SailGP’s The Race to Abu Dhabi broadcast on Sunday, November 23 drew an all-time high 3.469 million viewers (Nielsen) – the most-ever for a SailGP broadcast in the U.S. and the most-watched sailing race in history in the country, surpassing the previous high (3.266 million) from the 1992 America’s Cup on ABC.
Sir Russell Coutts, co-founder and CEO of SailGP, said: “Setting this new U.S. viewership record is an extraordinary milestone for SailGP and a testament to the momentum this league has built both in the United States and around the world. Reaching more than 3.4 million viewers on a national broadcast network underscores what we’ve believed from day one — that high-octane, nation-vs-nation racing has mainstream appeal. As we head into the Grand Final in Abu Dhabi, we’re excited to see so many new fans joining us and can’t wait to further showcase more fantastic racing in what’s proving to be our most successful and competitive season yet.”
The CBS broadcast served as fans’ ultimate guide to the season, spotlighting the world’s best athletes across four continents with one goal in mind – the $2 million prize for becoming season champions. The broadcast featured many of the seasons’ high points – from the U.S. SailGP Team making the podium in Dubai to ROCKWOOL Denmark breaking the SailGP speed record – in addition to the drama of crashes and collapses on the water, and interviews from all event winners and members of the U.S. SailGP Team.
The Mubadala Abu Dhabi Sail Grand Prix 2025 Season Grand Final, presented by Abu Dhabi Sports Council, will take place November 29-30, consisting of two days of 12-boat fleet races, after which an event winner will be crowned and season points tallied in order to determine the top three teams who will advance to the Grand Final – a single, winner-takes-all showdown. The rules are simple, the stakes are sky-high: first across the line claims the title, the glory, and the $2 million prize purse – the largest in the sport.
The top three national teams on the leaderboard – Emirates Great Britain, the Black Foils (New Zealand), the BONDS Flying Roos (Australia) – are all well positioned to make the Grand Final. The outlier to watch is Los Gallos (Spain), who won last year’s title.
The Rolex SailGP Championship, co-founded by Larry Ellison and Sir Russell Coutts in 2018, is an annual global championship in iconic cities around the world, redefining the sport of sailing with its close-to-shore stadium racing. National teams battle it out in identical 50-foot foiling catamarans, racing faster than wind speeds at over 60 miles per hour.
CBS Sports has been home to the global racing championship in the U.S. since 2019, and this season is showing a record 54 hours of coverage across its platforms. The final CBS broadcast of the season will be a Grand Final results show on December 27 from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET.
SAILGP CONTACT | Stuart Lieberman | Head of Communications, Americas | slieberman@sailgp.com