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Fortune
Fortune
Diane Brady

Upstart sports leagues fail constantly. SailGP is beating the odds

(Credit: Courtesy of U.S. SailGP)
  • In today’s CEO Daily: A ‘sustainable’ sailing league takes off.
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Good morning. Building a sports league is tough. The XFL failed twice. The Alliance of American Football folded after eight weeks. LIV Golf filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this month, burning through $5 billion without ever turning a profit. So when Oracle chairman Larry Ellison and champion yachtsman Russell Coutts set out seven years ago to turn high-speed sailing into “the world’s most sustainable and purpose-driven global sports and entertainment league,” skepticism was high. But SailGP has crossed $200 million in revenue and seen team valuations grow 10x to $70 million in the past five years as investors and brands start to gravitate to what’s been called F1 on the water.

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