Melissa Lawton joins the sailing competition from Meta

SailGP

SailGP has revealed its broadcast plans for season three.

Sky Sports will continue to show the competition in the UK, but it is joined by a new pan-regional highlights deal with Eurosport. IMG facilitated all new broadcast deals for SailGP as its global agency for media rights, sponsorship and host venue rights.

Meanwhile, the international sailing series will be aired by CBS Sports in the United States, Foxtel and Kayo Sports in Australia, Canal+ in France, JSports in Japan, Sky Sports in New Zealand, RTVE and TV3 in Spain and TV2 Sport in Denmark. These regular broadcasters are joined by newcomers TSN and RDS in Canada and Blue in Switzerland - after both nations entered teams in the league.

Other new deals include Bein Sports in Turkey and across South East Asia and a pan Asian deal with Eclat. Eleven Sports picks it up in Italy, with Sky Sports Italia still showing selected events live. Sport24 in Portugal will also carry the next two seasons of the championship. 

Coverage is also available globally through the SailGP app, YouTube, and Facebook. Oracle Insights will continue to deliver real-time data to broadcast partners.

SailGP chief commercial officer Andrew Thompson said: “It’s a fantastic achievement that in just its third season SailGP is forging lasting partnerships with some of the biggest global names in sports broadcasting. Our championship is a truly global league with fans around the world able to enjoy the most exciting racing on-water live and in full wherever they live.”

Adam Kelly, co-president of media & events at IMG, added: “In its third season, we are proud to help bring SailGP to more viewers than ever through a number of new broadcast deals signed in key international territories with Eurosport, TSN, RDS and Bein Sports. SailGP is a thrilling spectacle to watch and this weekend fans around the world will be transported to Bermuda as top global broadcasters bring the intense, high-speed action to life.”

SailGP has also appointed Melissa Lawton as its chief content officer. Lawton previously handled sport production for Meta, and will now lead SailGP’s global production strategy. This ranges from live broadcast production and host broadcast feed to non-live content creation including SailGP’s docu-series Racing on the Edge.

Lawton was at Meta for just over four years, and was previously head of live content for Red Bull TV for five years. Her 20-year career has included working on events such as the Beijing and Sydney Olympics, FIFA World Cup in Korea/Japan, and Commonwealth Games in India.

Lawton said: “I’m proud to be joining the impressive and exciting journey of one of the world’s fastest-growing sports properties and look forward to working with all of our broadcast partners to provide their audiences with compelling and unique content as SailGP enters Season 3.”

The first SailGP Grand Prix of 2022 begins in Bermuda from 14 May.