The 2013 America’s Cup
The 2013 America’s Cup was a revolution in the sport. The legacy of the America’s Cup on San Francisco Bay is bringing the racing to the fans and then delivering fantastic 50 mph boats, enthralling racing, ground-breaking television graphics and the sports comeback story of the century.
“This regatta has changed sailing forever. More people watched the first race of this America’s Cup than all of the America’s Cups in history, so I think it’s a success,” said Larry Ellison, whose vision of high-speed, wing sail catamarans racing in the tight confines of San Francisco Bay was realised this month.
The contest for the oldest trophy in international sport was completely modernised with innovation and technology.
Investment in television graphics and production meant new fans could instantly recognise and understand what was happening on the water. The AC Liveline technology behind the graphics won an Emmy Award and changed the way the sport is viewed on television.
“I think about this regatta and what it means to sailing,” said Ellison. “I think it was absolutely spectacular. If a bunch of kids are inspired to go sail, I’m a happy guy.”
Here are the numbers behind the event:
•203 countries broadcast the America’s Cup on television
•America's Cup broadcast in news bulletins globally 15,000 times
•Over 320,000 downloads of the America’s Cup app
•Over 1 million visitors to the official public sites in San Francisco at America’s Cup Park and America’s Cup Village. Hundreds of thousands more viewed the racing from the city front
•Nearly 10,000 hospitality guests
•Over 5 million unique visitors to AmericasCup.com in September and over 45-million page views during the Summer of Racing (July 1 to September 26)
•24.8 million views of videos on YouTube
•Over 100 million minutes of videos viewed in the past month
•575 accredited media, from 32 countries
•A 19 show America's Cup Concert Series
•Over 25% of the population of New Zealand watched the racing broadcast live during the America’s Cup Finals
