Born and raised on Cape Cod, MA, Buckley was introduced to sailing by his single mother who worked multiple jobs and sports became both an outlet and a foundation for discipline, resilience, and drive.
What started as an unexpected extracurricular pursuit quickly grew into a defining passion that shaped his personal and professional trajectory. From high school waters to global competition, Buckley’s career ascended quickly. He went on to become a 2-time world champion sailor, competing at the highest levels of the sport and earning recognition for his strategic sharpness and relentless competitiveness. His experience across international racing circuits provided not only athletic success but also an insider’s understanding of the opportunities and shortcomings of sailing as a spectator sport.
In November 2023, Buckley and tech entrepreneur Ryan McKillen led the acquisition of the U.S. SailGP Team, marking a historic moment for professional sailing. As CEO, Buckley has built one of the most diverse and high-profile ownership groups in the sport’s history, with investors including Issa Rae, DeAndre Hopkins, Gary Vaynerchuk, Avenue Capital Group’s Marc Lasry and Carolyn Tisch Blodgett’s Next 3. This groundbreaking roster underscores his vision: to align sailing with culture, entertainment, and mainstream sport in a way never done before.
Mike on the boom in SailGP:
“What Larry Ellison envisaged with SailGP is starting to take shape. He wants to create the best Sports League in the world, not just the best Sailing League. That’s a very lofty goal or dream.
Our races are televised by CBS in the USA and a few weeks ago, we had three and a half million viewers watching our race, which out performed the final day of the Ryder Cup, the Men’s US Open tennis finals and almost three times the audience for F1 on the same day.
So we are not there on a consistent basis yet, but we are showing more often than not, we’ve got a really compelling TV product. The broadcast group has done a great job with AI, so that the viewing experience is user friendly and now it’s about focussing on the Game Day experience for fans and the VIP Experience and also hospitality, to bring in more partners. It is exciting times to be part of SailGP for sure.”
Mike on persuading new sponsors to invest:
“Sponsorship is never easy, no matter what the property is. You can be the hottest property in the world, but the stars still need to align. It starts with one person at that brand who is a bit of a champion, to do the deal and they have a boss and usually that boss is the CEO and then it needs board approval for large investments and it only takes one person to say ‘no’.
So sponsorship at the larger scale is a bit difficult. But we have a property where people can tell their own story and we are kind of a new shiny object. We are finding that more and more brands are at least wanting to have a discussion with us.
This year, we brought on Tommy Hilfiger, Amazon and we are about to bring on a few more, so we see the momentum building, but it’s never easy and it never will be.”
Mike on the importance of an American audience for SailGP;
“Yes, we race in New York at the end of May this year and there’s nothing like playing sports in New York City. It’s a massive privilege to be alongside the Knicks and the Yankees and the Liberty and all these amazing teams that call NYC home.
Last year, we started to put a dent in making some noise when we were here. It’s very easy for people to come to our race and talk about our race, but when people who don’t come to your race are talking about your race, that’s when you know you are on the right track.
There’s an enormous amount of corporate firepower here in New York City, the World’s media is predominantly housed here, so yes, it’s very important for us to have a good showing here on the sporting side in May this year.”