AP Report Says Bermuda Selected For Cup
[Updated] “Bermuda has been picked over San Diego to host the 2017 America’s Cup, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press,” numerous international media outlets are reporting today.
“The person spoke on condition of anonymity because defending champion Oracle Team USA, based in San Francisco, hasn’t made the decision public,” the AP said in their report, which is being carried by numerous media outlets.
“The person said software billionaire Larry Ellison of Oracle Corp. made the decision after consulting with the CEO of his sailing team, Russell Coutts, a New Zealander who also is director of the America’s Cup Event Authority.
“Reached in New Zealand, Coutts declined to confirm the decision, saying he was under a non-disclosure agreement. Members of San Diego’s bid effort, as well as officials with the Port of San Diego, also declined comment, saying they were under a non-disclosure agreement.
The AP report — which refers to us as a “tax haven” — said: “The choice of the British territory is intriguing, from its location at the northern tip of the Bermuda Triangle to the financial incentives that include tax-free status for regatta participants.”
“America’s Cup officials have scheduled a news conference in New York on Dec. 2 to announce the venue selection,” the AP said.
Venue for 2017 America’s Cup to be announced on December 2. Stay tuned!
— America's Cup (@americascup) November 20, 2014
This AP report stating that Bermuda has been selected to host the final stages of the America’s Cup has not been officially confirmed by either local officials or the America’s Cup organisers, however they have previously confirmed that the America’s Cup World Series will be coming to Bermuda in October of 2015, with racing to take place in the Great Sound.
Update Nov 21, 8.36am: Reuters reports, “Organisers of the next America’s Cup regatta will announce their decision on its venue on Dec. 2, challengers Team New Zealand said on Friday, shooting down media reports the holders had decided on Bermuda for the 2017 event.
“We have been invited to a press conference to be held at New York on Dec. 2 when the announcement will be made,” Team New Zealand syndicate head Grant Dalton said in a statement. “Until then it is only media speculation.
“San Diego and Bermuda are the only potential venues left in the race so the media has a 50/50 chance of being right. The team awaits the official announcement and will then assess the situation and closely examine the funding model.”
You can read the full Reuters report here.
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Articles that link to this one:
- San Diego Official: Bermuda Selected For Cup - Bernews.com : Bernews.com | November 22, 2014
- Ainslie: British Team Prefers Bermuda For Cup - Bernews.com : Bernews.com | November 26, 2014
Congrats OBA!!!! Anything is possible when other entities don’t have to factor in the 10% rule!!!!
Yesssssssssss!
This is unbelievable, island changing news.
Well done bid committee, Government and Bermuda.
This is socially, economically and sportingly huge.
This is indeed a huge opportunity, when you think about how many millions are brought into our economy by the combined fishing and sailing events we host each year, you can easily double that with this one event. Add to that the qualifiers next year, this will be a good boost to the economy, now all we have to do is pull it off and next year will be a litmus test for us on it.
Read the original AP article that broke the news,
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SAI_AMERICAS_CUP?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Must say, it definitely kept trying to put Bermuda into a negative light, but then does say it was authored in by a sports writer in the San Diego AP.
Good News.
De last Hurrah for de one term Government.
this is not mug. congrats bermuda.
This is huge for our Island in the Sun!
Well done Team Bermuda!
Thank you Grant Gibbons!
Yes, well done Grant Gibbons indeed.
PLP, I expect your support and congratulations in the morning.
No they will try and disrupt the event. It’s their demise in the 2017 election.
Aaaand there they are the boring political trolls that stink up every comment forum with this tripe.
Congrats Bermuda…..hope all the best.. Let’s make the most of it Bermuda.
Nah these dreary boring people who bring politics into everything. Yes it was secured while the governemnt of the day aka the reigning OBA Polotical Party is in power.
Who gives a rats…..
Let’s celebrate Bermuda.
Bores.
(and I will take the poitical trolls that holler the other way to task too)
Lets just leave the PLP and any negativity out of this news and enjoy it. This is huge for Bermuda. I just pray it’s true. Can’t wait for the official announcement so the planning can begin. Hopefully the money starts to flow and we can get people back to work.
A big thank you to Dr. Grant Gibbons and such a CLASSY Goverment of making this possible!
