Back in the running for the America’s Cup after a 14-year absence, Swiss billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli has invested $135 million in his team but deplores the lack of interest in the world’s oldest sporting trophy.
It is a daring bet that Ernesto Bertarelli is attempting on the occasion of the 37th edition of the America’s Cup. Winner of this prestigious sailing race in 2003 and 2007 before retiring from it in 2010, the Swiss billionaire has spent 135 million dollars to rebuild his Alinghi Red Bull Racing team over the last three years.
The first regattas began last Thursday in Barcelona during the Louis Vuitton Cup in order to designate the official challenger of Team New Zealand in the framework of the real America’s Cup which will be held from October 12 to 21. It begins with preliminary rounds, where all the challenges face each other in a duel twice, before semi-finals and a final which will finally determine the opponent of the New Zealanders.
The first edition of the America’s Cup took place in 1851 when the yacht of the New York Yacht Club won against the British of the Royal Yacht Squadron, giving its name to the famous trophy. The Americans then dominated the competition for more than 100 years, until 1983, before the historic and surprise success of Australia. Ernesto Bertarelli is the first European to have won the oldest sporting trophy in the world.
A colossal “entry ticket”
According to the Bloomberg index, the fortune of the 58-year-old Swiss and his family exceeds 28 billion dollars and comes mainly from the family pharmaceutical company Sorono, sold to Merck in 2007, as well as from wealth management and financial investment companies. Ernesto Bertarelli also owns a stake in the British manufacturer Aston Martin.
In Catalonia, he finds other great fortunes passionate about sailing such as the former CEO and now managing director of the luxury group Prada Patrizio Bertelli but also Doug Devos who co-manages the giant Amway or the boss of Ineos Jim Ratcliffe who recently bought more than 27% of the shares of Manchester United and had already invested 144 million dollars for the 2021 edition of the sailing race.
Everyone spends a lot of money to line up the fastest sailboat every three or four years, while the speed of the America’s Cup boats can flirt with 50 knots, or 100 km/h. For example, Oracle Corporation co-founder Larry Ellison invested no less than 750 million dollars over the five editions in which he took part.
“Drive to survive” version course de voile
Despite these colossal investments, Ernesto Bertarelli regrets that this 173-year-old sailing race does not enjoy greater exposure. “We have more heritage than any other sport here, the history of this event, the rivalry, the stories, the images. There is a lot of material to promote this event,” the Swiss told Bloomberg, hoping to see the America’s Cup rival other major competitions such as the Olympic Games or the Wimbledon tennis tournament.
According to a Nielsen analysis, the pre-races in Spain and Saudi Arabia last year generated a combined TV audience of 47 million people. New Zealand skipper Grant Dalton, meanwhile, said his August race videos had more than eight million views. Three years ago, the last America’s Cup had a combined audience of some 68 million viewers across free-to-air and online channels: that’s as much as the average audience for a single Formula 1 race in 2023.
The Swiss billionaire would have liked a film crew to film the entire campaign to produce a series in the same spirit as “Drive to Survive” on Netflix in order to generate interest in this sailing race. This year, the production company Skydance Media LLC, owned by David Ellison, son of Larry Ellison, is producing a documentary on the behind the scenes of the competition. Beyond the television audience, the America’s Cup increases tourist numbers since 2.5 million additional visitors are expected to go to Barcelona during the entire competition.
