Behind upstart sailing league SailGP’s marketing and sponsorship approach

SailGP, the high-tech sailing circuit said to resemble Formula 1 on the water, is racing into its fifth season with a tailwind and a little bit of swagger. The league has added two new teams representing Italy and Brazil, bringing its field to 12 nations, including Team USA, whose backers include ad industry exec Gary Vaynerchuk. More than 235,000 people attended SailGP events during its 2024 season and 200 million watched SailGP broadcasts globally (which air on CBS in the U.S.). Social media engagements more than doubled. Now it’s looking to build that audience, adding to the momentum that includes a new title sponsorship from Rolex, which was announced today. A new campaign called “Unstoppable” is meant to accentuate the personality and attitude that’s turned sailing fans into racing fans, giving SailGP a younger and more diverse fanbase than traditional sailing events such as the America’s Cup, its execs say. Monks led the creative. “This should be a monumental season for SailGP,” Leah Davis, chief marketing officer of SailGP, said in an interview. “We’re really hoping that the spectacle of our sport will create deeper connections with our fans. That’s what the campaign is really all about.” The campaign will include 60-, 30- and 15-second videos, out-of-home, digital media and event marketing. With action photos and dramatic captions (“Unscripted. Unrivaled. Unstoppable”) the ads make an emotional pitch that sells sport as much as sailing. “When we established the league five years ago, one thing we were really keen to address head on [was] how can we demystify this sport and how can we create a more accessible and more appealing to a broader sports fan,” Davis said. SailGP (which stands for Sail Grand Prix, not an AI platform as it may sound like) was co-founded in 2019 by Larry Ellison, the billionaire co-founder of Oracle, and New Zealand yachtsman Russell Coutts. National teams competing for a $7 million championship prize race identical 50-foot long, 80-foot high foiling catamarans at speeds approaching 60 miles per hour. The sport combines rugged athleticism and speed with strategy. Sailors wear racing-style helmets and goggles for the soaking rough rides, collisions and capsizings they may well encounter. Tacticians plot narrow lanes to victory by interpreting data collected from on-board sensors (each team has access to every boat’s data, allowing them to learn one another’s best tricks). Each boat has six crewmembers; at least one must be a woman. @sailgpusa We fell through the wing 🤯 #sailing #sailgp #capsize ♬ original sound - US SailGP Team The 14-race season begins this weekend in Dubai; U.S. events are scheduled in Los Angeles (March 15-16); San Francisco (March 22-23) and New York (June 7-8). Racing takes place close to the shore and attendees are entertained with six 15-minute races over two days (five fleet races and a three-boat final). The average age of a SailGP fan in attendance is 42, and 60% of SailGP attendees are male—“a much more balanced gender equity than your traditional sailing audience,” Davis said. Fans are affluent and tech-savvy, drawing attention from luxury-aligned sponsors such as Rolex, which announced a 10-year deal as title sponsor today. The circuit will now be known as the Rolex SailGP Championship. Oracle, Emirates, the investment firm Mubadala, the fintech firm Apex and logistics company DP World are other SailGP sponsors; its teams have separate sponsor deals. Team USA is supported by Tommy Hilfiger, T-Mobile for Business, Apex and the yachting supply company Zhik. Team valuations have increased by 20% to more than $45 million each as the circuit—which at one time controlled all of its teams—expects to have sold them all to private investors by the end of its 2025 season, Davis said. More from Ad Age: The 5 best sports marketing moments of 2024 The U.S. team is owned by founding Uber engineer Ryan McKillen, Margaret McKillen and two-time world champion sailor Mike Buckley. Investors include Avenue Sports Fund, led by Avenue Capital Group CEO Marc Lasry, along with Vaynerchuk, actor Issa Rae, boxer Deontay Wilder, DJ and producer Gryffin and NFL stars DeAndre Hopkins, Malik Jackson, Roquan Smith and Kayvon Thibodeaux. With speed, technology, affluent audiences and far-flung global events, SailGP shares much in common with Formula 1. SailGP in fact will be carrying out a marketing blitz this week in Las Vegas, where F1’s Las Vegas Grand Prix is scheduled. The push includes billboards, airport screens and taxi tops. This summer, F1 driver Max Verstappen took a SailGP boat for a ride. @redbullusa from hoisting trophies to sails, what can't this man drive? 🤔 #maxverstappen Up next? @🇺🇸 US SailGP Team 🦅 is kicking the first weekend of summer off right — competing in New York Harbor, Saturday, June 22nd through Sunday, June 23rd. And Max? He's heading to the #SpanishGP 🏁 #f1 #formula1 #redbullracing #sailgp ♬ original sound - Red Bull USA Despite the many parallels with F1 “we want to forge our own path,” Davis said, particularly as it comes to making sailing more exciting and approachable. “How do we redefine the sport that we love, scale it, and take it to the masses?” The challenge for SailGP’s marketers as the sport grows is maintaining a consistent message, Davis said. “To establish a successful brand in today’s day and age, there’s got to be an element of consistency and belief in what that brand is and what that brand is not,” she said. “We initially spent a lot of time and heart developing a product that we truly believe in. Now, how do we take that product to a new audience? Consistency and brand building is key.” ~ ~ ~CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly described Team USA's ownership structure

Behind upstart sailing league SailGP’s marketing and sponsorship approach

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