America’s Cup lays off 28 people, race officials say

The business arm of the America’s Cup laid off a quarter of its staff Friday, the latest sign the premiere sailing competition has dramatically scaled back its presence — and budget — in San Francisco.

The America’s Cup Event Authority laid off 28 people, 14 of them in the San Francisco office and the other 14 in offices around the world, race officials said. They worked in the information technology, marketing and communications departments.

The shake-up stemmed from the pared-down deal between the America’s Cup and the city to host the event this year and in 2013.

“We’re having expenses match the revenues as much as we can,” said Stephen Barclay, who took over as interim CEO for the event authority this week in another sign of reorganization. “And a number of people will be leaving as a result.”

Originally, the Event Authority was going to invest $111 million in infrastructure work to repair deteriorating piers the city has sought for decades to fix. But race officials backed away from that agreement earlier this month.

The new deal, set to be considered by the Board of Supervisors Tuesday, calls for the port to invest nearly $22 million in pier repairs, including up to $8 million for team bases at Piers 30-32. A team of fundraisers, meanwhile, is responsible for raising $32 million to cover the city’s costs to put on the event, and have so far raised $12.5 million, according to a city audit released Friday.

Beyond the rollback of the development deal, the event authority is also scaling back event facilities, including no longer trying to have any at Crissy Field, part of the Golden Gate National Recreation area.