36th America's Cup wins the ‘Most Successful sports event broadcast' at Sports Business Awards 2021
by America's Cup Media 19 Nov 2021 09:54 UTC
19 November 2021
TV Drone retrieval - Waitemata Harbour - Xmas Cup - December 20, 2020 - 36th America's Cup © Richard Gladwell / Sail-World.com
The TV broadcast of the 36th America’s Cup presented by Prada has won the ‘Most Successful sports event broadcast’ award at the prestigious Sports Business Awards 2021
The 36th America’s Cup sailed in Auckland between Dec 2020 & March 2021 was the most watched America’s Cup ever. The event reached a total global TV and streaming audience of 941m and its dedicated audience of 68.2m is 3.2x that of the 35th America’s Cup in Bermuda.
Social media delivered 715m over the campaign at an engagement rate of 7%. Live streaming grew the record TV audience by 19%.
Benefitting from significant technological innovation, the production set new standards in terms of the scope of coverage, graphics, audio and camera systems.
Distribution focused on free-to-air networks and major channels whilst reserving digital rights to allow the Cup to live stream on its own website and social media channels with unrestricted digital highlights across all platforms.
In their assessment of the category and the America’s Cup broadcast, the judges of the Sports Business Awards 2021 said, “Excellent comparative results and great articulation of the advancements made in difficult environmental conditions
Introduction of multiple new production innovations, including large and complex technology advancements, helped maximise global reach and engagement. Significant social growth also.
In winning the award The America’s Cup broadcast coverage beat runner up beIN Sport's coverage of EURO2020 football.
Grant Dalton CEO of America’s Cup Event and Emirates Team New Zealand said: “We are very proud of this award. We put a huge amount of importance and resource into the TV production for two main reasons really, driving innovation in all aspects of the event is ingrained in the America’s Cup. Secondly and most importantly, fans, sponsors and commercial partners demand the most innovative extensive coverage possible and we cannot have a successful event without these stakeholders.”