That's not to say there aren't pitfalls. The race committee in Galway, Ireland — the finish line last July — was left with $483,000 in debts, and performers and businesses went unpaid. Miami organizers who signed a contract with Sony Entertainment to put on several major headliner concerts during its stopover lost the deal when it could not find sponsors to pay for the concerts.

But Housman said the Baltimore bid is driven by the private sector and has "strong support" from local corporations, which he won't name until after Volvo announces the winner.

Constellation Energy gave $500,000 last time, but the company, which has since been acquired by Exelon, had not been approached, a spokesman said. Comcast, which gave $275,000, did not respond to a request for comment.

Bob Leffler, who has extensive experience working in sports advertising as founder and president of the Leffler Agency, said organizers will have to fight for sponsorship money in a saturated market but have more than enough time to do so.

"There's going to be some local sponsor fatigue," he said. "But that's part of the situation with Baltimore: It's a back-office town at this point."

Competition is intense for the region's sponsorship dollars, with the Ravens and Orioles commanding a big slice of the market. Sailabration, which needs private-sector support, will have just ended and the organizers for the Grand Prix of Baltimore hope they'll still be seeking sponsorship money from locals in 2016.

But Leffler also sees Baltimore developing a reputation for staging sporting events and predicts large out-of-town companies or local midsized businesses will find a way to capitalize. The Volvo race also would appeal to a robust set of sailing sponsors.

"We're never going to get that third pro sports team, so putting on things like Preakness, Grand Prix or this is our third sport," he said.

A loser in the bidding is Annapolis, which hosted the boats for the final weekend of past stopovers. The Ocean Racing bid keeps the entire stay in Baltimore.

Robert Datnow, a spokesman for the London-based company that is handling the bidding process for Volvo, said in an email that the announcements of the stopovers will be made "sequentially from next week, through the remainder of January and into February. The exact date of the announcement of a U.S. stopover has not yet been confirmed within this timetable."

In Baltimore and Newport, which bills itself as the "Sailing Capital of the World," the Volvo race has two cities steeped in sailing tradition with a knack for organizing waterfront events.

Brad Read, executive director of Sail Newport, said he is comfortable with his bid and with the healthy rivalry.

Housman thinks Baltimore will win not only because of its Volvo track record and veteran management team but also because the city sits in a much larger, more economically robust region.

"I'm not doing this because I love sailing," Housman said. "This is a business, and we think we have a successful business model here in Baltimore."

cthomson@baltsun.com

chris.korman@baltsun.com

Baltimore Sun reporter Erin Cox contributed to this article.

Volvo Ocean Race 2005-2006 by the numbers

$40 million: Local economic impact

350,000: Daily visitors to the Baltimore Waterfront Festival

40,000: Spectators on the Bay Bridge for the restart

3,500: Boats at the race restart

1,500: Boats at the in-port race April 28

50,000: In-port spectators

4,000: Students visiting the race village at the Inner Harbor

Source: Ocean Race Chesapeake

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