America's Cup e-Series
Launching the First-Ever America's Cup game and esport Championship
America's Cup e-Series
What began as an internal engineering tool became a global esport. This is the story of how the America's Cup turned its secret weapon into a game and put a real AC40 on the line.
MORE INfOS
Emirates Team New Zealand spent over a decade building a sailing simulator, powered by the Gomboc physics engine. Its replication of wind, water and yacht dynamics was so precise that it gave their engineers a measurable competitive edge and helped them win the 35th America's Cup in Bermuda in 2017.
After defending the 36th America's Cup, the team set a bolder ambition for the 37th edition in Barcelona: transform that simulator into a game and offer it to the world.
With one defining promise the player who wins the championship gets to actually sail an AC40.
TEAMMATE'S ROLE
Appointed by America's Cup Events (ACE) to lead the esport and gaming programme. From a game product with no marketing nor commercial infrastructure around it, to a fully activated global esport property, TEAMMATE supported the development team at Emirates Team New Zealand and event organizer ACE across every dimension of the launch and
conceptualising the competitio
- Brand & identity: named the game (AC Sailing) and the championship (America's Cup e-Series), coordinated logo and brand development, creative narrative, website, and all promotional and press materials
- Agency management: authored briefs, selected and onboarded selected agencies, Burson Spain (PR) and Experentia (events), and coordinated day-to-day across various stakeholders
- Product launch: coordinated all teams and agencies into a unified go-to-market plan, aligning game release, championship announcement, and media strategy into a single launch moment
- Event management: end-to-end delivery of both the game launch event and the championship Grand Finale, including venue, production, player hosting, broadcasting coordination, and agency oversight
- Competition format: designed weekly online qualifying rounds, a dedicated Twitch show, and community channels on Discord and the Epic Games Store, building audience week-on-week toward the Grand Finale live at the 37th America's Cup in Barcelona
- Gamer to Sailor: created the signature programme — the e-Series winner trained for 4 days on an AC40 and competed against a professional America's Cup team on the water
OUTCOME
AC Sailing, the official 37th America's Cup game, launched on Steam and Epic Games Store in April 2024, achieving over 100,000 downloads in its first season
The first-ever America's Cup esport champions trained on AC40 and raced a professional team on the water, to become “From Gamer to Sailor
A brand-new esport property built from zero to Grand Finale in under 12 months, with 8 finalists from 7 countries competing for a €50,000 prize pool in Barcelona
WHAT THEY SAID
"Zeki is part of the America's Cup family. When we took on this project, we needed someone who understood our ecosystem, some who could move fast and has agility.That’s what we liked in his proposal and his new venture profile. TEAMMATE delivered successfully and bridged all stakeholders: development team, event organisation and other support agencies. From game launch, to new and innovative championship format, to the Grand Finale in Barcelona. Over 100,000 downloads in the first season. A new audience for the Cup. That's the outcome we were looking for."
"The America's Cup e-Series was TEAMMATE's first mandate. And there is no greater honour than being trusted by the oldest and most prestigious trophy in sport to help build something entirely new. This project is the clearest expression of what we set out to do: take exceptional sporting properties and give them the commercial and creative infrastructure they deserve."