SailGP recruits Carpenter and Aceves to broadcast and content roles

SailGP has made a pair of new appointments to its content and broadcast teams as the fourth season of the global sailing league gets underway.

Abner Aceves has taken on the role of director of content while Chris Carpenter has been recruited as executive producer.

SailGP features high-performance catamarans which compete at events around the world. The fourth season began with a weekend of racing in Chicago last month.

Carpenter, who joins SailGP having worked as a director and producer on the Volvo Ocean Race, Olympic sailing as well as Extreme E and Formula E, has been tasked with leading SailGP’s live broadcast team.

He will work closely with chief content officer Melissa Lawton and Aceves to deliver the SailGP global live broadcast feed and tell the stories of SailGP, all whilst producing coverage for a broad sports audience.

Along with goal of bringing more eyeballs to SailGP, Carpenter’s remit includes finding innovative ways to bring the action to life on fans’ screens by using cutting edge technology including the league’s in-house graphics system LiveLineFX.

Lawton said: “Chris has a deep knowledge of the sailing world, the passion he brings to the role elevates all the non-sailors on the team. He gives us the credibility we need to continue appealing to our core audience, but the real flavour he brings is in fast-paced racing productions and his ability to bring out the high speed, high adrenaline nature of SailGP.”

Carpenter said: “I’m really thrilled to be joining the SailGP Productions team as this league is not only the most exciting property in the sport of sailing but it also appeals to anyone that’s a fan of racing.

“Having the spectacle of 10 teams lining up on their foiling catamarans, with wing sails the size of airplanes that have the potential to power them to speeds of nearly 100 kilometers per hour is something that will get fans adrenaline pumping, and I’m looking forward to helping SailGP showcase this dynamic sport and grow the fanbase that it deserves.”

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Meanwhile, Aceves has been tasked with continuing to elevate content creation efforts across SailGP’s global enterprise. Working with Lawton and with executional support from head of production Maria Stanley and Carpenter, Aceves’s remit includes creating content and programming that is driven by authenticity to entertain fans around the world through the SailGP broadcasts, and digital and social content.

Prior to joining SailGP, Aceves worked for Major League Soccer as director of content production.

“A global search led us to Abner, his 10 years at Major League Soccer, his deep knowledge and experience in bringing a start-up league to the forefront of content excellence meant that he was the perfect fit,” said Lawton. “He ticked every box for us, holds skills in complex stakeholder management, has a history in delivering excellent long form content and a depth of knowledge in social content that will propel our channels forward.”

Aceves said: “Throughout my career, and my decade-plus run at Major League Soccer across league and club level, I’ve been laser-focused on growing a non-traditional sport to casual audiences through the power of dynamic and engaging content. It’s time to continue that work and approach but now at a global level for multicultural audiences here at SailGP.”

Maria Stanley added: “We’re working with the highest quality sailing vendors and are bringing them together with completely fresh talent, like Chris and Abner, which brings a new, fresh perspective to sailing.”

The next weekend of SailGP racing takes place 23-24 July in Los Angeles.

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