Signing of America's Cup Partnership signals new era of "mutual governance"

In a landmark moment for the sport of sailing, the America’s Cup has entered a new era of mutual governance. The Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand and the Challenger of Record, Britain's Athena Racing, have officially agreed on the terms for the formation of the America's Cup Partnership, having worked through the final points in New York earlier this week.

The historic agreement marks the first time in the event’s 174-year history that competing teams have united under a shared governance and commercial structure to more permanently manage the competitions, share economics and maximise engagement. The Partnership will serve as a centralised consortium function for the competing teams and ensure the "effective conduct" of the events in line with The Deed of Gift and the Louis Vuitton 38th America's Cup Protocol.

The Partnership will be driven by a new governance board that will establish an independent management team focused on long-term investment in the event, alongside the continued development and innovation of the America's Cup competitors. Each team will have a seat on the new board.

"For the first time, teams are uniting not just as rivals on the water, but as shared stakeholders in its future," said Athena Racing CEO and team principal Sir Ben Ainslie. "It marks the start of an exciting new era, not just for the teams, but for fans, partners and the sport of sailing."

"There is a huge amount of unrealised valuable IP and commercial value that is tied up in the technology of the teams as well as the event," explained Emirates Team New Zealand CEO Grant Dalton. "As other highly successful sports over the past decade have demonstrated, we believe that by partnering with our fellow teams to establish a more permanent governance and commercial organisation, we will collectively realise the incredible global growth and popularity that the America’s Cup and its fans deserve."

He added that fans should also expect "more racing, innovative formats, more continuity in the teams, and even more competitive action" in future editions.

Entries for the Louis Vuitton 38th America’s Cup, to be held in Naples, Italy, will close on 31 October 2025.