potrero view

January 2012

City Hopes America’s Cup Runneth Over

Keith Burbank

Older than the modern-day Olympics, and the hardest competition to win in international sports, the City is hosting the 34th America’s Cup, a series of sailing races, in 2012 and 2013, culminating in a race finale, September 7 to 22, 2013.  The event will also include a youth racing series.  A portion of the competition is being staged in Bayview, and the City hopes to direct tourists to Southside neighborhoods to dine and shop.   

According to Jane Sullivan, America’s Cup communications director for the Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD) – which is responsible for coordinating the City’s race-related efforts – her office is focusing on “how do the benefits go across all the City.  Because the race is only two hours each day, and not every day.  How do we get people to shop, eat at restaurants, and visit the cultural attractions over all of the City while they are here?” Sullivan asked.  “We’re looking at how to make this a unique San Francisco experience for tourists and visitors.  For example, there is the locally-made product district in Dogpatch.”

In addition to attracting tourist dollars, Oracle Racing has renovated Pier 80, and in 2012, “it appears all of the team bases will be at Pier 80.  Oracle will remain at Pier 80 in 2013, while the other team bases will move to Piers 30 and 32,” said Sullivan.  “Each team will have its own pit, similar to automobile racing pits, at the piers, and the pits will be open to the public.”

The City expects the America Cup’s to bring in $1.4 billion of tourism, race team, sponsor, and spectator spending, and create 8,800 construction, hospitality, food and beverage, transportation, and entertainment industry jobs.  Racing teams – between 100 and 200 people – will need transportation and housing while they’re in San Francisco.  Team members with children will place them in local schools.   “A good portion of the entertainers will be local,” Sullivan added.  In San Diego, where preliminary races were recently held, the event included a battle-of-the-bands, made up of local groups.

The 34th America’s Cup will be different from previous competitions.  In the past, the race has been held in the ocean; the only way to view it was from a spectator boat.  A World Series race held near Plymouth, England earlier this year marked the first time international sailing teams could hear people cheering for them from land.  In San Francisco, the competition will be held close enough to shore to enable spectators to watch from the northern waterfront.  Races will be conducted in an area roughly defined by the City’s northern edge, the Golden Gate Bridge, Angel Island, and the Bay Bridge.

The City expects the competition to draw just under 300,000 tourists a day in 2013, on a peak day, excluding those on boats in the Bay.  According to Sullivan, the estimate is an average for all the tourist sites, including Crissy Field.  In comparison, the City anticipates that 120,000 people will visit daily during two World Series sailing events to be held in August, 2012.  The World Series races are regattas held around the world – recently in Cascais, Portugal – which prepare sailors to compete in the Luis Vuitton Cup, and, if they’re successful, to participate in the America’s Cup finals.

The America’s Cup Event Authority, one of four groups overseeing the race, has established a website, AC Connect, devoted to the competition.  Announcements about contracting opportunities for small businesses will be posted on the site, and a portion of it is devoted to highlighting local business services.  Businesses registering on the portal will be vetted to see how well they fit into the local economy and environment.  “If a business is hiring local citizens,” Sullivan said, “then it’s not paying a lot for transportation costs, which is considered a sustainable practice.”   According to Stephanie Martin, America’s Cup Event Authority’s chief communications officer, information provided by businesses to the Event Authority will be destroyed once the race is over.  “People’s information will not be given or sold to anyone,” she said.

“AC Connect is live,” said Martin.  “We are accepting applications into the website, then we’ll start to use it as a resource once the CEQA [California Environmental Quality Act] process is complete and we have work to move forward on.”  The race’s CEQA report is expected to be certified by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors this month. “Also, the City is encouraging businesses to hire from the local population…this America’s Cup race [may] be engaging a new audience.  The race is trying to attract a younger demographic,” Sullivan added.  

The City hopes to host the race in an environmentally and fiscally responsible manner.  To that end, the America’s Cup Organizing Committee is working to raise just under $40 million to pay for race expenses.  Thirty-two million dollars will pay for CEQA review, public safety activities, transportation costs, and City overhead.  Roughly $8 million will be dedicated to financing costs, utilities, and the committee’s operating expenses.  Kyri McClellan, the America’s Cup Organizing Committee’s chief executive officer, wouldn’t say how much has been raised so far, but indicated that it has been pleasantly surprised by donors’ generosity, and is on target to meet its goal of $12 million by the end of this month.

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