Global sail-racing league SailGP has extended its partnership with French broadcaster Canal+.
Canal+, which has been broadcasting SailGP since the championship’s inception, has renewed its exclusive broadcasting rights for a further five seasons.
Under terms of the new agreement, Canal+ channels will broadcast all 12 Sail Grand Prixes in Season 4, resulting in three hours of live coverage over two days of each grand prix weekend.
Season 4 kicks off on 16th and 17th June in Chicago at Navy Pier. Saint-Tropez will host the first Sail Grand Prix of the SailGP Season 4 European tour on the 9th and 10th September.
“Canal+ is the perfect partner for SailGP with its industry-leading portfolio of sports programming, so this extension will only help as we continue to bring adrenaline-fueled racing to new and existing French fans.”
TOM GRACEY, SAILGP
Thomas Sénécal, Director of Sports, CANAL+ Group, said, “We are delighted to be extending the SailGP adventure on the Canal+ Group channels. These events offer our subscribers a thrilling experience: spectacular, tactical and full of twists and turns, they are a perfect match for other competitions that we broadcast.
“SailGP’s catamarans are fascinating machines, and team spirit is vital to shine, as France SailGP Team recently showed. For all these reasons, we’re proud to be able to offer this fantastic show on our channels for the next five years.”
Tom Gracey, Global Head of Broadcast and Media Partnerships in SailGP, added, “It’s fantastic news for SailGP to be able to extend its relationship with Canal+ for the next five seasons. Canal+ has been with us since the start of SailGP and we’re proud of how the existing partnership has developed. It’s a real show of faith to have a partner like Canal+ renew the relationship for this period of time.
The French market is hugely important to SailGP, with an event in Saint-Tropez and the ever-improving France SailGP Team led by Delapierre. Canal+ is the perfect partner for SailGP with its industry-leading portfolio of sports programming, so this extension will only help as we continue to bring adrenaline-fueled racing to new and existing French fans.”
The progress made by Quentin Delapierre’s France SailGP Team in Season 3 and the success of the France Sail Grand Prix in Saint-Tropez contributed to the overall increase in the SailGP audience worldwide, with 117 million viewers for Season 3, 183% more than Season 2.
The deal follows a flurry of commercial activity for SailGP ahead of its expanded Season schedule commencing. Last week it announced a new partnership with the Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Investment Company.
