Where's the Money
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Where’s The Money?By Ron Allen
The National Polo Center is back in business this month. The key word is ‘business’. In their eyes it’s nobody’s business on how much money they are making or losing. But it’s obvious by the lack of real sponsors the revenue streams are limited when it comes to advertising dollars. There are no team sponsors, their three primary tournaments are not sponsored, and the polo club itself always struggles to sign up paying advertisers.
Most of the signs in the end zone on the south side of the Sunday field are primarily ‘in kind’ meaning non-revenue sponsors or trade advertisers, in others words they are giving a client ad space in exchange for product. It’s been that way since the USPA took over in 2022. With free money from US Polo Assn maybe they don’t need to bother.
Guards Polo Club in England generates almost $16 million in revenue every summer with the annual Queen’s Cup as their major drawing card.
Polo in Argentina rakes in a ton of money during their spring season. All three tournaments in the Triple Crown have real commercial support. Each individual team has anywhere from 2 to 5 different sponsors. The Argentine Open at Palermo has companies coughing up $150k to nearly a million dollars for five weeks of advertising at the Cathedral of Polo.
