Russell Coutts on the A-List investor interest and growth of SailGP
by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World.com/nz 12 Jun 03:27 UTC
Team partnerships generate the return for investors - Day 2 of the Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix © Jason Ludlow /SailGP
SailGP co-founder and CEO Russell Coutts, interviewed on CSNBC's popular "Squawk Box" news show ahead of the weekend's Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix, explains why investors want a slice of the action in what is often called the F1 of sailing.
Coutts, an Olympic Gold medalist, multiple America's Cup winner, and world youth champion, describes himself as a "former yachtsman" who is now the driving force behind the League and its very hard-working CEO.
The New York event was preceded by the announcement that several Hollywood A-listers and other sports equity investors would take a position in teams, either by directly dealing with the SailGP League or by acquiring an equity share in teams that are entirely privately owned.
Based on what has happened in other sports, big multiples have been achieved by investors - particularly into lowly placed teams, who gain significantly and quickly in value as they rise through the league rankings.
Ryan Reynolds who has announced as one of the co-investors in Bonds Flying Roos has had some spectacular investment success in sports teams.
The Golden Globe winner's investment in Wrexham AFC has seen a remarkable paper return, though it has yet to yield direct profits. Purchased with Rob McElhenney for around £2 million in early 2021, the club is now estimated to be worth between £100 million and £150 million. While Wrexham continues to operate at a loss (posting a £2.72 million deficit in the 2023–24 season), it has repaid around £15 million in shareholder loans, signaling a financially healthier trajectory. Despite no profits being distributed yet, the duo’s stake has appreciated massively, placing Reynolds’ unrealized gain potentially north of £100 million.
Only two of the teams, Spain and New Zealand - both consistent Finalists and event winners, are still owned by the founding SailGP League, financially backed by Oracle technology mogul Larry Ellison. The SailGP event remains wholly owned by Ellison. The value of the team is usually dictated by its popularity and fan following rather than what it can win from the now $12.8million prize money from SailGP which goes to offset some of the operational costs. Other revenue streams
Asked whether the new investors were chasing the League rather than being cold-called or up-sold by agents, Coutts replied, "It's coming [to us]."
"I think for different reasons. The value is growing so quickly with these teams that it's attracting investment from a wide range of sectors. So that's exciting. We've got a bright future."
"In Season 1, you could acquire a team for somewhere between $5 and $10 million. And we wouldn't sell a team for under $ 50 million today. So it's been a rapid growth. We expect that to continue.
"We're about to launch Teams 13 and 14 and take those to market. And there's been equity trading within some of the existing teams at significantly higher valuations than what I've just said."
"We're growing fast. The good thing about it is that when you look at it, it's still a relatively low barrier to entry in terms of price, but the costs are capped, and the teams are now attracting significant sponsorship. Four teams are now breaking even or better, which, at this early stage in the development cycle, is a pretty good verification of the model," Coutts explains.
In Auckland, Russell Coutts said the League expansion would go from the current 12 to 16 teams by 2027 - so his comment in the CNBC interview about two new teams to be launched in 2026 is confirmation of this strategy. The format of the event would shift with two fleets of eight F50s competing for places in a four boat Final. The number of venues each season has increased to 14 in Season 5 and will keep expanding - as they have more venue demand than spots on the SailGP calendar. By clustering locations like F1 does with the Circuit of the America's it is possible to reduce downtime between events and also logistics costs.
Part of the stellar SailGP growth stems from the fact that it is a new offering in a market that demands more live TV events rather than replays at a regionally convenient time slot.
"Obviously, our viewership is growing fast," Coutts says. "And each time we add a new territory, of course, we're adding significant
viewership."
"We're a global sports property where we have venues all over the world and iconic destinations. So each time we go to a new venue, of
course, that spikes a growth in audience within that market. "We're still in our infancy in many ways, but, you know, growing
very fast."
Asked about TV viewership total numbers and the demographics of that readership, Coutts responded:
"Well, it's interesting. It's not the avid sailing fan. The avid sailing fan is less than 10% of our audience.
"We just achieved some record viewership numbers in Australia, actually in Sydney this year, where we had just over 21 million dedicated viewership. That's live or near-live viewership. And in Season 1, a good number would have been 5 million viewers.
"The properties are stacking up from a sports perspective. We're getting the racing fan as opposed to the avid sailing fan watching this property because it's really nothing like a conventional sailing product."
The financial income for investors comes from selling sponsorships and partnerships on the hulls and wingsails of the 50ft foiling catamarans, initially developed for the 2017 America's Cup in Bermuda. The boats are owned and maintained by the League, with the teams being responsible for their sailing team's operational budget, including salaries, accommodations, and airfares.
Professional sailor salaries within the SailGP teams are said to be higher than the America's Cup. The ideal for Pro-Sailors is to have gigs with teams in both events; however, with the growth of SailGP and the capped sailing time in the America's Cup, the time is not far off when sailors will have to make a difficult choice between the two.
America's Cup and Olympic medalists are keenly sought by team recruiters because of the prestige they bring to the new event. Seven of the 12 drivers in SailGP have won Olympic Gold Medals, for a total of 10 Gold medals between the helms in the SailGP group. The 12 America's Cup co-helms across six AC75 teams have four co-helms with Olympic Gold medals, with the group amassing nine Gold medals. Ben Ainslie has four, Paul Goodison, Peter Burling, Nathan Outteridge, Dylan Fletcher, Tom Slingsby have one each. Three of this group are skippering SailGP teams in Season 5.
Three-time America's Cup winner Peter Burling, skipper of Emirates Team New Zealand, was put on the spot earlier this year and, in a shock decision, opted to go with his BlackFoil SailGP team rather than sign up for another three years of America's Cup development testing and racing. With the SailGP circuit planned to expand to 18 events in 2027 and with teams to grow from the current 12 to 16 teams by 2028, it is likely that Burling won't be the only sailor forced to choose between League or Country. Others have previously given up on the option pursued by Burling and key crew member Blair Tuke in Tokyo 2020 of running joint Olympic and SailGP programs.
The spiralling viewership and social media impact of the new event have a very favourable effect on the value of the sponsorship and earnings potential of the teams.
The early investors view SailGP as an emerging global sports enterprise—driven by broadcast muscle across all platforms and media, built on a thesis of leading-edge technology, backed by structured investment and strategic growth to achieve a larger market share at a faster rate of expansion than traditional sports models.
You can see the full interview from CNBC's Squawk Box flagship pre-market business show.
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