TVNZ has secured the broadcast rights for the 38th America’s Cup, with coverage starting next week with the preliminary regatta off the Italian island of Sardinia.
The state broadcaster has confirmed it will screen all aspects of the Cup; preliminary regattas, the Louis Vuitton Cup, Women’s America’s Cup andYouth America’s Cup, with coverage across TVNZ 1, Duke and TVNZ+.
TVNZ has a long history broadcasting the Auld Mug, dating back to the 1987 America’s Cup.
The last America’s Cup was broadcast in New Zealand through a partnership between Stuff and Warner Bros. Discovery.
The TVNZ coverage begins with the first preliminary regatta from May 21-24, where Emirates Team New Zealand take to the water off Cagliari, Sardinia, for the first racing of the new America’s Cup cycle.
“It’s great that we could bring TVNZ back ... and give fans free-to-air coverage of what is set to be a stand-out Cup in Naples,” Emirates Team NZ CEO Grant Dalton said.
“We go into the ‘lion’s den’ as the Defender seeking to win for the fourth time in a row.”
TVNZ chief news and content officer Nadia Tolich said it was exciting to have the America’s Cup joining the broadcaster’s line-up of live sport.