Chanel dips oar into sport with Oxford-Cambridge boat race tie-up

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The annual boat race between Oxford and Cambridge universities is to be renamed after a designer watch as part of a multiyear tie-up with Chanel, in what is the French fashion house’s first foray into sport sponsorship. 

From next year, the annual rowing contest will be rebranded as “The Chanel J12 Boat Race”, taking on the name of a high-end timepiece produced by the privately owned luxury goods company.

Chanel will replace Gemini, a cryptocurrency exchange founded by the Winklevoss twins, as the event’s title partner and become its official timekeeper.  

“The long-term partnership is an expression of a shared philosophy, one of an uncompromising pursuit of excellence which relies on collective effort to succeed,” Chanel and the Boat Race said of the deal to be announced on Tuesday.

The contest, which takes place each spring on the river Thames, is a fixture of the UK’s social and sporting calendars and attracts around 250,000 spectators along the four-mile course through west London.

No value for the sponsorship was disclosed.

But according to filings with Companies House, the Boat Race, the limited company that receives money from commercial deals associated with the race, last year paid the two universities’ boat clubs a combined sum of £500,000.

Sponsorship profits of £97,407 were also distributed to the Oxford and Cambridge Rowing Foundation, a charity.

The first contest was held in 1829, with the men’s race becoming an annual event in 1856 and the women’s competition joining in 1929. The Chanel deal will run until at least 2029, when the men’s and women’s races mark their 200 and 100 year anniversaries.

Last year the boat race attracted some unwelcome headlines after tests conducted by a campaign group found “dangerously high” levels of E.coli bacteria in the river due to pollution from sewage. 

Chanel, which is owned by the billionaire Wertheimer family and headquartered in London, is one of the most celebrated names in fashion, but has not previously followed its rivals into the world of sport sponsorship.

Most of its ambassadors hail from Hollywood, such as actors Margot Robbie and Penélope Cruz, and the music industry, including K-Pop star Jennie. Last year the company made a profit of $6.4bn on sales of $19.7bn. 

Sport and luxury goods have long been intertwined. Watchmaker Omega has been the official timekeeper for the Olympic Games since 1932, and became a global sponsor in 2004.

Hublot was a partner of the Fifa World Cup in 2022, while Rolex has been a sponsor of Wimbledon for decades and Formula One for several years.

Fashion houses have become increasingly visible in the world of sport.

US designer Ralph Lauren produces the uniforms for Team USA at the Olympics and for tennis officials at Wimbledon, Giorgio Armani dressed the Italian men’s football team at Euro 2024, while Gucci has recruited tennis player Jannik Sinner and women’s footballer Leah Williamson as ambassadors. 

While Louis Vuitton has been the longtime title sponsor of the America’s Cup sailing competition, parent company LVMH has recently stepped up its presence in sport.

The world’s biggest luxury goods company sponsored the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, and recently announced a 10-year deal worth around $1bn to become F1’s top commercial partner. The Arnault family that controls LVMH is also in talks to acquire Paris FC, a second tier football team.