It used to be Sports Illustrated cover material, the stuff of espionage, technology, battles on the high seas, defense of mother country, the hands on work of people like Ted Turner and Dennis Connor and others whose names even casual fans knew all about. It took the average American to an interesting higher life, and to places like Newport and Australia and New Zealand, all interesting and sometimes exotic ports of call. It was also a sport that launched one of the world's great digital ventures, a company called Quokka Sports, which ushered sports, albeit ill-fatedly, into the digital era. It even helped continue and capture the use of new technology through the sponsorships of companies like Volvo and the ventures across great oceans. It was sailing, and its premier trophy, the America's Cup, was one of the world's grandest events, on a par with an Olympics or a Ryder Cup on a scale in the 1960's, 1970's and the early 1980's. Transatlantic events like the Whitbread Round The World Race brought techology into sport, as people migrated to computers and other devices for the first time to track ships far away and see how these elite sailors were doing. Now it appears that the world's premier sailing event which captured so many eyes and was the stuff of legend and amazing technology and design, is really on the rocks in terms of public perception.
The home for the next America's Cup was awarded late in the day on New Year's Eve to San Francisco, which seemed to get the event away from a bid in Newport that seemed to have fallen off the map, after San Francisco's bid had fallen off the map before hand. The announcement, which some may say was helped by being on one of the slowest news days of the year, drew nary a mention outside of AP and the Bay Area, and was lost in a Saturday paper that was short on staff, long on Bowl games, NFL finales and the NHL Winter Classic. Not a great way to end the year for such an elite event, and not a great start to help restore the event to some semblance of its former self. can it be don. Should it be don.
Make no mistake sailing, especially at the America's Cup level, is a very expensive sport. It is hard to follow at the event, but like golf or tennis, can find its place. it has tremendous upside in technology, both for the designers of the ships and for the fans who can follow in hundreds of ways digitally now. The ability to place micro cams and measurement devices and get instance updates, as the Volvo Ocean Race has done, is a tremendous plus, and Oracle founder Larry Ellison's interest in the sport means that even other forms of technology and communication can be tested in sport for the first time. There is room for signage of all kind on the vast ships, there is a great ability to engage young people in science and technology, and the race itself has the kind of elite cache that can draw more than a few bold face names to it to keep casual fans interested. There is also the beauty of resurrection for sponsors and those looking to build a once elite brand from the bottom up again. People still know of the America's Cup, especially consumers with means now 40 and above. The younger audience who could be intrigued by the technology and the call to the high seas also sits out there, as do high net worth individuals and brands who want to associate with them. It is all about price point, availability and opportunity, and the opportunity for a comeback exists.
Is it worth the politics, the international issues, the cost, the ability to engage broadcasters and reeducate a public that has lost its way but maybe not its interes. Hard to say but worth following to see if this now lost brand and sail it's way back into the public eye.
