Follow the Money: Early Xmas

Bailing buckets and wheelbarrows of it! The America’s Cup Management (ACM) organization, overseers of the business side of these match races, has announced they will share the “surplus funds” generated by America’s Cup 32 about SIX MONTHS EARLIER than anticipated and required to do so. Heard from the Challengers: “Hip, Hip, Hurrah! Hip, Hip, Hurrah, Ernesto! You go, guy!”

ACM raked in E$240,000,000 (that's in valuable Euros, not lowly US dollars at today's $1.3865/Euro), prior to this year’s Cup Defense. They ended up with E$66,500,000 (Euros) above and beyond their expenses (a net surplus distribution), a total of 90 per cent of which has now been sent out, half (45%) to the winning Alinghi team and 45% to the challenger team participants in the 32nd America’s Cup match held in July this year. The ACM retains 10% for itself. (And we thought they worked as volunteers, for the prestige of serving this exciting, global contest.)

The money was collected over four years by ACM from:

The City Bid process (Valencia, Spain)
Television rights
Hospitality
Concessions
Marina/moorings

The Challenger distribution formula netted losing-challenger Emirates Team New Zealand a mere E$9,000,000 and the other challengers over E$1,000,000 each. (Team Alinghi received E$26,932,500 (Euros; $37,341,911.30 US dollars), which should just about pay the bar bills (or protein-drink tab) for the crew, with a few bucks left over for their foul-weather gear, gloves, deck shoes and bar bells, maybe even a few Euros for customized Swiss Army knives, with Alinghi logos, for any out-of-country and neglected family members this past four years, as well. (P.S.: Your blogster takes no responsibility for the math here.... Some numbers may vary accordingly and are subject to updates!

In a stroke of GOOD FORTUNE (literally) for America’s Cup 33 Challengers, ACM decided to share the surplus right now, instead of waiting until March 2008. The theory, they said, is to jumpstart Challenger team efforts, rather than drag out the payments until next year, as specified in Protocol 32.

Alinghi check-writer Ernesto Bertarelli is said to have voiced something about this having been a “fantastic sporting event” with a viable “commercial business model” comparable to other global sporting blah, blah, blah. No one enters this race for the money…but so far, no one has turned it back in!