Andy Thompson [#51]: Taking SailGP to an Audience Beyond Sailing

On Today’s Episode, I’m joined by Andy Thompson, Managing Director at SailGP, an international sailing competition, where teams compete across a season of multiple grands prix (GP) around the world in cities like New York, Sydney, San Francisco, and Portsmouth. 

Andy’s career spans the likes of Deloitte, London 2012, and Americas Cup - where he was first introduced to both Sailing and SailGP founders, Larry Ellison and Russell Coutts - who aspired to create a commercially viable sailing series. 

In this conversation we discuss Andy’s journey, as well as the journey of this upstart league, which was only founded in 2019, but now finds itself with 13 races and 12 teams, with owners like Ben Ainsley and Kylian Mbappe and blue-chip sponsors like Emirates, Accor, and Rolex. 

Timestamps

2:00 - Introduction and Early Career

08:00 Founding of SailGP, its Unique Approach and Growth

20:00 - Commercial Strategy and Partnerships

26:00 - Team Ownership, Expansion, and Attracting Kylian Mbappe 

35:00 - Rolex Becoming Title Partner and Partnership Strategy

42:00 - Data and Audience Engagement

45:00 - Future Focus and Consistency

Additional Links

SailGP Names DJ Khaled as Chief Hype Officer 🎤⛵

Connect with Andy T on LinkedIn - ⁠⁠Here⁠⁠ 

Connect with Andy M on LinkedIn - ⁠⁠Here