America's Cup: Emirates Team NZ ranked third on Global Power list for AC75 development

Te Rehutai, Emirates Team New Zealand - November 20, 2020, Waitemata Harbour - America's Cup 36 © Richard Gladwel / Sail-World.com

In the 2020 Sports Technology Annual Review and Industry Power List published this month, Emirates Team New Zealand has been ranked at #3 out of 50 sports entities on the Global Power List by the STA Group and the English Institute of Sport.

The inaugural edition of the report, which looks at the influence of technology in sport ranked Emirates Team New Zealand behind F1 & the Tour de France respectively, but ahead of 47 other sporting powerhouse teams and governing bodies including the NFL, NBA, Wimbledon, PGA Golf, Nascar, EA Sports, Formula E, Barcelona FC, Nike, FIFA and ESPN.

Yachting’s oldest and most prestigious race has an impressive history in embracing cutting-edge technology and design.

Of Emirates Team New Zealand's ranking, the report said:

As current holders of the America’s Cup, Emirates Team New Zealand have dictated the move away from the previous hydro foiling catamaran towards the innovative AC75 foiling monohull, which is said to be faster and safer than previous iterations.

With cup holders holding sway over the competition, not only hosting the event but also dictating equipment, rules, and race format, Emirates Team New Zealand is in an influential position in a competition which leads the way in sailing design, instrumentation and telecommunications.

With a pedigree in the use of simulators, these platforms have driven Emirates Team New Zealand’s hardware, software, firmware, and tactical decisions and will do so as the 2020 America’s Cup World Series approaches.

As if this wasn’t impressive enough, all this, of course, takes place on water.

Emirates Team New Zealand CEO Grant Dalton is particularly proud of the ranking, “To be honest this came as quite a surprise to myself and the team being included on this list of such significant sporting global entities.

Certainly, we are a sports team, but 100% with technology and innovation at our core. So when you think about it, maybe it is not entirely surprising because as an organisation if we don’t lead the wave of innovation and technology we simply will not win the sport event on the water. It is as simple as that.”

The conclusions drawn throughout the report are based on three sources:

- Submissions into The Sports Technology Awards Group awards from the past three years. - Information from the English Institute of Sport’s Performance Innovation team. - Independent research and verification from a variety of sources.

The report’s main contributors are immersed in using and understanding technology as an integral part of their roles in the sports industry. They engage daily with tech companies, sports scientists, business leaders, coaches and athletes, and sports brands of all types and sizes.

Rebecca Hopkins, CEO of the Sports Technology Awards reflects on Emirates Team New Zealand’s #3 ranking, “The Power List debate about inclusions and rankings between ourselves and our colleagues at The English Institute of Sport was lively and enjoyable. Seeing the way brands understand and embrace a tech-led approach is exciting, but more than that, the ones which do it well are clearly far more robust entities. Emirates Team New Zealand is outstanding in the way technology runs throughout its organization, however, it ranked so highly because of the huge degree of influence it commands within its sport.”

Emirates Team New Zealand launched their latest AC75 boat, ‘Te Rehutai’ on the 19th November, the race boat that will be used to defend the 36th America’s Cup from the 6th March 2021.

Racing begins with the PRADA ACWS Auckland & PRADA Christmas Race from 17th- 20th December 2020.

To read the full report click here