The 2021 America’s Cup regatta suffered another blow with a syndicate from the Netherlands withdrawing their challenge today, citing a lack of time to raise funds for their campaign.

The withdrawal of the DutchSail syndicate from the 36^th America’s Cup presented by Prada follows that of a challenge from Malta in late May.

However, the other late challenger from the Long Beach Yacht Club- Stars + Stripes Team  USA yesterday confirmed their ongoing commitment in a press statement.

The Long Beach Yacht Club Commodore, Camille Daniels said: “Long Beach Yacht Club is committed to making the start line at the first America’s Cup World Series Event in Cagliari, Italy, our membership is excited and we are all working hard to achieve our goal of bringing the America’s Cup to Long Beach”

Mike Buckley, Co-Founder and Skipper of Stars + Stripes USA said, “We appreciate the continued support of LBYC and its membership, and the assistance of Emirates Team New Zealand and the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, over the past few months as we have reorganized our team. We continue to make progress with corporate partners, and believe we will have what it takes to be competitive in Auckland.”

As part of their commitment Stars + Stripes Team USA will have to complete the entry fee payment process before they will be eligible to race. They have already paid their initial payment but as a late entry challenger under the Protocol  they also have a liability to pay a US$1million late entry fee due in instalments by 1 October 2019.

Stars & Stripes were one of three late challengers, along with Malta and the Dutch, for sport’s oldest trophy, but have had to fend off suggestions since April it may withdraw.

Four challenging syndicates — from Britain, Italy and two from the United States — remain in contention to challenge holders Team New Zealand at the 2021 regatta in Auckland.

The photo shows work in progress on the America’s Cup base in Auckland.

When Amazon.com Chief Executive Jeff Bezos was spotted schmoozing in NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s booth during the Super Bowl in February, the media world exploded with anticipation about Amazon’s imminent domination of sports media.

But two years after first dabbling in live sports streaming, Amazon has yet to settle on a strategy as it continues to experiment and analyze consumer behaviour, Marie Donoghue, Vice President of Global Sports Video, told Reuters.

“We’re literally at day one in sports, so we’re learning and experimenting,” Donoghue said in New York this week in her first interview after she took over the sports media division of the world’s largest online retailer last fall.

The arrival of Donoghue, a nearly twenty-year veteran of Walt Disney Co’s ESPN cable network and who was responsible for shows including the ‘30 for 30’ series and ‘OJ: Made in America,’ signalled a new level of seriousness to Amazon’s pursuit of live sports.

While the real impact of her arrival remains to be seen, that hasn’t stopped chatter of a big tech takeover of live sports as Amazon, Facebook Inc, Twitter Inc, and Alphabet Inc’s YouTube’s threaten to loosen TV’s grip on one of the last remaining reasons to pay for live television.

Tech companies and start-up digital platforms – like DAZN, which in October agreed to pay boxing champion Canelo Alvarez a minimum of $365 million for five years, the richest contract in sports history – are also seen driving up the cost of media rights when major contracts start coming up for renewal in 2021.

Will Amazon lead the pack in pursuing streaming rights for live sports? “We don’t talk about specific rights … as a matter of course, but also because we’re just not sure yet,” Donoghue said.

Since 2017, Amazon has snapped up digital rights to some of England’s Premier League soccer matches, U.S. Open Tennis Championships in the UK and three seasons of Thursday Night Football, among others.

Donoghue said the current focus is on how to enable Amazon Prime subscribers to control nearly every component of their viewing experience, including how, when and where they watch.

As a streaming service, “we don’t have to serve the same content in the same way to everybody,” she said.

To figure out which sports products are successful and what to offer next, Amazon is analyzing market research and its own viewership data, as well as consumers’ use of its X-Ray tool for digging into details about shows.

It also co-streams Thursday Night Football on its Twitch video game streaming platform, which has an interactive extension that lets viewers predict game developments, including who they think will win.

“We’re watching all of that,” Donoghue said. “We want to use live sports to drive value for Prime customers.”

U.S. network Fox Sports hit a peak of 8.24 million TV viewers for Friday’s FIFA Women’s World Cup quarterfinal between Team USA and France.

The Americans’ 2-1 victory was the most-watched soccer match on English-language U.S. television since last summer’s Men’s World Cup final.

The audience was up 7 percent from the U.S.-China quarterfinal in 2015, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

On Fox OTT, the match drew an average minute audience of 211,000, making it the most-streamed Women’s World Cup match of all time in the U.S.

Across Fox’s digital and social media platforms, World Cup content drew 13 million views and the FIFA Women’s World Cup Now live feed on Twitter posted 1.05 million viewers, more than double the previous record.

In the UK, England’s 3-0 quarterfinal win against Norway drew a record-breaking 7.6 million viewers on BBC, the third time the Lionesses have broken viewing records in as many weeks.

