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US city may lose rights to host Cup
Source: Agencies |
December 13, 2010, Monday
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SAN Francisco has been told it will lose the right to host the 2013 America's Cup unless a deal is signed by Friday.
The warning came in a letter the Golden Gate Yacht Club sent to Mayor Gavin Newsom and other officials last Saturday.
America's Cup official Stephen Barclay said he considered San Francisco to have come up with the winning bid in early November, when city officials and the yacht club negotiated an agreement that was then sent to the city's Board of Supervisors to begin the approval process.
But he said the Port Commission recently changed key points in the agreement that would put too much of a financial risk on the America's Cup Event Authority, which has been contracted by the GGYC to run the regatta.
The Board of Supervisors' budget and finance committee will hold a final hearing today, and the full board is expected to vote on the agreement tomorrow.
"They're holding on by their fingernails at the moment," Barclay said. "It was theirs to lose and they were told that."
Barclay said the GGYC, which sponsors America's Cup champion BMW Oracle Racing, set the deadline because the America's Cup Event Authority is committed to informing participating teams of the venue choice by December 31.
BMW Oracle Racing swept Alinghi of Switzerland in two races off Valencia, Spain, in February to return the oldest trophy in international sports to the United States for the first time since 1995.
San Francisco officials have estimated that hosting the America's Cup would be worth US$1.4 billion in economic benefits and create 8,000 jobs.
The warning came in a letter the Golden Gate Yacht Club sent to Mayor Gavin Newsom and other officials last Saturday.
America's Cup official Stephen Barclay said he considered San Francisco to have come up with the winning bid in early November, when city officials and the yacht club negotiated an agreement that was then sent to the city's Board of Supervisors to begin the approval process.
But he said the Port Commission recently changed key points in the agreement that would put too much of a financial risk on the America's Cup Event Authority, which has been contracted by the GGYC to run the regatta.
The Board of Supervisors' budget and finance committee will hold a final hearing today, and the full board is expected to vote on the agreement tomorrow.
"They're holding on by their fingernails at the moment," Barclay said. "It was theirs to lose and they were told that."
Barclay said the GGYC, which sponsors America's Cup champion BMW Oracle Racing, set the deadline because the America's Cup Event Authority is committed to informing participating teams of the venue choice by December 31.
BMW Oracle Racing swept Alinghi of Switzerland in two races off Valencia, Spain, in February to return the oldest trophy in international sports to the United States for the first time since 1995.
San Francisco officials have estimated that hosting the America's Cup would be worth US$1.4 billion in economic benefits and create 8,000 jobs.
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