As Larry Ellison helps his son David in his quest to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount’s CBS Sports has inked a two-year media rights extension with SailGP, a competitive sailing league which was co-founded by the elder Ellison in 2018.
The multi-year TV deal will feature more than 50 hours of coverage each season of the Rolex SailGP Championship across CBS Sports platforms in 2026 and ’27.
CBS will broadcast SailGP’s events with highlights on key weekends over the next two seasons to capture mass U.S. audiences, while CBS Sports Network will feature live coverage of several racing days.
SailGP co-founder and CEO Sir Russell Coutts said the landmark deal is a “powerful endorsement of SailGP’s continued growth in the U.S. and the momentum of the championship globally.”
“CBS Sports has been an outstanding partner since day one, and together we’ve brought high-performance racing to millions of new fans,” Coutts added. “This agreement ensures SailGP will continue to reach mainstream sports audiences and showcase one of the world’s fastest-growing sports properties.”
The network has been home to the global racing championship in the U.S. since 2019. In November, SailGP’s The Race to Abu Dhabi broadcast drew 3.469 million viewers — the most ever for a SailGP broadcast in the U.S. and the most-watched sailing race in history in the country, surpassing the previous high (3.266 million) from the 1992 America’s Cup on ABC. Overall last season, SailGP’s dedicated global broadcast audience soared to nearly 215 million, averaging 18 million viewers per event.
“CBS Sports is looking forward to building on the success of our partnership with SailGP as they continue to deliver world-class events that capture a global audience,” CBS Sports executive vice president of programming Dan Weinberg added. “We’re thrilled to bring even more electrifying, high-speed racing to fans across the U.S.”
The 2026 season will kick off with the Oracle Perth Sail Grand Prix broadcast on CBS on Sunday, Jan. 18, at 3 p.m. ET. Other CBS broadcast windows include Feb. 28, April 18, June 7, July 5, Sept. 5 and three to-be-announced broadcasts in October, November and December.
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