Let the funeral dirges begin, the North American Polo League is dead. After its unheralded debut in April of 2007, the non-league, league searched for an identity and a following (please refer to my blog from February 10, 2008-The North American Polo League).
With no identity of its own and no direction, the team patrons that had ponied up a few hundred thousand dollars apiece to participate found no sponsors, no television coverage and no value to either the teams or the league (which eliminated any possibility of a tax write off for the participants).
In the words of NAPL Executive Director Charles Smith:
“The unprecedented turmoil and uncertainty in global financial markets
has created an unattractive environment for the continued growth and
expansion of this new league.”
The problem is that this had nothing to do with any global financial markets. It was simply a poorly conceived business model. Following my February blog polo patron and successful business entrepreneur Marc Ganzi sent in a comment that was intended to direct the NAPL, but his advice (Comment to the February blog) evidently fell on deaf ears.
Smith went on to say:
“The revenue streams of NAPL are largely dependent on the promotion
budgets of major corporations and we are responding to the uncertainties
we all face.”
The fact of the matter was, the NAPL had nearly two years in which to develop a relationship with any major corporation, and they couldn’t. The NAPL had nothing to offer a potential corporation. It had no product or self-identity. They didn’t own a single stadium that could accommodate a large crowd; they had no television contract: and after over 18 months, they had no sponsors, to speak of.
I must admit, I was amused by their final claim of having “been successful in presenting the highest level of competitive polo to a broader national audience and in cooperation with the United States Polo Association, provided specific governance and new focus for the sport of polo.”
I can’t see where the NAPL was successful in doing anything but confusing the general public who attended USPA tournaments only to be reminded that the teams on the field were NAPL teams.
The NAPL is dead, and we can only hope that the efforts of the PROPOLO operations in New York (an international 30-goal, eight team polo tour) are better developed, promoted and attended.
One can only assume that the opening tournament of the Florida 20-goal season won’t be called the NAPL Cup, perhaps the RIP Cup?
