SailGP is the annual global inshore stadium racing championship contested by nations and featuring sailing’s top athletes. In its inaugural year, the eSailGP series attracted over 146,000 players and 753,000 views. In 2020 it launched the eSailGP Championship, giving fans the chance to virtually pilot the world’s fastest sail race boats. The overall winner of the championship gained a place in the eSailing World Championship Final. They subsequently engaged Strive to help broaden their esports and gaming thinking and look to what else they might do.

SailGP: scope of work

  1. Deliver a workshop to help the C-Suite understand the:
    1. Difference between esports and gaming
    2. Esports competitive landscape and wider ecosystem
    3. Esports audience
    4. Esports revenue
    5. Sports commercial approach to esports
    6. Esports’ commercial challenges
    7. Global esports trends
  2. Develop a clear understanding of SailGP’s objectives and current, and target, audiences
  3. Recommend potential routes to explore around simulators, gaming, and esports propositions

Results

The SailGP developed a far clearer understanding of esports and gaming and where the value was. This helped both inform their thinking around what they had done to date as well as internal conversations about additional things they could do in the future. It was agreed that they should look to iterate their eSailGP offering bit by bit and keep a broader watching brief on the wider opportunities.

SailGP client comment

We reached out to our network asking for recommendations of who would be best to help and Strive were strongly endorsed as the agency to speak to. In working with them their expertise at the intersection of sports and esports quickly became apparent, making them the obvious choice to anyone looking for support in this area.

Looking for help with your sports, esports, and/or gaming strategy?

If you’re looking for advice from a sports, esports and gaming agency, Strive Sponsorship can help. Contact us for sponsorship, marketing, commercial, content, media,  investment, and communications consultancy services.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I watch SailGP in the UK?

Live coverage of nine event weekends will be shown on ITVX. All SailGP events will be available across the ITV digital and linear networks, including ITV1, ITV4 and ITVX.

How much does a SailGP boat cost?

SailGP boast are all identical. They are twin-hulled F50 catamarans and cost circa USD $4m.

How fast do the SailGP boats go?

The France Team set the SailGP racing speed record, hitting 99.94 km/h during the third Fleet Race of the France Sail Grand Prix | Saint-Tropez in 2022.