Abstract
The America's Cup is the oldest and most distinguished prize in world sport, having been contested for more than 150 years. The 32nd America's Cup held in 2007 in Valencia, Spain, was a phenomenal success and represented a pinnacle in the evolution of this traditional yachting competition. Ernesto Bertarelli through Alinghi and America's Cup Management turned this historic sporting trophy into a profitable business with live TV coverage, amazing hospitality opportunities and a fantastic level of competitiveness amongst the participating race teams. He clearly led a revolution by building a new expertise and leadership, by working across cultures in a new way, by breaking rules and enhancing public attractiveness, by going behind boundaries and making the Cup a truly global event. He enabled the America's Cup to enter a new era. However, this bold approach was stopped by the opposition of the Golden Gate Yacht Club, represented in the race by the BMW-Oracle team, led by Larry Elisson. The America's Cup left the sea to be fought in court. Since July 2007, a justice drama has been making headline news forcing sailing teams to withdraw from the competition, sponsors to leave and jeopardizing the 33rd America's Cup. This case highlights the changes within the America's Cup and the Alinghi Team which will be used as a vehicle to teach students about entrepreneurship, branding, organizational changes, innovation shifts, project management, leadership and cross cultural management.