“Don’t be scared of it”: SailGP on sustainability and sport

SailGP has made sustainability a central plank of its competition from its inception in 2019, even becoming the first organization to achieve both the Carbon Neutral International Standard and three gold medals in the UN’s Climate Neutral Now Initiative.

In the 2021/2022 season it went one step further, introducing an Impact League which sees teams compete and be held accountable across ten key sustainability criteria. Teams are awarded points for their sustainability at each event, with a trophy for the winner at the end of the season. 

Fiona Morgan, who became SailGP’s global purpose and impact director in 2020, told Broadcast Sport that the unique aspects of sailing make it, in her view, the perfect vehicle for raising awareness around the climate crisis: “When the ocean is your racetrack, and you have sailors who have to control nature to race the boats, you’re always one step ahead. You just get it and understand that sustainability is part of who you are.”

The first step is making sure that your own house is in order, Morgan noted, “The day-to-day is important because I would never want to advocate for it unless we have our ‘licence to operate’.”

This involves making sure its own production, which is handled by SailGP with elements from production company Aurora, is as sustainable as possible - something the Aurora has experience of from working with the likes of Formula E and Extreme E in addition to SailGP. Morgan explained: “The production company that is more sustainable is definitely the right partner for us, and Aurora are very committed to this as well as telling the story.”

However, more could be done by broadcasters, according to Morgan, who worked at Sky before moving to SailGP. “We’ve done some great pieces with Sky already…but one of my frustrations is the big sports. Everyone talks about the big sports, but it’s actually the small sports, like us and Extreme E, we’re the ones challenging the norm. We’re the ones driving the change, so actually give us more voice and let us communicate more. Obviously we’re not a traditional sport, so sometimes there’s a bit of a balance on that, but I think broadcasters should celebrate their sustainable sports more - to showcase us and use us to influence other sports.”

Overall, Morgan believes sport needs to be braver on sustainability, despite the worries about criticism when it’s made a central theme. “I think there is a confidence that needs building in our industry to be able to talk about these things - and you don’t need to be perfect. We’ll always get criticised or people will have a different opinion, but if we can educate people on making one change…the world is imperfect, but being a bit more sustainable is what we want.”

Communication is important in the broadcast team. Morgan said: “We have a global team, and before every single race I have a briefing with my commentary and broadcast operational teams. That’s important. It’s about communicating and explaining what we’re doing, what we want to talk about, things that they’ll see. For example, in Dubai we had the largest solar array ever, so you’ll see that on a visual shot and then how do you talk about it, why is it relevant?

“So I invest a lot of time working with Lisa Darmanin and the commentary team, and then we joke, I give them ratings on who did well.” There are also briefings after events to critique the coverage, and learn lessons for next time.

While lessons can be learned from this active approach, Morgan expects it to take longer to take hold in larger traditional sports. “It’s easier for new sports like us or Extreme E, because we’ve set it from day one. I’m on the board of a cricket team in The Hundred, and I get it’s a more historical sport with different commercial risks and it’s harder to move. We’re like a sustainable speedboat and they’re a tanker.”

However, there are causes for optimism. “When I got my role, I don’t think there were many people with a title like mine in sport. Now you see it more and more, with the Premier League, Formula One, football teams. What they need to do is show the value, and integrate it into the business strategy so it isn’t an add on.”

Going forward, SailGP is targeting inclusivity - boosting its female athletes like the W Series has done in motorsport, Morgan says, and marine innovation. Sustainability will remain key, although Morgan does think sport could change its approach. “I believe sustainability needs a bit of a rebrand in how it’s communicated. Has anyone got it right? It’s a work in progress and we need to sell the vision but also explain things to people.”

She added for other sports and broadcasters: “I think they need to understand the opportunity and take responsibility and just do something. Don’t sit and talk about it and pretend you’re going to do something. Be brave, lean in. I think broadcasters have a huge power over rights holders because we’re all desperate to get eyeballs, and personally I think they could do more to influence the industry. If they told us to do x, y, z, we would do it.”

She added: “Don’t be scared of it. Lean in. You’re going to have to be different. We’re not going to have major events with everyone travelling, sport is going to adapt. So let’s make it positive and do it together.”

SailGP’s next race will take place in Singapore, 14-15 January.