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US challenger BMW Oracle Racing giant trimaran sails during the second race of the 33rd America's Cup off Valencia's coast on February 14, 2010 in Valencia, Spain.

Within 17 days, San Francisco could learn whether it will host the next America’s Cup regatta – an obscure but feted sporting event that could inject $1 billion into the region’s economy.

A $12 million bid to host at least 43 days of catamaran races near the city’s northern waterfront over the next several years was unanimously approved Tuesday by its Board of Supervisors. It will be signed by Mayor Gavin Newsom and submitted to race organizers.

“We thank the Board of Supervisors for reconfirming their interest in hosting the 34th America’s Cup with such a resounding 'yes,'” said BMW Oracle Racing team chief official Stephen Barclay in a statement after Tuesday’s vote.

Larry Ellison’s BMW Oracle Racing team won the Cup in February and is responsible for selecting a host venue and setting race rules.

“We will assess all of the venue options for hosting the 34th America's Cup so that we can select the winning City before our deadline of Dec. 31,” Barclay said. “We've seen good progress, so now we will study the details. We continue to be focused on our responsibility to secure an agreement that enables us to run a world-class event whilst ensuring the America's Cup Event Authority is not put at financial risk.”

Lawmakers’ unanimous support for the bid was remarkable given sharp division that quickly emerged after an earlier proposed bid, which was far more generous than the one supported today, was approved by a 9-2 vote in non-binding terms several months ago. Supervisors Chris Daly and John Avalos cast the dissenting votes then.

Following that vote, Daly pledged to bring lawsuits and a “white squall” to block the bid.

The Board of Supervisors’ budget analysts estimated that the initial bid would have cost the cash-strapped city $128 million to execute in event-related expenses and lost waterfront development rights.

“I knew that the city just could not afford that type of outlay of cash,” Daly said Tuesday before joining with his colleagues in voting to approve the revised bid, which the analysts say would cost the public $12 million. “I am happy that I have come aboard.”

It remains unclear whether San Francisco will win the right to host the event, but city officials say they believe the city has submitted the world’s most competitive bid.

The initial bid was negotiated by Newsom’s office at a time when city officials had been told that Larry Ellison’s BMW Oracle Racing team and its event authority was courting bids from other cities worth hundreds of millions of euros apiece.

But those claims have long since been debunked, although race officials over the weekend said that they were reopening talks with potential hosts on the east coast and in Italy.

The team said in a weekend letter that it opposed San Francisco’s latest bid. It argued that it was not sufficiently generous, making the event too financially risky for them to hold, because it would not allow them to use or redevelop the heavily tenanted and expansive Pier 50 in Mission Bay. Those rights were present in the initial bid.

San Francisco’s maritime community angrily opposed plans to displace tenants from Pier 50, where city and blue-collar workers are employed, to make way for organizers of a sport that it is not particularly popular in northern California and is widely regarded as elitist.

But in recent months the balance of power in negotiations shifted strongly in favor of San Francisco, where Ellison’s team is headquartered. Worldwide economic conditions appear to have prevented other cities from submitting competitive bids.

Mark Buell, a senior member of the Golden Gate Yacht Club, which sponsors Ellison’s team, appeared relieved following the vote.

“This is the best deal not only for San Francisco but the best for BMW Oracle Racing team,” Buell said. “I'm convinced they'll use their judgment to sign this deal. They were negotiating the best deal they could get.”

The proposed format of the regatta will involve more days of racing and more challengers than traditional Cup events.

Organizers aim to attract the interest of young fans by creating exciting races suited to extremely fit sailors, all of whom are expected to wear video cameras and have their names emblazoned across their backs.

During a September press conference announcing the new format, BMW Oracle Racing CEO Russell Coutts said the event would feature racing that is shorter, sharper and more spectacular than traditional yachting events.

“Racing that matches the expectations of the Facebook generation – not the Flintstone generation,” Coutts pledged.

The outcomes of yacht races are often decided at the starting line, which can lead to boring spectator experiences because it can be difficult for a crew to overtake an opponent.

To overcome that problem, race organizers selected catamaran designs and will chart zig-zag courses in an effort to maximize opportunities for jostling and overtaking by the crews throughout the races.

The regatta will be staged as a made-for-television event, but event organizers plan to set courses that will see the speedy catamarans sailed in famously strong breezes close to city shorelines packed with spectators.

Silicon Valley firms are expected to help organizers create courses with virtual buoys that can be shifted as wind and other weather conditions change.

The success of the event will depend largely upon recruiting a large number of competing crews. Many potential challengers say they are waiting to learn the venue of the next event before deciding whether they will enter.

If the event is successful, it could lead to a $1 billion spending boon by visitors and spectators and provide new employment opportunities, the city and a regional big business group estimated.

Gerry Shih contributed reporting.