Heavyweight boxer Deontay Wilder part of group buying US SailGP team
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SailGP said the acquisition of the team, which had previously been run by Jimmy Spithill, would be the largest in the 10-team competition.
PHOTO: AFP
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LONDON – A group of investors including actress Issa Rae and heavyweight boxer Deontay Wilder has bought SailGP’s United States team, in a move that the team’s new chief executive Mike Buckley said on Nov 29 would encourage diversity on and off the water.
SailGP said the acquisition of the team, which had previously been run by America’s Cup veteran Jimmy Spithill, would be the largest in the 10-team competition often billed as the sport’s equivalent of Formula One and now in its fourth season.
According to Bloomberg, the deal significantly surpasses the US$40 million (S$53.4 million) valuation for the UK’s Emirates GBR sail team earlier in 2023, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing private information.
“We launch with the most diverse ownership group of our sport,” Buckley said of the new investors, adding in a video interview with Reuters that their long-term investment aimed to bring SailGP “into the mainstream”.
“We believe that diversity is a competitive advantage and it needs to start at the top. Collectively, we have an enormous amount of work to do on and off the water.”
The lead investor in the team is the Avenue Sports Fund, led by Avenue Capital Group chief executive Marc Lasry, who has invested alongside co-owners Buckley, Ryan McKillen and Margaret McKillen, along with big sports, tech and entertainment names.
Buckley also said that the team was keeping financial details of the deal confidential, but that SailGP had shown that it could “stand on its own two feet” commercially and this had helped him get the backing needed from a “best in class” investor group.
In January, Singapore became the first country in South-east Asia to host a leg of the US$1 million SailGP hydrofoiling series at East Coast Park as part of a three-year deal.
It was the eighth leg of an 11-stop global championship that visits some of the world’s most iconic cities, including Christchurch, San Francisco and Sydney.
Meanwhile, the US team have said that they have appointed Taylor Canfield to steer its 50-foot foiling catamaran, with the seven-time world champion sailor getting the first chance to test his F50 skills at the next SailGP in Dubai in December.
Buckley said the team were faced with the immediate challenge to “improve a bit every day”, starting from next week when they land in Dubai. REUTERS, BLOOMBERG
