According to Deloitte, as reported by Palco23, the “economic impact” of the most recent Spain Sail Grand Prix – event five of 13 in SailGP’s fourth season, held in Cádiz on Oct. 14–15 of last year – was 77 percent greater than the previous one. The catamaran race generated €93.7 million vs. €58.3 million in 2022 (itself a record figure). Average expenditure per person was up as well, by 16 percent. Hotels, transport and restaurants, in particular, reaped the benefits.
The crowd of spectators swelled to 98,000. Of these, some 40 percent were native to the city, 30 percent were Spaniards from elsewhere, and the remaining 30 percent were foreign.
Broadcasts of the race reached 212 markets worldwide. In the US, where CBS carried it, Spain SailGP not only was the most-watched nautical event but apparently outstripped both Formula 1 and the NBA in live viewers (15.4m) and broadcast hours (783).
According to ESPN, the 2023/24 NBA season has 100 games scheduled for broadcast between ESPN itself and ABC. The average NBA game lasts about two and a quarter hours, but even at a generous three, the product of total games per season times game length is less than half the reported SailGP broadcast-hours total for the Spanish race alone.
Viewership presents another apples-and-oranges comparison because the NBA presents a variety of game types (preseason, regular season, All-Star, playoffs, finals), and the regular season (October to April) has weekly games rather than focused events every few months. The most readily available statistic is the average viewership per game. According to Statista, the figure was 1.59 million for the 2022/23 season. There has been an overall decline since 2019/20 (1.62m), and there was a dip in 2020/21 (1.34m).
The US team, incidentally, defeated Denmark and Australia in the three-team final of the Cádiz race. Four other races have since taken place: in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sydney and Christchurch. Next up, on May 4–5, is Bermuda.
The following country teams compete in SailGP: Australia, Canada, Emirates – Great Britain, France, Germany, New Zealand, Denmark, Spain, Switzerland and the US.
