International boat racing series SailGP has revealed that its recently concluded 2024-25 campaign saw strong viewership and commercial increases on the prior campaign.
The 12-race campaign generated a cumulative global viewership of 215 million, up from the 193 million it drew in the 2023-24 season.
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This included record event audiences for races in Sydney, Australia (21.2 million globally) and Cadiz, Spain (23 million globally).
Also positive was the new individual territory single-broadcast viewership records in the US, where national network CBS attracted almost 3.5 million viewers for its ‘The Race to Abu Dhabi’ magazine and highlight show on November 23.
A new record of 2 million viewers was also recorded in Germany, which staged its first SailGP race this season, on public-service broadcaster ZDF.
In total, four new venues joined the SailGP calendar, the series’ largest schedule to date, with Geneva (Switzerland, Portsmouth (UK), and Auckland (New Zealand) all entering the fold.
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By GlobalDataThe 12 SailGP races attracted over 112,000 fans combined, including ticketed attendances of 25,000 in Auckland and 20,000 in Portsmouth.
Across these races, SailGP claims to have made a cumulative economic impact to the host areas of $230 million.
The series’ social media and digital metrics also grew, with over 1.65 billion cumulative social media views racked up, alongside the organization’s YouTube channel surpassing 1 million subscribers.
Speaking on the figures, SailGP managing director, Andrew Thompson, said: “The 2025 season has reinforced SailGP’s position as a global leader in sport and entertainment, with record audiences and world-class racing bringing our championship to new heights.
“In just five seasons, we’ve exceeded all the initial major targets set in 2019 – doubling the number of teams and events, while increasing annual audience and revenue by 12x and 20x, respectively, since season 1.”
The 2026 SailGP season will begin on January 17 in Perth, Australia, and feature a record 13 teams.
It will look to capitalize commercially on a year where SailGP added several prominent sponsors, most notably, title partner Rolex, which will engage in the second of its 10-year sponsorship commitment.
Thompson continued: “As SailGP enters our next era, we are enormously grateful for our growing family of partners and teams. Together, we’re reimagining the sport and sponsorship landscape, demonstrating SailGP’s growing influence and relevance worldwide, and we have plans to continue to scale for the next years and beyond.”
Most recently, SailGP renewed its commercial deal with mineral wool products firm Rockwool through 2032.
In terms of other recent SailGP commercial activity, Hongqi, a Chinese luxury vehicle brand, was unveiled as a partner of the 2025 Grand Final in Abu Dhabi, which took place on November 29 and 30.
