Hugh Jackman, Ryan Reynolds become co-owners of Australia SailGP team
Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds have become co-owners of the Australia SailGP team.
A news release on Thursday confirmed the co-stars of the 2024 movie Deadpool & Wolverine have joined the team as it has been rebranded to the BONDS Flying Roos. BONDS is an Australian underwear company.
Australia has established itself as a leading force in the 12-team SailGP, winning the championship title in each of the first three seasons.
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'Hugh brings a deep love for and pride in his home country as well as being an avid fan of sailing,' Jackman and Reynolds said in a joint statement. 'He will also be bringing his overly clingy emotional support human along for the ride.'
Their fellow co-owner Tom Slingsby, an Olympic gold medalist who is also team CEO, described the move as a 'milestone' moment for the Australia team and SailGP as a sport. 'We're building something distinctly Australian; a team driven by spirit, resilience, and national pride,' Slingsby, 40, said.
Launched in 2019 by five-time America's Cup winner Sir Russell Coutts from New Zealand and American tech billionaire Larry Ellison, SailGP is an annual championship between teams racing in identical 50-foot catamarans that have wing-like foils mounted either side of their hulls.
French soccer star Kylian Mbappe bought a stake in France's SailGP team in March and is one of many global stars associating themselves with a championship now in its fifth season.
Emirates GBR, the British team, was the first to be sold to external investors in 2022, when Sir Ben Ainslie, the most successful sailor in Olympic history, joined up with commodities trader Chris Blake and property developer Peter Green to take full control in a deal valued at $40 million.
Other teams have subsequently had notable names investing; the German team had four-time Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel as a founding investor, while last month, actor Anne Hathaway was named among the female-led ownership group of the Italian team.
In 2024, former Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry was among a group of investors, including heavyweight boxer Deontay Wilder, ex-USMNT striker Jozy Altidore and several NFL stars, who acquired the U.S. team for $35 million.
CBS Sports has recently extended its deal to broadcast the series in the U.S. having seen audiences grow every year.
The newly-named BONDS Flying Roos SailGP Team, who are currently one point clear of second-place British team Emirates GBT on top of the leaderboard, will next race at the Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix on June 7-8.
Portsmouth hosts the British GP on July 19-20, with further races in Germany, France, Switzerland and Spain, before the season finale in Abu Dhabi where the top three teams will compete for the SailGP trophy and $2m in prize money.
(Image supplied by SailGP)
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