FOCUSING ON THE RACE : ESPN Had Envisioned a Different Type of Show but Still Sees Some Benefits in Televising the America’s Cup

When ESPN signed a contract in 1987 to televise the next America’s Cup, it expected to be rewarded for its efforts.

Now, one day before the first race of the series, ESPN does not expect to make a profit at all, a company executive says. Nevertheless, the network regards the televising of the races as beneficial in other ways.

ESPN executive vice president Steve Bornstein said the project probably will lose money. But the network figures to learn a lot and pick up a large audience.

The broadcast could also lead to an Emmy Award, says coordinating producer Jed Drake, because sailing provides an opportunity for a network to shine from a pretty-picture and a make-it-understandable perspective.

ESPN also expects to strengthen its hold on the television rights. The network plans to televise the event into the 21st Century, and it expects the next Cup to be a bonanza.

The network paid Sail America $1.7 million for the rights to broadcast the next Cup--which was to be a huge international regatta in 1991. The fee represented, one source said, about $700,000 more than the last Cup fee. But more money was followed by more headaches.

The network has had to cope with postponements, uncertainty over the dates of the race, a controversy over the type of boats that would compete, and the fact that the National Football League and major league baseball could well siphon viewers away.

As a result:

--Some advertisers switched to other telecasts for the fall.

--Other advertisers could not be reached this summer, when it was decided there would be a race and that it would be in September.

--ESPN has had only five weeks of on-site preparation for the telecast, about one-sixth of the time it had for the last Cup.

Further, this telecast will be more technically demanding than any other ESPN broadcast.

The courses (40 miles for Wednesday, 39 for Friday) are longer and farther from shore. Thus helicopters will have to hover higher to transmit radio signals.

The courses will yield less maneuvering, which viewers like. The boats well could be far apart. The match has had no trials, so the network has had no opportunity to sharpen its skills or hook viewers.

Also, the presence of the U.S. Pacific Naval Fleet in San Diego and Southern California’s thick radio frequency traffic has made the task of getting clean signals more difficult.

To make that job easier, the network reached an agreement with television stations in San Diego and Los Angeles. ESPN will borrow access to local VHF or communication frequencies and the local networks will be allowed to use one minute of taped race footage in their 5 p.m. programs.

As with recent Cup history, ESPN could end up taking two steps forward after a step backward.

After all, it was not until the Americans finally lost the Auld Mug, in 1983, that your Everyday Joe cared about the event.

It was in 1983 that ESPN tapped into a local feed of the event in Newport, R.I. “We found that people were glued to their sets,” recalled Bornstein.

Two years later, the network began preparing for the ’87 Cup.

That 79-hour broadcast attracted seven times as many viewers as do ESPN’s regular broadcasts for the time period. The final race peaked at a 5.9 rating, or 2.4 million homes.

“Most people thought we were crazy, that nobody would be real interested in watching yachts race,” Bornstein, himself more of a basketball fan, said. “I think they were saying this was, quote, a cable event.

“To me, it represented the quintessential cable experience. Here is an event nobody had ever televised. Here is an event most people were unaware of. It captured their imagination,” said Bornstein.

“Like anything you do that turns out even better than your wildest dreams, when you have to follow that, the pressure is on you to make it even better,” said Drake, 32, whose predecessor, Geoffrey Mason, became executive producer of ABC Sports.

In an effort to top its last effort, ESPN will field 18 cameras. Four will be on the Stars & Stripes, three on the New Zealand. Shots from a blimp, two helicopters and the shore will also be provided.

“We have a graphics package, that, if it works, it’s going to help immeasurably,” Drake said. “It will simulate the boats, the course, where they are and tell you who’s in the lead, even if the boats are four miles apart.”

The races in the best two-out-of-three series are to be aired live, beginning at 11:30 a.m. with a half-hour prerace show. The network will cap its coverage with half-hour shows at 9 p.m. on race days. Analysts Gary Jobson and Tom Blackaller will be given 5 minutes per hour of the race telecast to discuss the hard-core aspects for that segment of the audience.

“It’s not like we said, ‘Oh, we don’t like the way this Cup looks, so we’ll sit this one out,’ ” Drake said. “When we got word there was going to be a race, we hit it as hard as we could. If I sound down, I’m not, I’m just incredibly tired.

“I think, as an overview, there is going to be a huge curiousity factor. I’m fairly convinced that once we’ve got them watching, I’m going to keep ‘em because it’s going to be spectacular. If we do the job I think we can do, there should be very strong consideration for an Emmy.”