Nice to see! This will be good for Bermuda both socially and economically and an event like this puts Bermuda on the world stage! Bless up bermy!
good for Bermuda. Now let’s pull together to make this the best host experience ever & show the world that Bermuda can do great things!
How many G5′s can fit at L.F. Wade?
New airport will handle it!!
New airport, hotels, jobs, revenue.
And they STILL vote PLP!!!! Go figure.
This is the Biggest event Bermuda will ever experience! Better then Beyonce TO!!!LMAO!!
OBA Bringing home the bacon!
Thank you OBA for rescuing us from the brink and also giving us this to look forward to now also
Thank you BTA! Global Hue?! LOL!!
This is huge!!
Awesome! Now we ALL need to work together to make this work
Unfreakinbelievable if true! We will see!!! Well done to all who made it possible…SAIL ON!!!!!!
Grant Gibbons, you are the man!! Thanks OBA for bringing back good economic times…thanks PLP for nothing!
Well, to be fair, the plp did bring us the conference of black mayors.
How’s that going?
Thankyou Minister Gibbons, the owners of Morgans Point, the host hotels & everyone else behind the scenes who have worked so hard to make this happen.
We have just under 3 years to get what needs to be done ready. No excuses. No disruptions. Failure is not an option.
Game changer indeed. Let’s see if what the politicians say is true, that they are committed to putting Bermuda first. So far I haven’t seen it but this will be the true test. Well done OBA Government!!!
Of course they put Bermuda first. Quit talking nonsense.
Nice one Bda!!
But I do have to ask where are all the people are going to be housed! 350,000 fans descended on San Francisco for the last America’s Cup! Let’s face it the Island Games pretty much stretched Bermuda to it limits!!! Presumably there is a plan and it would be great to see it!!
I believe they used cruise ships as floating hotels in San Fran to help with the demand of rooms needed. Maybe they will work something like that into the plans!!
That will be an option. Plus the numerous hotels, guest houses and families that will allow visitors to stay with them (for a fee
)combined will be able to handle a large portion of visitors “if” the event does come to Bermuda in 2017…
This is great news for Bermuda and my yacht club,BBIRYC. The members of BBIRYC and I will do all we can to assist these fine yachtsmen when they arrive to take part in this spectacular yachting event. I will personally invite these yachtsmen to be a members of BBIRYC. BBIRYC is a yacht club for the crèm de la crèm of the yachting community.
Care to let us know what planet you live on & where on that planet your boat club might be? Maybe it exists only in your very fertile imagination.
Wonderful news! Let’s please have the transportation , taxis, ferries, buses running to accommodate the number of people who will be coming to our beautiful Island. Let’s show them how organized, helpful and friendly we are. Its a treat opportunity to prove ourselves to be the best hosts in the world!
Chris Furbert needs to go ASAP, he cannot be around for this.
Now, let’s be fair here. I think Chris Furbert will rise to the occasion on this one. He knows how important this is for Bermuda and that we will be on the world stage during this event. Bermuda wins, the union wins.
Better him than some of the other leadership contenders down at the BIU.
If the whole thing is centered around Morgans Point, hotels like HP, SP, Cambridge & Hamilton there will not be the need to rely too heavily on bus drivers with meetings to go to or the moods of taxi drivers.
For the duration water taxis will be the best means of transport. Boats big enough to be comphy in less than perfect weather, small enough to get under Watford, have a decent passenger capacity & fast enough to do Morgans to Hamilton in less than 10 minutes will be in demand.
A great business opportunity for the young business person ready to put in some very long days for the duration of the racing & preparation for the racing.
Check out union tribune, San Diego (the gazette equivalent news there).
It says …Yachts in the America’s Cup have reached speeds north of 50 mph. That’s fast. You know what’s even faster? The bullet this city just dodged…it then goes on to talk about the cost of organising it.
Then compare it to these comments.
Well done Americas Cup, we are glad to have you. You made the right choice.
GREAT NEWS….
now lets roll out a new Horseshoe Bay Beach Facility, Resort Gaming, Entertainment…..just for starters……
EXCITING TIMES…….opportunities, jobs, investment, tourism >>>>>
Wait…. M.P. Burt, M.P. Rabain, or the new M.P. Simmons will be in on the news tomorrow pouring Artic Water over this news as it will now be a SURETY that the O.B.A. will CERTAINLY receive overseas investments, which will led to NEW JOBS to be filled by more than 2,000 locals.