Prior to this summer, the record TV audience for women’s soccer in the U.K. had been the four million who watched England face the Netherlands in the Euro 2017 semi-finals.

BBC said total viewership for the 2019 tournament has already surpassed 22.2 million, well in excess of the 12.4 million record set in 2015 during the Women’s World Cup in Canada.

Audiences have also been high in France, Germany (beaten in the quarter-finals), France and other markets. Read more here.

Clipper Round the World Yacht Race has today revealed two British brands that will be partnering with its 2019-20 edition.

WTC Logistics will be making its debut as Logistics Partner with a Team entry too, and ChartCo is returning as Official Supplier and in doing so, has extended the partnership into its second decade.

WTC Logistics, which has offices across the UK, USA and China, is a forward-thinking Import and Export Consolidator and Full-Load Carrier, who operates via air, sea and road.

It has been announced that its team entry, WTC Logistics, will be led by British Skipper Mark Burkes.

On leading the WTC Logistics team, Mark said,  “I am very excited to work with WTC Logistics, a Team Partner whose business is all about making things happen all over the world. I can’t wait to see our boat be branded. It’s going to look fantastic and the crew will be proud to represent WTC Logistics as we race around the globe.”

For its inaugural campaign with the Clipper Race, WTC Logistics will ensure that the four containers, packed with supplies, tools, and equipment, reach each of the stopovers ahead of the fleet’s arrival.

A race in itself, the year-long movement of containers to destinations in six different continents would not be possible without WTC Logistics’ extensive knowledge in project, supply chain management and its hands-on management structure.

Operations Director Anthony Clarke said: “WTC Logistics is very proud to have been chosen as the appointed logistics provider to such an iconic and prestigious event as the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.

“Working with the Clipper Race enables us to showcase our in depth knowledge and expertise as one of the leading project management logistics companies. And it will allow us to utilise our 20 offices and worldwide partners to deliver such a historic race. We are excited with this new challenge in our WTC history and are looking forward to working with the Clipper Race team and global partners in what will be another exciting chapter in the lives of all taking part in this inspiring event. To dream is to do.”

Global forerunner in digital navigation and voyage compliance ChartCo returns for its sixth consecutive edition as Official Nautical Chart Services Supplier.

ChartCo’s market-leading navigation solutions meet the needs of the most demanding navigational passages. During the 11-month 40,000 nautical mile Clipper Race circumnavigation ChartCo will support the eleven strong fleet of Clipper 70s with global paper charts, piloting books and technical publications, as well as experienced compliance services.

Martin Taylor, CEO of ChartCo, on the announcement said: “We’re very excited to continue our role as official supplier in the Clipper 2019-20 Round the World Yacht Race. To partner once again with this fantastic event, where ordinary people take on the extraordinary challenge of sailing around the world. It’s a true test of endurance for participants, and we’re proud to help keep them safe along the way.”

ChartCo strives to help ensure that their users global compliance, navigation, safety and environmental needs are met; Transforming the industry by simplifying life for those onboard.

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Clipper Race Founder and Chairman, said: “Our long standing partnership with ChartCo demonstrates that its industry-leading products and services continue to evolve and meet the demands and development of a global yacht race on the scale such as the Clipper Race.”

WPP Plc said it sold its minority stake in sports, entertainment and communications company Chime, owner of CSM Sport & Entertainment, for £54.4 million pounds as the world’s biggest advertising company looks to sell non-core assets and return to growth.

Reuters reports:

WPP said on Monday it had sold the stake to Chime’s majority shareholder Providence Equity Partners, with the potential for additional pay-out amounts based on the future value of Chime.

WPP did not disclose its stake in Chime, but a Sunday Times report said it is expected to offload 25% of its holding to Providence, which already owns 75%.

WPP said in December that it will invest to hire new creative staff and reduce costs by cutting offices and jobs under a turnaround plan by CEO Mark Read, who replaced founder Martin Sorrell during a period of turmoil in 2018.

WPP also sold post-production services provider The Farm Group to Los Angeles-based Picture Shop earlier this month without disclosing the terms.

WPP has shortlisted a series of U.S. buyout funds to submit binding bids for a majority stake in its data analytics unit Kantar as it wants to finalize the sale in late June, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Italy’s largest commercial broadcaster, Mediaset, is close to signing a deal with Comcast’s SKY Italia to purchase free-to-air broadcasting rights of UEFA Champions League matches for the next two seasons, according to Reuters.

The news agency cited two sources close to the matter, reporting that under the deal, which has yet to be signed, Mediaset will be able to broadcast selected matches of Europe’s top soccer competition on its free-to-air channels, including leading networks Canale 5, Italia Uno and Rete 4.

SKY Italia, which bought UEFA Champions League broadcasting rights for the Italian market, will continue offer its clients all the matches on its pay TV platform.

Selected Champions League matches this past season have been shown on free-TV by public broadcaster RAI and have consistently topped the ratings.