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VALENCIA - For one of its main sponsors, the dream of BMW Oracle winning the America's Cup lived on -- at least in its slick TV ads -- almost a month after the team it backed was dumped from sailing's most high profile event.
German insurance company Allianz invested millions of euros sponsoring the US syndicate led by Oracle chief executive and founder Larry Ellison only to see the team swept aside 5-1 by Italian entry Luna Rossa.
With their sleek carbon fibre hulls and huge state-of-the art sails and spinnakers, the America's Cup boats ooze design and style, giving advertisers a perfect canvas on which to splash their logos in the knowledge that the racing machines make for stunning photos and TV images.
Big teams such as holder Alinghi, Team New Zealand, BMW Oracle and Luna Rossa are estimated to spend between 3 and 3.5 million euros a month on their campaigns, with some of the main sponsors investing 30-40 million euros over four years.
Despite the team's unexpected loss, BMW Oracle's sponsors had already made much of their involvement in the event, not only in straight marketing and advertising but also as a corporate hospitality and company team building opportunity.
With a crew of 17 aboard the boats and big design, technical and support teams behind them both on and off shore, the America's Cup embodies teamwork, something that big corporate sponsors have drawn upon in their internal communications.
But with some syndicates spending more than 150 million euros over four years, America's Cup campaigns need serious bank-rolling and the list of sponsors persuaded they can gain publicity from the event ranges from Swiss financial services giant UBS to Spanish brewer Estrella Damm.
With 12 teams to choose from, 11 challengers and the America's Cup holder Alinghi, there were plenty of opportunities and some hard choices to make in terms of which boat to back.
While some stuck with strong national allegiances, others made clear bets on the favourites.
Estrella Damm, which as well as being a supporter of the America's Cup itself is also a sponsor of Team New Zealand, has seen its bar become the hip place to hang out at the America's Cup sailing complex in the Mediterranean port of Valencia.
Its logo has been splashed across newspaper front pages, the internet and television screens as the Team New Zealand boat duly dispatched Italy's Luna Rossa in the Louis Vuitton Cup, which decided who should challenge Alinghi for the "Auld Mug".
For Spanish utilities Endesa and Iberdrola, rivalry ashore has continued on the water.
As one of only four lead sponsors of the 32nd America's Cup, alongside French luxury goods group Luis Vuitton, Spanish bank Santander and Alcatel-Lucent, Endesa expected a fair chunk of the publicity in Spain for its 15 million euros.
In the event, a successful campaign for Iberdrola-sponsored Desafio Espanol meant that its name, not Endesa's, featured prominently on front pages and in extensive TV footage.
Louis Vuitton has milked its association with the cup that bears its name with even the brightly coloured inflatable buoys that mark the course bearing the main sponsors' names.
But while sponsorship has grown, it is not yet providing the America's Cup with all the money it needs.
"There is a big problem: we are not earning our living ... The cup is still a game which is supported by wealthy owners and it is very similar to what sailing is," Swiss billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli, who ploughed some of his biotech fortune into his dream of winning and retaining the cup, told reporters.
"Our sponsors are very happy. They measure it in the feedback they get from the people they bring to our hospitality programmes and the exposure they get from the media and finally the spirit they are able to share inside their own corporation thanks to their team," he later told Reuters.
- REUTERS
