Interest in private team ownership has soared and multiple business deals are in progress behind the scenes, SailGP boss Russell Coutts has revealed.
Speaking on the latest episode of Racing on the Edge, Coutts said there had been ‘a lot of movement and interest’ in private team ownership, and referenced the ‘transition of ownership’ of the Canadian team. “We have similar discussions going on in other parts of the world,” he said.
Coutts went on to predict that ‘very soon’ just ‘three teams will still be owned by the league’.
Emirates GBR, Switzerland, Germany and ROCKWOOL Denmark are all teams that are, either in part or in full, privately owned, which means that France, the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Spain remain under league ownership.
After entering the league under private ownership, Canada’s previous owner stepped away from the team at the end of Season 3. Speaking ahead of the Los Angeles Sail Grand Prix, Robertson said the team had accepted a new ownership bid, but no other updates have been given.
Also speaking on Racing on the Edge, United States driver Jimmy Spithill ‘being profitable’ was the ‘goal for every single team in SailGP’, and predicted that this would ‘probably happen’ to the U.S. team ‘this season’.
Speaking about the benefits of private ownership, SailGP presenter Lisa Darmanin said it allows teams to ‘run their own program and buy more training days’. “Essentially, money can make you more competitive,” she said.
With unmatched access into the league, Racing on the Edge features behind-the scenes-insight and up-close interviews with the Championship’s biggest personalities, including Australia driver Tom Slingsby, Emirates GBR driver Ben Ainslie and New Zealand’s dynamic duo Pete Burling and Blair Tuke.
Every episode of Racing on the Edge is available on SailGP's YouTube channel.
