ESPN first covered the America’s Cup in the 1980s during the boom of cable TV – now, four decades later, the America’s Cup is available to stream on ESPN+, ESPN’s first-ever direct-to-consumer streaming service.
In the 1980s, the America’s Cup captured global fascination, especially after Australia ended the U.S.’s 132-year winning streak in 1983. ESPN, as an upstart cable channel, saw an opportunity to bring this international spectacle to passionate sports fans through new television technology like wireless cameras from miles offshore.
“This was the first real test, the first event that really was done without wired cameras,” said ESPN Vice President, Production Jamie Reynolds, who previously oversaw Event Production for the America’s Cup and is an avid sailor himself.
The whole concept with the new technology was fraught with peril – you just didn’t know whether this could actually be successful.
— ESPN VP, Production, Jamie Reynolds recalling ESPN’s 1987 America’s Cup coverage
For the first time, all onboard cameras on the racing boats, the yachts, the chase boats, and the helicopters were RF technology and were coming from eight miles out in the Indian Ocean, along a 24-mile course off the coast of Western Australia.
“The whole concept with the new technology was fraught with peril – you just didn’t know whether this could actually be successful,” said Reynolds.
Covering the America’s Cup in this pioneering way was a valuable learning experience for ESPN in delivering niche sports programming. It helped drive interest in the network and proved it could provide content that fans couldn’t get on broadcast television.
ESPN's America's Cup coverage from Australia was iconic. (Geoffrey Mason/ESPN Images)
(L-R) ESPN commentator Jim Kelly, executive Jed Drake, commentator Gary Jobson and executive Peter Isler prep for the 1992 America's Cup (ESPN Images)
Television star David Letterman sent ESPN a congratulatory telegram about its 1987 America's Cup coverage. (ESPN Images)“The parallel is uncanny when you really think about it. Cable was still this alternative to network television – the only place that you were going to find these kinds of outliers,” said Reynolds. “That awareness drove a lot of attention – maybe ESPN could change the marketplace, could start doing what we claimed we could always do: serve sports fans anytime, anywhere.”
Now, in 2024 for the racing off the coast of Barcelona, Spain, the parallel found in streaming it on ESPN+ allows even more expansive distribution of the America’s Cup to American audiences.
“Despite frequent schedule changing, we are able to distribute content like this thanks to the flexibility that ESPN+ and streaming allow with scheduling concurrent events,” said John Lasker, SVP, ESPN+. “America’s Cup’s heavy dependence on variable weather conditions makes streaming the perfect place to distribute, allowing flexibility for delays, shortened or extended races based on wind, rain and more.”
Programming Update: All @americascup Match Final races will air live on ESPNEWS in addition to @ESPNPlus#AC37 https://t.co/8OCpdIxg7E
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) October 15, 2024
ESPN’s distribution strategy has evolved in the same way the sport has radically evolved from what the yachting industry called a “Corinthian” approach to an ultra-high-tech competition with foiling monohulls operating like aircraft.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup Match Final streams exclusively on ESPN+ in the U.S. through Monday, Oct. 21. For more information, visit ESPN Press Room
Front Row: David Letterman’s telegram praising ESPN’s 1987 America’s Cup coverage
