barcelona Capital Nàutica Foundation (FBCN) contain some eye watering figures – none more so than the headline €1.034 billion positive economic benefit for the host city.
The graphic above tells the story really well but here are some other key metrics from the report:
- 1.8 million visitors were counted over the 59 days across all event sites on and off the water including 460,819 unique attendees to Barcelona that came specifically to be part of the event.
- The 37th America’s Cup created the equivalent of 12,872 jobs in Barcelona.
90% of the 380 different event suppliers and providers were locally based businesses. - Three free event sites totalling 32,000sqm provided free viewing.
- The 37th America’s Cup gained an 8.8 out of 10 satisfaction score from the nearly 4,000 attendees surveyed across the event sites.
- 244 superyachts attended the event injecting a spend of €35 million into the local economy.
- There were 11,182 hours of global broadcast coverage.
- Total gross brand exposure value of €1.367 billion for all of the brands, sponsors and host venue associated with the 37th America’s Cup.
- Total TV audience of 954 million
- There were 9.6 million hours of watch time on YouTube.
- Social media viewership increased by 235%
- The official America's Cup ESports game was downloaded over 100,000 times.
- There were eight Grand Finalists invited to Barcelona from seven different countries and the ‘Gamer to Sailor' initiative took the winning two gamers racing in the AC40s.
- There were 1,512 media articles written consisting of 1.886 million words, and over 250,000 photo images downloaded by media from the America’s Cup photo library.
- There were 20,677 young people reached through the 37th America’s Cup via the various educational programs such as the FBCN’s “Programa Educatiu La Navegació al Segle XXI, Un Repte Tecnològic”, the city council’s “VIU LA VELA” program and the America’s Cup Trophy Tour regattas.
- The volunteer program called "Team B" quickly became the beating heart of the event, with 2,300 volunteers, 78% being local residents.
These numbers are undeniably impressive and I am please to have played a part along with the rest of the highly skilled and highly motivated people who worked together on the 37th America's Cup.
Where now for the America's Cup?
Barcelona’s politicians ruled the city out of consideration to host the next America’s Cup very soon after AC37 concluded and likely long before this post-event impact study had even begun. This has led to some justifiable speculation as to where the Cup goes next.
Valencia, Spain had expressed an interest in hosting the event for a third time – the AC went there in 2007 and 2010 – but that was before the region experienced a period of lethal flooding at the end of October since which the local authorities’ focus has rightly been on dealing with the aftermath.
While Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is also rumoured to have made an approach and the Saudi Arabia remains ever a possibility, it seems that the Defenders Emirates Team New Zealand are very much open to a defence attempt home waters, with team CEO Grant Dalton offering in a media interview this week to do a ‘mates rates’ deal with the New Zealand government to bring the AC back to Auckland.
In an interview with 3News Dalton said the search for a new host was going well and noted that the numbers headlined in the Barcelona report ‘didn’t hurt – because they say this [event] has got real value”.
Dalton said he was busy with meetings on Zoom and in person with potential host cities – “mainly in Europe and a little further east”. Dalton suggested in the interview that a hosting deal was “just weeks away now” but maintained he would offer special concessions to a hometown bid.
Asked if he would be willing to make a financial sacrifice to get the America’s Cup to Auckland Dalton said “the answer is absolutely yes”. “I always said that the idea of going was to win it so that we could come back – and now we did exactly what we said we would do and we are trying to come back.
The precise numbers are unconfirmed but a figure of 200 million Kiwi Dollars (105 million Euro, 114 million US Dollars) is being bandied about in the mainstream media. In the context of the roughly two billion Kiwi Dollar boost recorded in the Barcelona report 200 million looks like a screaming deal. However comparing the impact of an AC held in Europe with one hosted in New Zealand is not a direct comparison. Sailing fans across Europe had easy access to Barcelona and could fly in for a weekend of racing and be back in the office on Monday morning. Flying to Auckland to watch the America’s Cup is a much bigger commitment in terms of time and money.
Sponsor deals are also a consideration. Louis Vuitton’s return to the America’s Cup for AC37 after a long absence will surely have been influenced by the event taking place in Europe and other sponsors will likely be keen to have the racing broadcast during the European daytime rather than in the middle of the night, as was the case at AC36 in Auckland.
All that said, Auckland is a sailing city and there are huge advantages to hosting sailing’s most prestigious competition in a location where the majority of the people have an excellent understanding of what the event is all about. As a sailing venue, the Hauraki Gulf is among the best locations in the world and certainly superior to the predominantly light wind potential venues dotted around the Mediterranean.
I think it is safe to assume that taking the Cup back to Auckland would be a popular move amongst the AC37 teams who I would expect to all return for a New Zealand-based AC38. (NYYC American Magic were rumoured to be unwilling to challenge for a Saudi-based Cup.) Perhaps we might even see an increase in the number of challenging teams? Might an Australian challenge be more viable if the Cup is hosted in neighbouring New Zealand? Might Sweden’s Artemis Racing be tempted back into the fray?
The deadline for the announcement of the host venue for the 38th America’s Cup is June 20 this year, before which the Protocol document for AC38 should also be released. It seems likely that the main event will take place in 2027. But with all the teams previously expressing support for more lead up regattas – like the two Spanish AC40 events and the AC75 Preliminary Regatta held in Barcelona immediately prior to the start of the Louis Vuitton Challenger Series – perhaps 2026 will see the America’s Cup go on the road with an international circuit that could include racing for the Youth and Women’s America’s Cup teams too?
That’s quite a mouthwatering prospect – but for now, we will all just have to wait and see.
