Second wave of America's Cup broadcast partnerships announced with all-star commentary line up
by America's Cup 16 Dec 2020 20:07 NZDT
PRADA America's Cup World Series Auckland, New Zealand © Hamish Hooper / Emirates Team New Zealand
The racing finally gets under way in the first race event of the 36th America's Cup with four days of match racing during the PRADA America's Cup World Series Auckland, New Zealand (Dec 17th-19th) and the PRADA Christmas Race (Dec 20th).
It will be the only time that all the entrants for the 36th America's Cup will race against each other and provide a unique opportunity for the teams to assess all their rivals' strengths and weaknesses.
Fans of the America's Cup all around the world will be able to enjoy coverage via all forms of media on every screen. The primary objective is to make this the most viewed and accessible America's Cup competition ever.
Set against the picturesque background of the Hauraki Gulf of Auckland, New Zealand, with a new title sponsor, PRADA, and in a dramatic new class of racing yacht, the AC75, the world's best sailors will race to win the oldest trophy in international sport. Each AC75 is equipped with ten cameras supplemented by chase boat, helicopter and drone cameras. Coverage will include the world feed with commentary from Ken Read & Stephen McIvor together with Olympic gold medallists Shirley Robertson and Nathan Outteridge. In addition to the world feed, there will be two dedicated yacht channels and a data feed offered with expert sailing commentary.
Live, highlights and news coverage will be generally available free-to-air in English on www.americascup.com and all the usual official social channels of the event.
To ensure both the most accessible and most complete live and highlights coverage from broadcasters covering 195 territories, the 36th America's Cup is delighted to announce a further range of partnerships with free-to-air and pay networks including:
- European Broadcasting Union - a comprehensive partnership allowing EBU members to access live, long and short-form highlights, and news via the Eurovision News Exchange
- Canada - TSN
- Latin America and the Caribbean - ESPN
- Japan - DAZN
- Singapore - Singtel TV and CAST
- Germany, Austria and Switzerland - Servus TV
- Greece and Cyprus - Nova
- Israel - Charlton
- Switzerland - MySports
- News distribution with SNTV and other agencies
More broadcast partnerships are anticipated ahead of the PRADA Cup Challenger Selection Series in January and the 36th America's Cup Match in March.
This is in addition to the already announced partnerships with:
- New Zealand - home country of Emirates Team New Zealand (Defender) - TVNZ
- Italy - home country of Luna Rossa PRADA Pirelli Team (Challenger of Record) - RAI and Sky Italia
- UK - home country of INEOS Team UK (Challenger) - BBC and Sky UK & Ireland
- USA and Caribbean - home country of NYYC American Magic (Challenger) - NBC Sports
- Australia - Fox Sports Australia
- Pacific Island Nations - Pasifika TV
- France, Switzerland, sub-Saharan Africa and other French territories - Canal+
- Sweden - TV12 and C More
- South Africa & sub-Saharan Africa - SuperSport
- Korea - SBS
- Taiwan - ELTA
- Malaysia & Brunei - Astro
Commentator and Expert Profiles:
Stephen McIvor - NZL - Commentator / Anchor
Stephen will lead the play-by-play Race call ashore. An experienced sportscaster, he has a wide variety of live sports credits, and will lead the AC36 commentary team for host broadcast, based from the IBC.
Ken Read - USA - Sailing Expert
Ken re-joins the AC36 host broadcast commentary team, having performed the same role in San Francisco and Bermuda. Widely respected, Ken is an America's Cup competitor, Round-the-world skipper, twice-named American Yachtsman of the year, maxi-yacht record holder and has won 50 World, North American and national championships in a variety of cases, with ten of those being World Championship titles. Ken will work alongside Stephen based from the IBC.
Shirley Robertson - UK - Sailing Expert - On-water
Shirley is a double Olympic gold medallist, making it into the history books by becoming the first British woman to win two Olympic gold medals at consecutive games. Named female World sailor of the Year in 2000, appointed an MBC in 2000 and OBE in 2005. She was the regular presenter of CNN Mainsail, which ran for a decade and a half. She will contribute as on-water live commentator during the live race coverage, and assist with other production roles, such as news and feature production.
Nathan Outteridge – AUS - Sailing Expert - photo © America's Cup Media
Nathan Outteridge - AUS - Sailing Expert
Nathan helmed Artemis Racing in the 2013 America's Cup in San Francisco and the 2017 contest in Bermuda. He won gold in the 49er class in the 2012 London Olympics, and silver in Rio, 2016. He brings a rare commentary insight to the complexities of racing high performance, foiling yachts in the America's Cup.