The America’s Cup Partnership has appointed Marzio Perrelli as its inaugural Chief Executive Officer, effective today. Grant Dalton, CEO of Emirates Team New Zealand, remains as ACP Chairman.
A Career Built on Sports Rights and Financial Discipline
Perrelli’s background covers investment banking and broadcast sports rights. He held senior roles at Goldman Sachs and HSBC before joining Sky Italy in 2018 as Executive Vice President, where he ran the Sky Sports division — editorial, production and rights acquisitions.
A New Governance Model for Sailing’s Oldest Trophy
The ACP is the first time in the event’s 174-year history that competing teams have united under a shared governance and commercial structure America’s Cup, replacing the old Defender-centric model with equal board representation for all five founding teams: Emirates Team New Zealand, Athena Racing, Luna Rossa, Tudor Team Alinghi and K-Challenge.
The partnership also commits the event to a biennial cycle America’s Cup, ending the stop-start scheduling that has frustrated sponsors and broadcasters for decades.
What Perrelli and Dalton Are Saying
“The America’s Cup is the oldest and most prestigious competition in international sport,” Perrelli said. “Our responsibility today is to preserve its deep heritage while ensuring greater continuity, stability and long-term growth.”
Dalton pointed to the timing as significant: “At least five strong teams are confirmed for Naples in 2027, women are onboard the AC75s for the first time, and the ACP now offers surety and continuity over future regattas.”
What’s Next: Sardinia in May
Perrelli steps in ahead of the first Louis Vuitton 38th America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta in Sardinia, 21-24 May 2026.
The Legal Cloud Hanging Over the ACP
The ACP’s formation remains contested — a formal complaint filed with the New York Attorney General’s Charities Bureau in February alleges the structure breaches the America’s Cup Deed of Gift. Boating NZ covered the legal challenge in detail last month.
