America's Cup- Bid for San Francisco needs $270M in sponsorships

by Eric Young, San Jose Business Journal on 30 Sep 2010
Supporters of San Francisco’s bid to host the next America’s Cup pledged to raise $270 million in sponsorship to cover the costs of the regatta if the event is held on the bay.

Under a term sheet submitted to the city’s Board of Supervisors this week, bid backers said they expect to raise that amount after holding conversations with Bay Area-based corporations like Visa Inc., Wells Fargo & Co., URS Corp., PG&E Corp. and Google Inc. as well as companies elsewhere across the country.

That money would be used to cover the costs of the America’s Cup challenge on the bay as well as races leading up to the championship event.

That dollar amount is slightly more than the approximately $250 million spent to hold the most recent America’s Cup in Valencia, Spain this year.

The sponsorship money is a key element in San Francisco’s effort to host the prestigious competition. San Francisco hopes to convince America’s Cup organizers -- in this case Redwood City-based Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison -- to hold the next America’s Cup on the bay rather than in Valencia, Spain or at an unnamed city in Italy, which are also trying to win the rights.

Ellison, winner of this year’s America’s Cup, gets to select the site for the next event, which will be held in 2013.

Holding the America’s Cup in San Francisco would bring $1.4 billion to the Bay Area’s economy and generate 8,800 jobs, according to a study prepared for event backers.

Another key element of San Francisco’s bid involves a real estate deal between the city and the America’s Cup event authority, the entity that will oversee the business side of the next regatta.

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