Bermuda has been named as the venue for the 2017 America’s Cup, beating out the much fancied bid from San Diego, it was reported last night by The Associated Press.

Should the report prove to be correct — gained as it was on the condition of anonymity from someone close to the selection process — the decision is expected to result in a huge financial windfall for the Island.

Tourism officials would view the 35th edition of sailing’s biggest event coming to these shores as a “game changer”, with tens of thousands of visitors expected to descend on the Island.

It is expected that the event will create thousands of jobs and inject millions of dollars into Bermuda’s struggling economy.

Hosting one of world sport’s most prestigious events will also be a huge boost to the local construction industry.

Hotels, accommodation facilities as well as an international media centre will have to be built to provide the necessary infrastructure.

The story, broken by the AP’s Bernie Wilson, quickly did the rounds on social media and in outlets throughout the United States, but the key players consistently remained tight-lipped, including the Bermuda Government. The official unveiling will be in New York on December 2.

The person believed to have leaked the story to the AP said that software billionaire Larry Ellison, the owner of Oracle, made the decision after consulting with the CEO of his sailing team, Russell Coutts, a New Zealander who also is director of the America’s Cup Event Authority.

Reached in New Zealand, Coutts declined to confirm the decision, saying he was under a non-disclosure agreement. Members of San Diego’s bid effort, as well as officials with the Port of San Diego, also declined to comment, saying they were under a non-disclosure agreement. Mayor Kevin Faulconer refused to comment, his spokesman said, declining to give a reason.

In Bermuda, a Cabinet Office spokesperson released the following statement that neither confirmed nor denied the report: “Bermuda has been involved in a venue selection process with the America’s Cup Event Authority (ACEA) over the last seven to eight months. We understand that the ACEA will announce their decision on the AC35 host venue in New York on December 2. We look forward to that decision.”

Previously, Michael Dunkley, the Premier, had said that if Bermuda won the right to host the America’s Cup, the benefits from hosting the event in terms of job creation and boosting the economy could be “unprecedented”.

In 2013, San Francisco took in an estimated $346 million for hosting Team Oracle USA’s successful defence of the Auld Mug and reported more than 700,000 spectators on shore.

That would be equal to 30 Newport-Bermuda races.

Dr Grant Gibbons, the Minister for Economic Development and the leader of the Bermuda bid, said in June that the event in San Francisco had created 2,000 jobs for that city and Bermuda could expect a similar impact if it were selected as the host.

He added that hosting the America’s Cup would accelerate development and investment in several industry areas on the Island.

In seeing off San Diego, which has hosted the America’s Cup three times, Bermuda would become the first offshore venue by a defender out of choice.

The official announcement is not meant to be until December 2 in New York, which may lead organisers into furious rescheduling after news leaked into the public domain that Ellison and Coutts had gone for Bermuda.

During the Throne Speech this month, Government announced that it would be tabling an America’s Cup Act, which would be required for the Island to host either the 2017 competition or an America’s Cup World Series event next year.

The World Series, which will be sailed in 45-foot wing-sail catamarans, will come to the Island from October 16 to 18 next year. Spectators can expect the craft, aided by the latest technology in hydrofoiling, to reach speeds in excess of 60mph — quite possibly in Hamilton Harbour, although the Great Sound had been said to be the preferred venue.

That series, which will be hosted in multiple venues around the world, is merely the precursor to the real deal, when 62-foot catamarans will be on show.

These are meant to be a smaller and faster version of the 72-foot craft that zoomed up and down San Francisco Bay last December, when Oracle’s stunning comeback from 8-1 down left Team New Zealand and skipper Dean Barker heartbroken.

This decision will again have a negative effect on the New Zealanders, who have not held back in voicing their disapproval of Bermuda as a potential venue. Their challenge is largely government-funded and the belief is that having Bermuda as destination would better suit the privately funded teams while scaring away the Kiwis’ commercial partners.

Despite the disquiet, it is believed that New Zealand will nevertheless take its place among the challengers, which include Luna Rossa Challenge, Ben Ainslie Racing, Team France and Artemis Racing, with the possibility of another being added.

This will be the first time that a US defender holds the America’s Cup outside the United States. It will also be the first time in the regatta’s 163-year history that a defender sails the races in foreign waters by choice rather than necessity. In 2007 and 2010, Alinghi, of Switzerland, held the America’s Cup in Valencia, Spain, because it was not practical to race on Lake Geneva.

Before he won the America’s Cup in 2010, Ellison, one of the world’s richest men with a fortune estimated at $52 billion, spoke of how he wanted to return the silver trophy to the US after a 15-year absence. Now he appears to be taking it offshore after only one cycle in America.

Bermuda’s reputation as a tax haven will be doing the rounds, but those with the Island’s best interests at heart will state that it has a proud heritage as a maritime destination and would do the America’s Cup proud.

The worldwide attention and generating of jobs, investment and revenue across multiple sectors can only be seen as a positive at the time when the Island is in desperate need of regeneration.

The probable selection of Bermuda is the culmination of a nearly year-long process in which Coutts, who has an intimate knowledge of our waters given his history in the King Edward VII Gold Cup, considered venues from coast to coast in the US, including Chicago.

Now starts the countdown. First to the “official announcement” in 11 days’ time, then, hopefully, to the big day itself.