International sailing series SailGP has unveiled its ambitious growth plans to transform the championship and significantly expand the number of teams that compete and events it stages by 2030.
The SailGP 2030 roadmap sets out the next five years for the championship as it looks to become one of the world’s leading sports and entertainment properties by the end of the decade.
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Key to its strategy is expanding the league from its current 13 national teams that race across 13 events each year to 20 teams and 20 events per season to increase its global audience.
Launched by American billionaire Larry Ellison and world champion yachtsman Sir Russell Coutts in 2018, SailGP is now one of the fastest-growing sports properties that combines classic sports action with technology and iconic waterfront event hosts.
The 2025 season was watched by a cumulative audience of 215 million, with the league aiming to increase its reach to 30 million viewers per event by 2030. To do this, the league will look to increase its visibility in established markets and expand into new territories, including China, Japan, South Korea, India, and Mexico.
Commenting on the plan, Coutts said that after spending its first five years building the championship’s foundations, the league is now ready for its next growth phase.
He said: “When Larry Ellison and I founded SailGP in 2018, our goal was to redefine the way the sport of sailing is viewed, perceived and experienced: inspiring the next generation through a first-of-its-kind championship for the top professional athletes in the sport, competing on equal terms, in the world’s most iconic destinations.
“Our first five years were about building strong foundations, creating an exceptional, fan-centric sporting product, testing what works and learning.
“Now we move into a different phase, one that’s defined by audience growth, consistency and scale. We have a product that can stand shoulder to shoulder with the world’s leading sports championships in terms of its appeal as a sports and entertainment property, and the next five years are about making sure the world’s sports fans, cities and brands know it.”
The launch of the roadmap comes a month after SailGP completed its goal to sell off its entire inventory of teams to private investors after securing US firm MSP Sports Capital as the new owners of the New Zealand SailGP Team.
The deal completed SailGP’s goal, set when it launched in 2019 with an initial six teams: to transition to a model where teams are privately owned within five years. The league has since grown to 13 teams, with all now sold off.
In April, the Quantum Pacific sports investment group became the latest to acquire the Spanish SailGP team, known as the Los Gallos SailGP Team for sponsorship purposes.
Earlier this year, Bolt Ventures, the family office of prominent US sports franchise owner David Blitzer (and a co-investor in Tech3 alongside Ikon), and wealth management fund Blue Pool Capital invested in the German SailGP Team.
Doug DeVos, the US businessman who co-founded the American Magic sailing organization, acquired the Denmark SailGP team in a record $60 million transaction a week later.
Last year, the French team from the sailing series completed its ownership group by selling a final stake to US private equity firm Ares Management. Ares, through its sports, media, and entertainment fund, has led the acquisition of the final 25% stake in SailGP’s French team, with Sportsology Capital Partners also joining.
June also saw the Australian team bought up by iconic actors Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman.
Meanwhile, the Italy SailGP team was acquired in late May by a consortium featuring both international celebrities and experienced sports industry investors.
All existing teams renewed their participation agreements with SailGP for the 2026-2030 cycle.
The league, meanwhile, has grown significantly since its launch with only six teams in 2019: The US, Great Britain, Australia, Japan, China, and France.
The league increased to eight teams for its second season with the addition of Spain, New Zealand, and Rockwool Den after the loss of China, while its third season saw the addition of the Canada and Switzerland teams, but the loss of Japan
The fourth season (2024) included a new German team, and the fifth season (2025) brought in teams from Italy and Brazil, taking the tally of teams to 12.
SailGP launched a tender last year to bring two more expansion teams into the fold for the current 2026 season, with the Artemis SailGP Team (Sweden) eventually joining as the sole entrant.
Speaking to Sportcal (GlobalData Sport) previously about what the league is looking for from potential ownership partners, SailGP's chief revenue officer Ben Johnson said: “… independent ownership makes the league stronger, bringing not only capital but strategic insights and partnership, alongside reach in key markets … We’re looking for partners who share our vision, and who are passionate about shaping the future alongside us."
He added that the bidding process "is about providing a structured, robust pathway into SailGP, leveraging significant commercial interest to engage with a variety of investors across global markets."
Meanwhile, SailGP has also renewed its partnership with marine consultancy and survey company ABPmer through the 2028 season, with the company to continue to serve as the championship’s official tidal modelling supplier.
Under the agreement, ABPmer will continue to provide high-resolution tidal and current data to SailGP teams at venues where tides are the primary driver of surface currents to help support race-day strategy.
The renewal builds on the pair’s original agreement, signed in 2021, which has seen it deliver race-day current data at 10-minute intervals for events in Hong Kong (SAR), Perth (Australia), Halifax (Canada), and Portsmouth (UK), as well as San Francisco and New York (US).
Alex Reid, SailGP’s director of performance engineering, said: “Precise tidal data is critical from both a sailing and race management standpoint. A significant number of the calculations carried out on the F50s, spanning wind analysis, performance, navigation, and control systems, all depend on it.
“The quality of data that ABPmer has delivered has been a genuine step forward, particularly given their capability to model complex flow scenarios. That translates directly into measurable gains on the F50 and across the broader SailGP ecosystem.”
The current 2026 SailGP season began on January 17 and 18 in Australia and continues with the Great Britain Sail Grand Prix running on July 25 and 26.