(HINT, HINT …. DID YOU SEE BRO DERRICK ACCUSE THE…… MINISTER OF IMMIGRATION OF SIGNING NON BERMUDIANS WORK PERMITS WHILE GIVING THOSE CIVIL SERVANTS WHO WORK UNDER HIM RECEIVE A FREE PASS OF ALLOWING THOSE ADS AND INDIVIDUALS WITHOUT DEMANDING LOCALS TO HIRE THEIR OWN BERMUDIANS FIRST!?!?!)
No I didn’t where was this reported so I can read too?
Great news but I’ll be interested to hear what ‘we’ had to offer in our bid. Seems like it ended up costing San Francisco money last time and that the America’s Cup organization’s demands for free hotel rooms, etc was at the root of SF withdrawing from another bid.
Fantastic news. My club will be making an official press release soon but safe to say our preperations are well underway. Morgan’s Point will be a hive of activity as we switch into high gear getting ready to welcome such fine atheletes. Even non yachtsmen like Robbie Butters should be smiling with this announcement.
This is a GIANT win for Bermuda on the international stage! Well done to all who have worked so hard to bring this international sporting event to our shores! Let’s do them proud!!!
This is quite a BOLD initiative by the OBA doncha think?
Not quite as bold as mining the sea bed for…..whatever it is the PLP plan to mine. Or online gambling. That would enhance our reputation….because gambling is just great.
It will take more than this to impress me with the oba. Lol.
You’d be more impressed with Playboy bunnies and Beyonce concerts?
But it sure doesn’t take much for the PLP to impress you. Were you impressed with the Grand Atlantic? Were you impressed with the auditor reports on virtually every capital project embarked upon by the PLP?
Sigh….nothing will please you if it’s isn’t for the PLP, Bermuda’s $2Billion dollar political party. Try being happy for Bermuda for once
Naturally.
What will it take?
I’m curious.
You seem to be more of a faith based tourism type of guy.
Cause that worked out so well, well for some connected people at least.
I have no doubt you and the PLP will try and destory this opportunity.
You are only truly progressive in name.
But all it takes to impress you by the PLP would be something like a cheap buffet dinner.
PLP supporters do not expect much from the PLP & they have never been disappointed. On the other hand they expect much more from the OBA than than the solid OBA supporters.
Despite all of the encouraging news this year they are still grumbling. Like children Christmas morning after all thepresents have been opened, they want more, more, more.
having read the actual article it looks more like a smear campaign to favour San Diego’s bid before the official announcement has been made
if that is an AP article it casts Bermuda in a pretty negative light
people should wait for the official announcement before offering platitudes otherwise you may all be eating crow in a week
well I guess the buildup goes way back to Brute Gold Cup series…and the world class sailors that now know the great sound
I wonder how many Bermudians will really benefit from this and how many foreign workers will be brought in.
Obviously the America’s Cup people heard that Jamahl got voted in to #33.
Incidentally, there’ll be loads of parties surrounding this event and this will be a great opportunity for Jamahl to join them all.
One has to resign oneself to the on-slaughter of hate comments even if the PLP were to express their excitement, optimism, commitment and welcome of the America’s Cup successful bid.
But should they (PLP) then negate their political responsibility to ask probing questions on the financial details? Here I am an ordinary Bermudian, but watch the hate comments and importantly, watch carefully, how I will be asked to defend the PLP’s record without being a politician.
I recognise that some are very excited whilst other simply salivate at the prospect of getting work, even temporary work, from this event, but Bermuda has paid a heavy price to bring the event to our shores, if we have secured this event.
San Francisco was ruled out because they refused to give away their ‘essential services’ again free of charge as stated in AP news:
“But Coutts ruled out a return to San Francisco, unhappy that it didn’t offer the same terms as last year, including free rent for piers as well as police, fire and other services.”
And AP further confirms that those coming can afford their hotel beds in Bermuda, so why are the hotels being asked to allow them to freeload? And I quote AP news:-
“Some America’s Cup sailors earn six-figure salaries. Others in the sport, such as Coutts, are paid millions of dollars a year. Bonuses are a big part of their pay packages.”
