SailGP and NEAR unveil multi-year, global league partnership

The groundbreaking sports technology partnership includes DAOs, NFTs and global community activation at SailGP events 

SAN FRANCISCO, March 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- SailGP, one of the world's fastest growing sports properties and NEAR, a leading carbon-neutral, community-driven blockchain development platform, today announced a multi-year groundbreaking partnership. As part of the partnership, SailGP will explore the sale of a new team to a DAO launched on the NEAR Protocol – a first-of-its-kind community engagement and activation platform in professional sports. The historic partnership will enable fans and cryptocurrency enthusiasts to engage and access their favorite teams, athletes and events like never before.

The DAO community members may determine athlete selection, team management, commercialization options, operations and team strategy. Operating under the structure of the current SailGP Teams' Participation Agreement, the DAO team could join the SailGP starting line-up as early as Season 4 in 2023, subject to compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.

A DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) is an organization that is community-owned and whose financial transactions and rules of engagement are stored on a blockchain. While historically companies are managed from the top down, DAOs are communally governed and managed. Decisions are based on the community and determined by proposals and voting to ensure community members have the ability to directly influence the DAO's direction.

In addition to the DAO, this new global partnership will enable NEAR to leverage SailGP events worldwide and educate its rapidly growing community of developers, technologists and platform companies on the capabilities of NEAR.

Together NEAR and SailGP will focus on initiatives including:

• Integrated Technology and R&D: Across DAOs, ticketing, NFTs, app integration, and gaming, NEAR will leverage the global SailGP technology platform to develop real-world IP and web3 applications across fan engagement, data delivery and management, and league management.
• Global Web3 Community Development: NEAR is committed to transitioning traditional industries to web3, providing the world's most advanced, secure and scalable blockchain platform. These initiatives, experiences and activations will take place at global SailGP events for new and existing community members.

SailGP Founder Larry Ellison said: "We welcome NEAR to the SailGP family and we are looking forward to them participating in the most exciting racing on-water, featuring the world's best sailors."

The NEAR and SailGP partnership will provide an opportunity to educate millions of fans on-site and across SailGP platforms globally on the potential of web3.

Marieke Flament, CEO of the NEAR Foundation, the non-for profit entity that oversees development on the NEAR blockchain, said: "Our mission is to enable community-driven innovation to benefit people around the world, and this partnership is a fantastic example of exactly that. We are ushering in a brand-new era of entertainment by combining sports and technology to elevate the fan experience to a level that has never been seen before, and we're proud to be leading the way alongside a like-minded organization that shares our core values and vision."

IMG, SailGP's global agency for sponsorship, media rights and host venue rights, helped facilitate the partnership. IMG is part of Endeavor, a strategic investor in SailGP.

Mark Shapiro, President of Endeavor, said: "This deal presents an exciting opportunity to change how fans can directly influence and participate in the sports they love. We are proud to have brokered this ground-breaking partnership which is the culmination of what happens when sport, technology and entertainment collide."

MEDIA CONTACTS

SAILGP 
Sacha Kemp, Head of Communication and PR, SailGP | skemp@sailgp.com  | UK: +44 

NEAR 
Georgia Hanias, Communications Director, NEAR | georgiahanias@ecologymedia.co.uk 

About NEAR
NEAR is a high-performance blockchain that is designed to be super-fast, incredibly secure, and infinitely scalable. NEAR's vision is to create a network that enables people to reimagine finance, creativity, and community in new and inclusive ways.

NEAR is built by an award-winning team of engineers and entrepreneurs to be simple to use, inclusive and good for the environment. NEAR is backed by top VCs such as A16Z, Pantera Capital, Electric Capital, Dragonfly Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Blockchain.com, and Baidu Ventures.

ABOUT SAILGP 
SailGP races for a better future, championing a world powered by nature. The world's most exciting race on water, SailGP features national teams battling in short, intense races at iconic stadium-style venues across the globe, building to the grand final – and sailing's top prize of US$1 million. The high-tech, high-speed action features sailing's best athletes racing in identical hydro foiling F50 catamarans, flying at speeds exceeding 60mph. Visit SailGP.com for more information. 

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