First fan-owned team launches for SailGP

DAO-owned Caribbean and Bermuda racing team founded by Bernoulli | Locke © SailGP

Bernoulli | Locke, a member-based community creating new immersive partnerships and experiences using innovative Web3 structures, today announced they are launching a SailGP fan-owned racing team across Bermuda and the Caribbean. Using a DAO structure and built on the NEAR Protocol, this team is expected to open new opportunities in sports ownership and fan engagement.

The team's territory combines the Caribbean and Bermuda, an internationally recognized sailing and business destination, providing the team with a diverse, culturally vibrant and historic sailing region with sufficient sailing talent and resources to mount a competitive SailGP team.

Founded by Larry Ellison and Russell Coutts, SailGP is widely becoming recognized as the most exciting race on water. The global, purpose-led league for professional sailing teams is raced in identical high-performance foiling 50-foot catamarans. The competition pits the world's best sailing athletes against each other on a global stage.

This new team hopes to be the tenth team in the league and participate in Season 4. SailGP Season 4 will comprise 14 events at iconic destinations around the globe and kick-off June 17-18, 2023 with the United States Sail Grand Prix | Chicago at Navy Pier, and include one event held in Bermuda in May 2024.

A Decentralized Autonomous Organization, or DAO, is a blockchain-based form of organization with governance managed transparently by its community. It is anticipated that interested fans that qualify will be able to purchase tokens, if and when offered by the DAO, that provide governance rights in the DAO, including the right to vote on important matters related to the team. The sports team's owners will be able to vote on decisions ranging from the team name and flag, athlete selection, boat livery, fan benefits and access, sponsorship, management, team business decisions and more.

SailGP CEO Russell Coutts said: "Last month we shared that we had updated our SailGP Participation Agreement to allow a DAO owned team to join the league, and now we are very excited to see David Palmer and his team of founders at Bernoulli | Locke forming a team under these amended rules. David and his team have a unique marketing and operational background building global membership-based communities - demonstrating the expertize required to launch and assist in operating a fan-owned team facilitated by a DAO.

"Professional sport is about building a passionate fanbase, and as a tech-forward global league - SailGP has leaned into Web3 to further develop the future of fandom. We look at the fan-owned team as the ultimate implementation of a loyalty program, and this new Caribbean & Bermuda team will redefine the fan experience and team ownership model. It is a testament to the value of our relationship with NEAR that a decentralized team can be created to ultimately provide control of a team to a passionate community of fans."

The Caribbean & Bermudian team will bring together a community focused on racing, the sport of sailing, excitement and passion for the region as well as those who see the opportunity of decentralized community owned and operated sports teams.

Fans can take the first step to getting involved now in this historic new DAO fan-owned team by indicating initial interest at fanvest.io. The opportunity to participate is expected to be available to a limited number of individuals and institutions meeting financial and other applicable requirements.

In addition, it is expected that fans will be able to own a seasonal membership pass (through purchasing and holding an NFT) that provides pass holders access to the community as well as governance but not equity.

David Palmer, Bernoulli | Locke Founder and CEO explains: "With our partners, we are delighted to bring a new and exciting level of engagement and participation for sports team owners and fans and add a new participant in SailGP. Our goal is to have a vibrant community of owners and fans jointly sharing the incredible journey of establishing and operating a competitive global racing team. Palmer continued, "Using the NEAR Protocol and the unique structure of the DAO we have established, we believe that we can achieve our goals with transparency and legal compliance, enabling the participation of an international community sharing a common sports interest and passion. We look forward to meeting the other teams on the water at the first race next season!"

"This historic partnership elevates fandom to a completely new level and creates a blueprint for building a successful use case for Web3," said Marieke Flament, CEO of the NEAR Foundation. "Launching this fan owned team breaks down the hierarchy of sport, giving enthusiastic spectators the chance to play an active role in shaping the future of competitive sailing by democratizing access to the sport and allowing fans to collectively own and manage a team like never before."

For further details, please visit fanvest.io

Information in this release is not financial/investment advice.