While many struggle to put food on their tables, we are only considered to host this event as long as we provide many tax free and essential services concessions. Moreover, is Hamilton Princesses’ new pier being asked to be a free concession together with the beds? Hotels who were snubbed from being invited to New York to showcase their redeveloped tourism products to the international media, but they should dish out free beds to the very privileged?
At the end of the day, it will be the Bermudian taxpayer who will pay for this event, whether it be in higher taxes on the backend or giveaways on the frontend, or heaven forbid – both.
My concerns, we can honestly afford this event, or are we plunging ourselves into greater national debt?
Let’s compare this to the so called BOLD initiatives the PLP claim they would get involved in.
Sea bed mining. How much do you think it would cost to explore and then exploit this idea? Rather than give me a number just say whether you think it will be more or less than what we will have to pay for the AC?
Being as I have no IDEA what neither one costs, I’m sure that you can oblige me with the figures from the PLP.
And why not get an answer from Dr Gibbons on the costs for this event, aceboy?
Then all will be revealed, thanks to you.
I can’t give you figures for sea bed mining. Neither can the PLP. They don’t even know what they plan on mining.
I suspect any sea bed mining would cost SIGNIFICANTLY more than this event. The equipment and expertise required would be an astronomical cost.
I estimate this may cost Bermuda 50 million. The benefits to jobs and the economy of Bermuda would be triple that….assuming Chris Furbert is kept on a tight watch
This was the same point I made above and got 1 like and 3 dislikes, lol, I see your thought out response was equally popular. Honest debate means nothing on this island, just cheerleading or decrying the opposing political party.
If this proves to be a win for Bermuda I, for one, will be delighted. I have to assume there will be some jobs, even if just temporary and that is always welcome. The sad reality is that bringing these large events like this, World Cup, Olympics etc usually costs more than it brings in. Exposure is great and perhaps tourism will benefit going forward from the announcement if it goes our way.
Would really love to see the details of what ‘we’ offered.
So much to do, so little time. Come on Bermuda our time has come
I see all the OBA paid bloggers are out in full force.
Nah, the OBA has no money to pay bloggers , the PLP spent it all.
No happy Bermudians because this will raise the bar for all of us. Please stop with the derisive politics
Unlike the PLP, OBA does not need paid bloggers. They have supporters instead.
Unfortunately, there are paid ‘bloggers’ on both sides.
Where you around for all of the self praise everytime yet another grand announcement was made for something ‘gonna happen’, like Club Med, by the PLP?
I sure would like to know where I can pick up a check from the OBA. I could use the money having suffered the loss of a business completly plus an additional 20% loss of income from the flight of IB jobs from the Island thanks to the PLP.
show me where i get paid to be an oba blogger lmfao…if i did you think i’d have a real job? you idiots still keep sayin that…
We should all be cautious in the ‘self congratulations’ until the announcement is official. We should also be careful in overstating the benefits that ‘might’ accrue to the Island with the possibility of hosting this prestigious event. Make no mistake, this is a massive shot in the arm to bring Bermuda to the attention of possible clients, home buyers, and patrons using our taxis, restaurants and services. There will be ‘trickle down’ benefits for many. I will keep my fingers crossed.
That good old trickle down will come into full force. After it is all said and done in 2017, tell me trickle down doesn’t work. Let’s cross our fingers and get ready to take full advantage of all the opportunities this major event will present to Bermudians. If this happens it should provide enough of a financial injection to shift Bermuda out of our collective depression. Exciting.
Wish I was younger. I’d be out making contacts today, getting information on services that are needed. I’ll bet some are out there already.
There will be private motoryachts here, presumably anchored in the Little Sound, Granaway Deep & anywhere else close to Morgans Point. They will need shuttle services, marine repair services, food delivery services, fuel delivery services &, a smelly one, sewage pumpout services.
Those who wait till next year to start to make contacts will be too late & have no reason to complain if somebody else has beaten them to thejob.
Now that’s advance thinking…All of your suggestion are requirements when / if we do get the Americas Cup in 2017 and without any doubt, food for thought if people want to be in on the $ side of things…
December 2nd 2014.
A day that will live in infamy.
Or will it.
I can’t wait until the toys get thrown out of the crib on this too.