Pensacola is now home to its own SailGP team, with American Magic announcing that it has bought the Danish SailGP team, Rockwool Racing, for $60 million.
Earlier this year, American Magic announced a partnership with SailGP to have its new Pensacola headquarters serve as the off-season training location for the entire league. Now American Magic will also be competing in the same league.
SailGP is a professional international sail racing league founded in 2019 that is seeking to become the premier commercial league for high-performance sail racing.
In a team press release, American Magic co-founder Doug DeVos, who is also part of the family ownership group of the NBA’s Orlando Magic, said that the purchase brings together three organizations that are committed to high performance.
“SailGP has reshaped the sport through global competition, innovation, and fan engagement, and ROCKWOOL Racing is already a high-performing team with a strong foundation,” DeVos said. “Together, we see a clear opportunity to build a winning team, deliver results on and off the water, advance elite talent, and inspire the next generation of sailors, designers, and boat builders.”
American Magic will own and operate the team, but it will continue under the name of its lead sponsor, Rockwool, in a title deal that lasts until 2032. Rockwool is a Danish manufacturer of mineral wool, which is an insulation product made from volcanic rock.
Each team in SailGP also represents a different country and the American Magic and Rockwool team will continue to represent Denmark in the league. Under league rules, three of the six sailors on the team’s boat must be nationals of Denmark.
What does American Magic, SailGP, Rockwool partnership mean for Pensacola?
In January, SailGP and American Magic announced a five-year agreement to bring the entire SailGP fleet to Pensacola every off-season, which currently runs through the late fall and early winter, to train.
The agreement means athletes, sailors, and support crew will be staying and living in Pensacola for several weeks at a time. And 50-foot foiling sail catamarans will become a common sight on the water of Pensacola Bay.
The move has caught attention in the sailing world, with The New York Times’ The Athletic reporting that the Pensacola training base could “transform the sport.”
“When I look at this for Pensacola as a region, I think it’s amazing,” Tyson Lamond, chief operating officer of American Magic, told the News Journal in January. “I genuinely think the foot traffic that we’re going to bring here to the community and the eyes that are going to open up to Pensacola is going to be great.”
SailGP has reported increasing revenue and team values as it has attracted a wider audience. The league reported 215 million global audience size in 2025.
In the U.S., SailGP is carried on the CBS Sports Network, the broadcast company reported that the November SailGP race in Abu Dhabi drew the largest ever domestic audience for a live broadcast of a sailing event with nearly 3.5 million live viewers. that race was won by the Rockwool Racing team. The previous U.S. viewership record for sailing event was the 1992 America’s Cup, according to SailGP.
American Magic’s $60 million purchase of the Rockwool Racing team is the highest sale price to date for a team. When the league launched in 2019, the teams were valued at about $5 million each.
ROCKWOOL Racing is known as the “Fastest Team on Water” setting a speed record during the Germany Sail Grand Prix in the 2025 season when its 50-foot foiling catamaran reached a speed of 64.5 mph during the race.
Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves, who championed the city’s efforts to build American Magic a headquarters at the Port of Pensacola, said in a statement to the News Journal that the announcement further cements Pensacola as the preeminent sailing destination in the U.S.
“We welcome the Rockwool team, and we appreciate American Magic’s significant investment,” Reeves said. “This partnership will change our community, our region, and plants this city on the map globally as a hub for sailing excellence.”
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola’s American Magic buys Danish SailGP team for $60M
Reporting by Jim Little, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
