Allianz has commissioned a report into the economic impact of participating, winning and hosting the America's Cup.

The winner of the America's Cup, which starts June 23 in Valencia decides the date and location of the next event. Dubai, San Francisco, Genoa and Valencia are considered as possible venues.

Team Alinghi from landlocked Switzerland is the first defending champion not to hold the event at home, and hasn't decided where to stage the races if it wins again.

The Allianz Economic Report conducted in co-operation with Professor Tom Cannon, Dean of Buckingham University Business School and a leading expert in sport and business finance has taken into account a large numbers of factors* in order to draw the conclusion found in the report.

"I have been conducting studies into sport for many years, but I was genuinely surprised by the size of the prize in the America's Cup", commented Professor Tom Cannon on the Allianz Economic Report. "A sport competed for by millionaires and billionaire has developed into an event which delivers billions of dollars to the winning syndicate and its chosen city."

Dubai would benefit the most because the event would coincide with the completion of $75 billion worth of investment including a new airport and metro in the United Arab Emirates sheikdom.

"There is a strong economic case for holding the next one in Dubai," said Professor Tom Cannon. "But the traditions of the sport are sometimes more important than cash."

Valencia, which spent $2.9 billion to prepare for the first edition in Europe since 1851, has "every chance" of hosting the next edition if Alinghi wins because the city has the infrastructure in place, Eugenio Perez, the regional government official responsible for the America's Cup, said in an interview.

A second straight edition would bring $2.75 billion of economic spinoffs to Valencia, Cannon's study said.

If BMW Oracle Racing were to win the Cup and bring it home to the USA to either San Francisco, the home of Larry Ellison's team, or Newport, the America's Cup host from 1930 to 1983, the corresponding economic impact would be $9.9 Billion or $4.5 Billion

Total economic return from Luna Rossa winning and then hosting the America's Cup in Genoa, Italy would be in the region of $3.75 Billion, according to the study.

If Emirates Team New Zealand won the 32nd America's Cup and took it in New Zealand, the total economic return for hosting the 33rd America's Cup in Auckland would reach $1.75 Billion.

Emirates Team New Zealand could expect to generate increased revenues if it chose to host the event in Dubai but would be unlikely to opt for the United Arab Emirates sheikdom.

"There is maybe a two in 10 chance," Cannon said. "There is too much emotion involved on the part of the New Zealand nation."

Success by Desafío Español would bring an additional $1.5 Billion into the Spanish economy in direct and indirect effects in the short to medium term of hosting the 33rd America's Cup- generating around 22,500 jobs.