International sailing events seen as a boon for the City
photo: Gilles Martin-Raget / www.americascup.com
After a recent story on ABC News detailed the mayor and local business leaders touting the economic benefits of hosting the 34th America’s Cup, an anonymous poster wrote, “Yachting is for the rich and affluent … I couldn’t care less for America’s Cup and the stinkin’ boat races.”
That seems to be the feeling of many people not directly involved in sailing, so why should you care? How does $1.4 billion – that’s billion with a B! – in local economic activity strike your fancy? According to a recent report prepared for the City by the Bay Area Council Economic Institute and Beacon Economics, that’s exactly the economic reward the City could expect to see if it hosts the next America’s Cup Race in 2013 or 2014. By all accounts, that is a very conservative estimate, focused solely on the effects of the actual elimination races and the Cup race itself over a two to three month span. A report prepared in 2007 by the Allianz Group estimated the overall economic benefit to be upward of $9.9 billion.
The closest comparable event would be the last traditional America’s Cup held in Valencia, Spain in 2007, with an economic impact that was just shy of $7 billion (as reported by the Valencian Institute of Economic Research). Still, $1.4 billion is nothing to sneeze at – by comparison, hosting a Super Bowl or All Star game generates in the neighborhood of $300 to $500 million. Only the Olympics and World Cup Soccer generate more income for host communities. In addition, the economic activity is expected to create upward of 9,000 new jobs – 30 percent of those likely being low-skilled, entry-level workers. So try telling those 3,000 employees that yachting is “only for the rich.”
The first hurdle to hosting the America’s Cup here on the Bay was already crossed when the Golden Gate Yacht Club determined last month that San Francisco would be the only U.S. location considered for the next regatta. With BMW Oracle Racing’s Larry Ellison working in tandem with Mayor Newsom – and now even garnering support from the often at-odds S.F. Board of Supervisors – the City has put together a proposal for hosting the America’s Cup that will be the standard to beat by competing cities, including Spain and Italy. Most of the development needed to host such an event would likely occur at Piers 30–32 and Pier 50, where an America’s Cup Village would bring needed repairs and upgrades to these rotting piers at no cost to the City.
Beyond the America’s Cup race itself, there will be a ripple effect of economic benefit both before and long after the race. Long-time race sponsor Louis Vuitton has announced that a challenger series race will be held in San Francisco in 2011, which will bring competing syndicates from all over the world. An America’s Cup Village is seen as being an international center for sailing in the Bay Area for many years to come.
And besides the viewing opportunities provided by the natural amphitheater of the Bay, trials are already being conducted on RC44 boats in Valencia to develop intimate looks at the race from onboard cameras, putting television viewers right in the heart of the race.
So in addition to an estimated 2.6 million attendees, the City, Bay and Golden Gate Bridge could be showcased to an international television audience – and that kind of advertising you simply can’t afford to buy!
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