Supplied Content
Wellington, March 29, 2022
Ireland has dropped its bid to host the next America’s Cup.
It leaves Spain as the favoured venue with both Barcelona and Malaga in the running to host the 2024 event with a venue announcement due by 31 March.
Jeddah in Saudi Arabia is the other contender.
The Irish Examiner reported the Cork withdrawal quoting a statement from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.
It said that while Cork harbour would be a ‘great venue’ for the event, the necessary infrastructure and planning arrangements would not be in place in time and the decision had been made ‘not to proceed further in the bidding process.’
A technical team visited Cork City earlier in the year to assess a number of sites as part of the state’s due diligence process on the bid to host the 2024 yacht race.
High and formidable expectations
“An event of the calibre of America’s Cup brings with it an expectation of excellent delivery; the tight timeframe available prior to the 37th edition of the Cup brought with it a large risk of under-delivery,” a press note read.
The government said that it recognises the positives that America’s Cup would have brought to Cork in terms of tourism, but a ‘very considerable amount of expenditure’ would have been required to deliver the event.
The Irish Examiner stated it would have cost up to $90 million for the right to host the race and on TV rights, but a cost-benefit analysis has shown that the event could have been worth an estimated $900 million to the economy.
Team New Zealand’s choice
Spanish media are reporting that Team New Zealand has chosen Barcelona as the next host of America’s Cup with Catalan business minister, Roger Torrent, telling Catalunya Radio that they had reached a deal with Team New Zealand.
Barcelona hosted the 1992 Olympics in which the Sailing events were held alongside the coastal capital of Spain’s Catalonia region.
Cronica Global said that the City had secured the Cup with $110 million from the Catalan government and Barcelona City Council.
Spain has previously hosted America’s Cup in 2007 with Valencia as the venue.
-Published under a Special Agreement with www.rnz.co.nz
