The America's Cup is heading back to the Mediterranean, and it's bringing a familiar maritime name with it. MSC Cruises has been named Global Cruise Partner of the 38th America's Cup, which will be hosted by Naples, Italy, in 2027 — the first time the sailing showpiece returns to Italian waters as the main event stage.
The deal gives MSC worldwide partnership rights across the entire America's Cup programme, not just the headline Match. That covers the Preliminary Regattas, the Youth and Women's America's Cup Regattas, the Challenger Selection Series and the Final Match itself. For anyone eyeing a trip to Naples for the racing, that footprint matters: the event calendar stretches well beyond a single week, with youth and women's fleets adding their own draw to the waterfront.
The partnership is less a new alliance than a deepening of an old one. Grant Dalton, chairman of the America's Cup Partnership, pointed out that MSC's ties to the competition go back decades, while executive chairman Pierfrancesco Vago called the Cup "one of the most iconic arenas in international sport" as it returns to the Mediterranean. Marzio Perrelli, CEO of the America's Cup Partnership, noted MSC is also backing the Women and Youth Regattas — a signal the relationship is intended to run long-term through the Preliminary Regatta and the Louis Vuitton-branded main event.
There's recent form here, too. In 2024, MSC's luxury sister brand Explora Journeys was a Global Partner of the 37th America's Cup in Barcelona and a partner of winning team Emirates Team New Zealand. Beyond sailing, MSC has been building one of the broader sports sponsorship portfolios in travel: Global Partner of Formula 1, Premium Partner of the BWT Alpine F1 team, and Official Main Partner of the Tudor Pro Cycling Team.
So what does a cruise sponsorship mean for holidaymakers? Practical perks, potentially. Partners like MSC often run spectator packages, event-themed sailings and hospitality experiences around the races they back — and with MSC's ships calling at Italian ports year-round, Naples 2027 is an obvious candidate for sail-and-watch itineraries. Even if you never set foot on an MSC ship, the sponsorship is a useful bellwether: heavy corporate investment usually means a well-organised event with plenty of public viewing areas, transport links and city-side programming.
For sailors and sports fans, AC38 in Naples is shaping up as one of Europe's standout 2027 events. The city's bay offers natural amphitheatre-style viewing, and the wider Campania region — Pompeii, the Amalfi Coast, Capri — sits right on the doorstep for combining race days with proper holiday time. If past Cups are any guide, accommodation in the host city will fill up fast once the race schedule firms up, so early planning will pay off. Keep an eye on announcements from both the America's Cup organisers and MSC as 2027 approaches; sponsorship deals like this one typically come bundled with consumer offers closer to the event.
