TALK
AIR TIME The USPA is bringing polo to the people, with telecasts of matches, both on major television networks and through streaming video on the internet, reports Christine Vermes
As all who know and love the game appreciate, there’s no substitute for being at the polo club watching some of the world’s top players battle it out with speed and intensity on any given Sunday. However, the next best thing to being there – and, for many, their first exposure to the sport – is through the medium of video footage. And broadcasts are an important element of the United States Polo Association (USPA) strategy to increase the interest in, and the appreciation of, the sport in America. The USPA brought the game of kings back to the American airwaves in 2013 after a decades-long hiatus, with the broadcast of the edited highlights of the US Open and Westchester Cup matches on the NBC Sports Network (NBC SN). NBC SN is the 24-hour
24
all-sports cable network owned by NBC – one of the country’s major broadcasting networks that is well known for carrying premier equestrian events such as the Kentucky Derby. The response from USPA members, not to mention the public at large, was so resoundingly positive that the programme was carried forward into 2014, with the CV Whitney Cup, Central
In two years, the viewing audience for polo telecasts grew by more than 20 per cent
hurlinghampolo.com
Park Polo Challenge and World Snow Polo Championship highlights telecast on the NBC SN, and the US Open appearing on the main NBC Sports streams. Most recently, broadcasters carried a 90-minute telecast – previous coverage had been 60 minutes – of the 2015 edition of the tournament, which included the thrilling Valiente vs Orchard Hill game. As well as all the action from the match, which was led by 10-goal powerhouses Adolfo Cambiaso, Facundo Pieres and Polito Pieres, the programme also included behind-the-scenes footage, interviews and a special USPA 125th-anniversary segment on the history of polo in the United States. The NBC telecasts are produced under the supervision of the USPA, which has striven
