Broadcaster takes sailing competition free-to-air in the UK

SailGP 2023

SailGP has agreed a free-to-air broadcast deal with ITV, replacing Sky Sports.

The sailing competition’s 2023 season will be shown in its entirety on the ITVX streaming service, with more coverage on ITV1 and ITV4. ITV1 will air the France Grand Prix live and highlights of the San Francisco Grand Final, while ITV4 will have highlights of the Chicago, Los Angeles, Sydney, Auckland and Canada events.

ITVX will also be home to SailGP’s behind-the-scenes series Racing On The Edge.

In addition, ITV and SailGP will together on sustainability goals, with the sailing competition aiming for a 55% of its carbon footprint by 2025 and the broadcaster ranked in the top 2% of companies worldwide by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). SailGP is the first sport to disclose its carbon strategy to CDP.

SailGP global head of broadcast and media Tom Gracey said: “We’re thrilled to be working with the team at ITV to bring SailGP to more UK fans than ever across their linear and digital suite of channels, with Sir Ben Ainslie, Hannah Mills and the Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team taking on the world’s best. ITV are renowned at bringing the biggest sporting moments to audiences across the country and we’re excited to be part of their premium sports output for Season 4.

“We’re looking forward to continuing to re-imagine the sport of sailing and building on our significant growth trajectory through an integrated partnership with ITV, although rumors of Sir Ben [Ainslie] entering the Jungle are entirely premature.”

Gracey joined SailGP earlier this year from the W Series, when the company restructured to create separate business units for commercial, marketing, events, technology and strategy; broadcast and content; and boat building, design and applied technologies.

Niall Sloane, ITV director of Sport, said: “We hope viewers will enjoy being able to watch, live and free to air, one of the most exciting and glamorous events in sailing.  With live coverage across 18 days throughout the season, coming from fantastic locations across the world, available on ITVX as well as highlights on ITV4 and ITV1, there is an opportunity for our audiences to engage with all the action and we’re delighted to be partnering with SailGP to bring viewers each event, starting this Friday in Chicago.”