Equestrian Games sponsor rep visits Aiken

It may be a year away, but human and equine athletes are preparing for the largest equestrian event to ever be held in the United States.

The 2010 Alltech Federation Equestre Internationale World Equestrian Games will be held at the 1,200-acre Kentucky Horse Park in Georgetown, Ky., from Oct. 25 to Nov. 10, 2010, marking the first time the sporting event has been held outside of Europe.

Dr. T. Pearse Lyons, founder and president of Alltech Inc., and Susan Reynolds, a World Equestrian Foundation competition staff member and a FEI Advanced level eventer, were in Aiken and gave a presentation Monday at Newberry Hall about the opportunity associated with being part of the spectacle. Alltech is a worldwide animal health company that employs more than 1,900 and has a presence in 113 countries.

The estimated impact of the games, held every four years, will be about $150 million, Lyons said. It's expected that the estimated television viewership (coverage will be on NBC in the United States) will be more than 460 million worldwide. There will be more than 700 equine athletes, 600 human athletes, with representation from more than 60 countries. It's estimated that more than 600,000 people will attend the games, with more than 2,000 of those being journalists, he said.

There was something special about the World Equestrian Games, said Lyons, who seized on the opportunity to be part of the event that showcases the best in equestrian sport in the following disciplines of dressage, endurance, eventing, reining, jumping, vaulting, driving and para-equestrian. The previous five World Equestrian Games have been held in Europe, with the last games being held in 2006 in Aachen, Germany. Alltech as the title sponsor has invested $10 million in the event.

"I'm an entrepreneur, and typically you see the opportunity very quickly. I thought here's a world-class event that for some reason is underexposed," Lyons said. "I thought, what an incredible opportunity to be front and center. And what was going through my mind was, 'How much can we afford?' The largest prior investment was about $3 million. I thought that would be $2.5 million a year over 4 years, or about $200,000 a month, I thought we could afford that.'

Lyons had not attended any of the previous World Equestrian Games but visited Aachen after making the decision to become involved with the event.

"I wanted to see what we had gotten ourselves into, and we walked around Aachen with a jaundiced eye, a suspicious eye, and we came back with a myriad of ideas of what we could do," Lyons said. "A very good friend of mine, Jim Host (former WEG 2010 Foundation board chairman), who effectively built the Horse Park when he was the in the state government during the 1970s and has always been very enthusiastic and supportive of us, and the fact that Alltech made the decision to sponsor the event meant that not once did the World Equestrian Games Foundation have to go back to the government."

There has never been a profit made in the history of WEG, said Lyons, who has lived in Lexington, Ky., for more than 30 years.

"This time will be the first time a profit will be made," Lyons said. "We have no choice but to make a profit, but because we stepped forward as the title sponsor and then put another $1 million in to expand our presence through the beer (to be sold at the games). We put $11 million in, and that removed a lot of the financial concerns."

A chance to be involved in the world championships compelled Reynolds to become involved.

"The event was being held in my own backyard; how could you not want to be involved with it?" Reynolds asked. "I have a background as a horseman, and I think the areas of expertise I bring are knowing what competitors are looking for and what they need - what grooms are looking for and what the horses should have."