Three years ago, the Kiwis combined the 35 million New Zealand dollars from the local government with another 10 million collected from sponsors and TV rights. The total turnover was therefore NZ$45 million (just under 26 million euros), while on the cost side 15 million was spent on TV production alone. There are no official figures on how much Barcelona paid to host the event, but the Catalan capital won out over Jeddah. The return to Europe allowed for the re-establishment of the historic association with Louis Vuitton, which once again became title partner of the event.
In addition, other global partners such as Coca Cola, Unicredit, Capgemini have arrived, attracted by the Mediterranean location. Finally, the finally favourable time zone will affect the collection of television rights (in Italy the Cup will be broadcast on Sky and Mediaset). It starts on 22 August with the preliminary regattas, then from the 29th the challenge between the five challengers, the British of Ineos, the Italians of Luna Rossa, the Swiss of Alinghi, the Americans of American Magic and the French of Orient Express: semifinals from 14 September and final from the 26th. The America's Cup proper - i.e. the challenge between New Zealand and the winner of the regattas among the underdogs - will be awarded from 12 October at the best of seven races out of thirteen. Prior to that, the women's and youth titles will also be awarded.
In the current campaign Luna Rossa has no role in the organisation of the event, whereas in the last one it was Challenger of Record, i.e. the leader of the challengers. President Patrizio Bertelli's team brings together 143 people, numerous business partners and a wide range of companies that support the union.
The title partners are Prada and Pirelli, the official sponsors Panerai and Unipol Group. Among the many companies involved, those most closely linked to the design, production and components of the AC75 Luna Rossa are Cropelli (mould production), Cmf (forging), Esteco (solutions for engineering optimisation and management of data and simulation processes), Wiit (Cloud Computing), Persico Marine (Nembro shipyard that built the boat), Cariboni (supplier of the hydraulic systems), Gottifredi and Maffioli (ropes and scottame), Campagnolo (components for racing bicycles, since the energy on board will be produced by pedalling), Wrs (wind domes), Re Fraschini (composite materials and metal).
Other Italian companies contribute to the challenge through solutions, programmes, supplies or means that facilitate the work of the team and its guests, enhance the athletes' performance or protect them during regattas. The category includes Cantiere del Pardo (supplier of hospitality boats), Technogym, Cetilar (nutritional supplements and medical devices for athletes), Dainese (technical equipment and protection), I-Pergola (solar panels 4.0), Ferrari Trento (bubbles and wine), Cadland (Plm solutions and virtual reality), Crs4 (interdisciplinary research centre). In short, a challenge under the banner of Made in Italy.
