World Sailing becomes the latest international federation to join the GSI Event Studies Programme

Sportcal will conduct GSI Event Studies across six World Sailing events throughout 2017.

World Sailing, the world governing body for the sport of sailing, has signed a year-long agreement for Sportcal to undertake six GSI Event Studies throughout 2017: 

The World Sailing World Cup Series first began in 2008 and features the same boat classes that compete at the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The shortened 2017 season includes rounds in Miami and Hyères before the final takes place in Santander from 4-11 June. The sailing calendar will then switch so that the competition will run from October to July each season, incorporating three rounds prior to a European final.

World Sailing is keen to understand the broader impacts, and in particular the tourism impact, of their events and conferences on an annual basis. The GSI Event Studies Programme will provide a better understanding of the overall impact of these events, both for World Sailing and for potential future event hosts.

World Sailing CEO Andy Hunt commented: "After the success of Rio 2016 last year, we are now aiming to develop a sustainable, long term strategy for our Sailing World Cup series that supports and drives our commercial and sponsorship activities. Sportcal’s GSI Event Studies Programme will enable us to capture and communicate the impact these events have and deliver real benefits to venues all over the world, encouraging more cities to bid for our events in the future."

Sportcal will work in collaboration with key stakeholders involved in staging the events, including World Sailing; event organisers; host cities; government authorities; sponsors; broadcasters and any third party organisations to gather, assimilate, analyse and compare the data and narrative around each of these events.

Mike Laflin, CEO and Founder of Sportcal and the GSI Project, stated:

 "We are delighted to be working with World Sailing to help them understand the true impact of their major events during 2017. These studies will help show how sailing delivers a broad range of holistic impacts, including sports tourism, which have potential benefits for host cities and nations in the future." 

All elements of the World Sailing World Cup Series and the Youth Sailing World Championships will be analysed through the GSI Event Studies Programme, including; economic impact, tourism, media, social media, sponsorship, social engagement, education and cultural programmes, plus key data comparisons against similar events.

Sportcal, the world's leading provider of sports market intelligence, will conduct the studies as part of the GSI Event Studies Programme which runs from 2017 through to 2020. 

GSI Event Studies Programme 2017-2020:

Sportcal is embarking upon a four-year programme during the 2017-2020 Olympic cycle, which will bring federations, rights owners, host cities, governments and key stakeholders together to work with Sportcal and engage in the GSI Project.    

The programme will involve the development of annual studies from a diverse range of sports and events, to help event owners and hosts understand the true impact of their events across a wide range of sectors, and to support them in the further development of their event strategies.

For further information about the GSI Project and how to join the GSI Event Studies Programme, contact gsi@sportcal.com or call +44 (0) 20 8944 8786