NSW Government could sink the Sail GP in Sydney if it shuts down Glebe Island port

After missing out on NFL blockbuster matches, international NBA games and golf championships, Sydney risks losing another major sporting event. Here’s how the NSW Government can salvage it.

Sydney will be stripped of another major sporting event and the tourism dollars it generates if the NSW Government rejects pleas to save Glebe Island port.

A maritime events expert has sounded the warning, saying the global Sail Grand Prix series will have to farewell the Harbour City if the port is scuttled to make way for high-density housing.

The international 50-foot catamaran championship is conducted across 13 countries, including the USA, Europe, the UAE, Brazil, New Zealand and Australia.

It provides economic impacts of around $20 million per event and boasts a global broadcast audience of 120 million.

Team Australia on the water in the 2025 Sail GP series. Picture: Getty Images

Adam Huie, Managing Director at Banks Events, has consulted to Sydney’s most significant on-water events for more than 25 years, and says the Sail GP race is reliant on port facilities at Glebe Island.

“A ship delivers all their materials there in massive containers — about 120 of them,” he said.

“They house all the disassembled boats, the support boats and the marquees. All the things that make the event work.

“Once the containers are unloaded, the boats are built on the wharf and the rest of the setup is put together.

“Two cranes deploy the boats into the water for racing and are there to recover them straight after.

“So there’s a requirement in all this for 240m of wharf space and deep water frontage.

“If you don’t have Glebe Island, what are you going to do then? Without a port you can’t stage the event.”

Swimming Australia's head coach Rohan Taylor (right) and Australian SailGP coach Ben Durham with their boat at their base in Rozelle. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Mr Huie said there were no alternatives to Glebe Island. Not if the Australian leg of the Sail GP series is scheduled for Sydney Harbour.

“Do a Google search, try and find a wharf space that’s got 240m of deep waterfrontage and with the necessary load capacity for an event like this,” he said. “There isn’t anything else. Glebe Island is it.

“Even if you unloaded all those containers at Port Botany, then what? Where do you take them to build the boats and load them into the water? How do you get them into Sydney Harbour?”

The Minns Government has already come under fire for missing out on major events after Melbourne secured the rights for three NFL blockbusters from 2026.

The LA Rams are bringing the NFL to Melbourne for three games from 2026. Picture: Getty Images

While UFC has come to Sydney, the NFL coup for Victoria drew stinging criticism from tourism and business leaders.

NSW Tourism Association chief executive Natalie Goodward described it as “an epic failure for the NSW Government and Destination NSW”.

NBA team the New Orleans Pelicans also confirmed this week they will bring a full-strength squad to Melbourne in October for two pre-season games against local opposition at the Rod Laver Arena.

In another Victorian steal, the Australian Golf Open headed to Kingston Heath last November after being staged in Sydney for all but one year since 2006.

The Sail GP race was secured for Sydney through a three-year agreement starting in 2023 and brokered by the previous state government.

Former Tourism and Sport Minister Stuart Ayres said at the time: “This is another incredible addition to the calendar of world-class international sporting events we are building exclusively for Sydney … to deliver on our goal of making NSW the events capital.”

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Originally published as NSW Government could sink the Sail GP in Sydney if it shuts down Glebe Island port