When Larry Ellison funded the start-up SailGP circuit, his stipulation was how all the teams would be off the dole after five seasons. While the early entrants are working toward that goal, the league’s desire to expand the field is countered with new entrants being self-funded.
Leveraging new age financing, the league approved fan-owned teams with a group hoping to attract support for the entrant’s combined territory of the Caribbean and Bermuda. Using a DAO structure and built on the NEAR Protocol, the idea was to open new opportunities in sports ownership and fan engagement.
However, progress toward investment has been slow to come. An initial deadline for mid-January was pushed to late March, and has now been extended to mid-June. While the group remains optimistic about raising the necessary funds, the team will not be on the start line when Season 4 begins in one month.
A look back to the start of the third season of SailGP in May 2022, the field felt a reality check when the global sports league took back the boat being used by Nathan Outteridge’s Japan SailGP Team. A new entry had money, and as the Japanese failed to meet a satisfactory funding level, they were given Nathan’s boat.
The ten-team field was reduced to nine which completed Season 3, and with the start of the next season in Chicago on June 16-17, those nine teams remain on the list… for now.
As for additions, CEO Russell Coutts shared that a new team had signed their participation agreement, and while he would not yet disclose the nationality, he did offer how “it’s a strong sailing nation with a good pedigree of top Olympic sailors and an exciting new market for us to expand interest in the league.”
Will that be ten teams? Standing by…
Season 4 – 2023
June 16-17 – Rolex United States Sail Grand Prix | Chicago at Navy Pier
July 22-23 – United States Sail Grand Prix | Los Angeles
September 9-10 – France Sail Grand Prix | Saint-Tropez
September 23-24 – Italy Sail Grand Prix | Taranto
October 14-15 – Spain Sail Grand Prix | Andalucía- Cádiz
Season 4 – 2024
January 13-14 – UAE Sail Grand Prix | Venue to be announced
February 24-25 – KPMG Australia Sail Grand Prix | Sydney
March 23-24 – ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix | Auckland
May 4-5 – Bermuda Sail Grand Prix
June 1-2 – Canada Sail Grand Prix | Venue to be announced
June 22-23 – United States Sail Grand Prix | New York
July 13-14 – SailGP Season 4 Grand Final | San Francisco
Source: scuttlebutt – https://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2023/05/17/sailgp-how-many-teams-for-season-4/
