The America's Cup is scheduled to start in October '99
in New Zealand, but William Donovan of the PROVIDENCE
JOURNAL wrote that a "money race among the six United States
challengers has been under way since the last event ended in
1995." It will cost an estimated $20M to compete in the
2000 America's Cup, "and even that may not be enough."
Young America, the N.Y. Yacht Club's challenger, "has
already raised that amount and still needs more," according
to Young America Senior VP/Development Lydia Langston. Of
the $20M Young America has taken in, about $13M has been
from private parties and $7M from corporations. Langston
said she expects about $15M of the expected $40M total to
come from corporate sponsors. But many observers connected
with the America's Cup have said that U.S. syndicates "are
having trouble securing corporate commitments for the 2000
race." The issues include "a lack of permanent
infrastructure in professional sailing to which corporate
backers can connect, competition from other marketing
opportunities such as the 2000 Olympics, and turmoil in
global money markets." The syndicates "concede that the
corporate commitments have come slowly, but they argue that
advertisers are waiting to see which syndicates will emerge
as the leaders" (PROVIDENCE JOURNAL, 9/27).
