Soon after Taihoro achieved its seventh win in the 37th America's Cup, ETNZ chief operating officer Kevin Shoebridge confirmed that a challenge had been accepted by the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron.

[6] Speculation has centred around Jeddah in Saudi Arabia or Valencia in Spain or Auckland, which hosted three times in total, 30th, 31st and 37th editions respectively.

Notion of returning to Barcelona was once conjectured, but was ultimately rejected by both Team New Zealand CEO Grant Dalton and council of the Catalan capital.

[7] City council was satisfied enough with the unique event in 37th edition due to enormous economical and promotional impacts.

[6] Team New Zealand CEO Grant Dalton planned to make the competition more commercially viable, indicating that he favored 2026, one year earlier than expected for quick turnaround and use of the hard assets that the six current teams in possession: AC40, AC75, hydrogen chase boats, simulators and gym equipment.

After a split in January 2025 between Ben Ainslie and Ineos Team UK the challenge for the 38th America's Cup is yet to be announced.

[11] In a statement released Ainslie said his challenge will be known as Athena Racing going forward, aligning with the British Women's and Youth America's Cup team.

According to the 8 November statement both RNZYS and RYS are committed to building on the success of the AC37 Women's and Youth America's Cup events.