Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup aims for record audiences

The America’s Cup aims to make sailing open and accessible to all and, whilst being the oldest international sporting trophy, operates like a restless, start-up organisation. The Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup will see many significant production innovations intended to entertain existing fans of sailing and attract and educate new fans to the sport.

The Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup coverage is led by an in-house team and delivered by a new consortium of world-class broadcast production companies, some with a long history in sailing and some who are new to the sport.

Available on broadcast in over 200 territories complemented with global distribution on americascup.com, YouTube and Facebook, the America’s Cup intends to grow audiences by over 50% on top of the sailing viewership records established in Auckland 2021. In addition, the official documentary of the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup is in production in Barcelona.

“Innovation and technology are baked into the America’s Cup at every level, so whilst the race teams constantly strive for more speed, our search is for new ways to make the television coverage better than before and to break new ground in all aspects wherever possible,” said Grant Dalton, CEO of America’s Cup Event.

“We’ll debut new, innovative graphics techniques in Barcelona, produced in UHD and tell all the stories of the Cup, so, wherever you are in the world, find the largest, most convenient screen possible and you’ll be in for a visual treat,” adds Leon Sefton, Director of Production.

“We are fortunate to have such a vibrant and innovative production consortium, and I am really excited about what we have in store for viewers,” said Mark Sheffield, Director of Delivery.

The new Regatta Management System (RMS) has been developed by an in-house team over the last three years. It includes a fleet of battery powered autonomous marks capable of over 8 knots that can reposition themselves in between or during races. The RMS software system, also written in-house, is used to provide tactical information for teams prior to racing, all the tools for the Regatta Director to set courses and administer races, and all the data and analysis tools for the umpires, including sailing’s equivalent of VAR.

“RMS is an enormous project that we have been working around the clock on since the last America’s Cup and which will largely remain unseen, yet, such is the significance of the project, racing simply could not happen without it,” said Brent Russell, RMS Director.