Foiling Week Pensacola 2025
Sporting Giants was tasked with delivering the first-ever Foiling Week event in Pensacola, Florida, expanding the internationally recognised Italian model into the United States for the second time. The brief was ambitious in both scope and timeframe: to design, fund, manage and deliver a world-class international foiling festival within six months, while meeting Tourism Development Council (TDC) funding requirements and establishing Pensacola as a credible long-term host destination.
As a shareholder in Foiling Week, Sporting Giants managed overall event delivery, strategic direction and commercial operations. We handled strategic planning and positioning, venue selection, long-term vision development, and all land-based operations including VIP hospitality, Race Village delivery, safety planning, volunteer programmes and community outreach.
Commercially, we led sponsor and partner strategy, managed VIP experiences and partner activations, and served as the central interface between stakeholders including the City of Pensacola, Visit Pensacola, FloridaWest Economic Development Alliance and international governing bodies. We also supported global communications and media strategy alongside specialist teams
Participation & Competition
- 181 competitors from 18 countries
- 176 boats and boards across 19 classes on 6 race courses
- Largest WASZP event in North American history
Community & Economic Impact
- 6,423 spectators at the free Race Village over two days
- 421 VIPs hosted (40% international)
- 10,243 hotel room nights generated, exceeding TDC requirements
- Projected growth to USD $4.5m economic impact (Year 2) and $6.4m (Year 3)
Media & Legacy
- USD $2.2m+ advertising value equivalency
- Broadcast reach across 170+ countries
- 90% positive sentiment across social and digital coverage
- Three-year deal secured for events in 2027, 2028, 2029
- Memorandum of Understanding signed with FloridaWest Economic Development Alliance
