Mon 12th Oct 2020Global Polo’s OutlookThe current state of polo and the road ahead
Despite ongoing global pandemic situations, polo is slowly returning with events around the world. During August and September, tournaments were held in England, France and Santa Barbara with games livestreamed on Global Polo TV to audiences all over the world. As we approach the upcoming polo season in Argentina and the United States, Polo Times caught up with Global Polo TV to find out more, “We look forward to hosting events, ensuring players remain safe and healthy, and producing online digital platform content to allow fans to stay connected to the game”. The United States Polo Association (USPA) and Global Polo Entertainment (GPE), a for-profit subsidiary of the USPA, are both committed, now more than ever, to growing the game and bringing polo players and fans the best coverage of live games anytime, anywhere and on any device. In 2020, we launched a new over-the-top (OTT) platform called Global Polo TV that offers subscribers free access to content such as short films, video-on-demand and other archived games and interviews. From the onset, our goals for Global Polo TV have been to elevate the competition of our tournaments, such as the newly created Gauntlet of Polo®, and bring more awareness to the sport through global TV broadcasts and now this OTT platform. Since the January 2020 launch, more than 8,000 fans have subscribed from 50 countries, yielding 165,000 visits to the site. More than 468 programs aired and subscribers viewed tens of thousands of hours of content. As we look to the future, we are committed to growing Global Polo TV to reach more polo fans and provide content fans want. Global Polo TV’s growth will occur through wider distribution, exclusive game broadcasts, increases in live game broadcasts and higher frequency of specialty programming such as player profiles, team features, historic game airings, sponsored content and so much more. During the past few months, we have worked hard to analyse sports broadcast and digital broadcast industry leaders, as well as other polo organisations that have various forms of subscription and pay-for-view revenue models, for single games and tournaments across different broadcast platforms. Through our research and review of industry best practices, we developed three attractive and viable subscription packages to extend to polo players, grooms and fans to engage with top USPA events in the United States. Beginning on 3 November, 2020, Global Polo TV will offer special pricing for these three new packages to players, grooms and fans through 1 January, 2020: • The Polo Pass will include games for more than 18 live tournaments (excluding the Gauntlet of Polo® series) for an annual fee of $49.99 (a $75.00 value.) • The Gauntlet of Polo® Pass will include all three Gauntlet of Polo® tournament games (C.V. Whitney Cup, the USPA Gold Cup® and the U.S. Open Polo Championship®) for a seasonal fee of $125.00. • The Premium Polo Pass will include all live streamed games of the Polo Pass and the Gauntlet of Polo® Pass for a discounted fee of $175.00 (a $225.00 value.)** Although the next year will likely remain uncertain, we are committed to coming together to watch polo on a platform that will both deliver world-class polo content and unite polo fans around the world. To sign up for these special offers, visit globalpolo.com. **All USPA Playing and Lifetime members receive the Premium Polo Pass complimentary. Follow up with the USPA membership director to learn more. |