America’s Cup, Brindisi remains in the running for a pre-race in May 2024

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For one of the pre-races of the America’s Cup 2024, Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia, wins, but Brindisi does not stand aside and aims for next May. In the two-way race to host, from 30 November to 3 December 2023 (the date has been postponed), one of the pre-regattas of the 2024 edition of the America’s Cup, the choice of the top management of the America’s Cup Event (Ace) fell on Jeddah, but for Brindisi the game is not over. The Messapian town – with its wind stadium defined as optimal for logistical, weather-marine and scenic conditions – is aiming for another pre-competition to be held next spring. Everything is left to the decisions of the America’s Cup challenger and the contending crews for the more strictly contractual aspects of engagement. For the promoting committee, which prepared the candidacy for the pre-tender in October in just a few days, then updated it in November, and presented it only on April 14th, remaining in the running is no mean feat, because it continues to work with the top management of Ace and counts on being able to host this stage in May before the big event in Barcelona in October 2024.

Jeddah’s choice

The CEO of Ace, Grant Dalton, communicated the choice of Jeddah, «and we shared the reasons»- reads a note from the Promoting Committee, which in the meantime is gathering many other adhesions from entities, institutions, associations. In fact, Jeddah had in turn been beaten by Barcelona to host the final stages of the America’s Cup and therefore the organizing team had already done all the technical reconnaissance necessary to identify the competition field and thus satisfy all the fundamental technical details for an event of this magnitude. Therefore the choice was made in the interval between the further technical details sent to Brindisi on 26 April and the date set for the decision, 30 April, a decision which was evidently taken even earlier.

The developments and related industries

Having known the outcome of the decisions of the crews and having verified the further contractual obligations, the Committee will be able, if everything evolves positively, to pay the expected contribution of 5 million euros and aim not only at the economic induced – which Nielsen Sport estimates between 18 and 21 million – but above all to that of image and visibility. Indeed, the America’s Cup has a following of almost 1 billion viewers. That Brindisi’s candidacy is a national project is also confirmed by the thanks that Grant Dalton made to the ministers, Matteo Salvini and Andrea Abodi and to the president of the Puglia region, Michele Emiliano, for the support given to the initiative. A sign that it is confirming itself as a non-local target, of Brindisi or Puglia, but of Italy.