Benoit Perrier: Leading the Chantilly Polo Legacy

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
You are listening to the Outside the Boards podcast.
I'm Daniel Leary.
For most of my professionalcareer, I have worked in
mainstream sports for some ofthe world's leading sports
organizations and properties andblue chip brands, helping to
create award-winningomni-channel marketing campaigns
, result-driven sales strategiesand impactful brand building
initiatives.
But all that work doesn'tcompare to the fun, excitement

(00:25):
and challenges I've beenfortunate to experience working
for the king of all sports, polo.
For nearly a decade, I've putmy heart and ambition into
helping advance the sport ofpolo.
I've made lifelong friendships,met some incredible people,
traveled to memorable polodestinations and heard the
craziest stories.
My goal is to share thesepeople, places and stories with

(00:47):
you and provide a uniquebehind-the-scenes perspective of
the game that breaks all thecommon stereotypes, all while
discussing key issues affectingthe sport today and the
constructive sharing of ideas,insights, solutions and
best-case studies for thepurpose of advancing polo
globally.
Every week, I will have honestconversations with polo industry

(01:07):
leaders, enthusiasts andawe-inspiring people who make
this sport great and fun to bearound.
I hope, through their knowledgeand their unique perspectives,
they will motivate and inspireyou.
Together, we will explore waysyou can make small tweaks to
boost your polo business,whether you are a club, event,
team or player.
That will amount to big changesin revenue, participation,

(01:30):
attendance and exposure Saddleup.
Welcome to Outside the Boardswith me, daniel O'Leary.
Hi everyone, daniel O'Learyhere and welcome to Season 5 of
the Outside the Boards podcast.
On this episode of Outside theBoards, I'm honored to welcome a

(01:52):
true international voice inpolo, benoit Perrier, managing
Director of the Chantilly PoloClub and one of the sport's most
thoughtful strategists andglobal connectors.
Based just outside Paris,chantilly is not only one of
Europe's most iconic polo venues, but also a cultural and
competitive hub where traditionmeets forward-thinking vision,
and Benoit is at the heart of itall.

(02:13):
With a background that blendsbusiness acumen, multilingual
diplomacy and an unwaveringcommitment to the sport, benoit
has helped elevate ChantillyPolo Club into a world-class
destination for players, horsesand spectators alike.
The club hosts dozens oftournaments each year, from
grassroots competitions toprestigious international events
, and under Benoit's leadership,it's become a model for how

(02:36):
polo clubs can thrive bycombining heritage with
innovation.
But Benoit's impact doesn't stopat the club gates.
As a global polo ambassador,he's played a pivotal role in
growing the game across Europeand beyond, connecting
federations, buildingpartnerships and championing
sustainability, diversity and along-term player development.
His approach is both strategicand deeply personal, rooted in a

(03:00):
lifelong love for horses, sportand the community that
surrounds them.
And a lifelong love for horses,sport and the community that
surrounds them.
Whether he's organizing theFrench Open, mentoring young
players or working withinternational partners to shape
the future of polo, benoitbrings a sense of clarity and
calm leadership that is as rareas it is necessary.
So, without further ado, let'swelcome Benoit Perrier of the

(03:20):
Chantilly Polo Club to the show.
Enjoy hey, where is Anne?
And Alice Perrier of theChantley Polo Club to the show.

Speaker 2 (03:25):
Enjoy.
Hey, we're Rosanna and Alice,the co-founders of Line Up Polo.
Before this episode starts, wewanted to introduce you to the
platform we've built for thesport we love.
Line Up is where modern polocomes together.
For club managers, there's apowerful web platform where you
can create and publishtournaments, fixtures and teams,
and that info instantly appearsin the Line Up app where
players, fans and publishtournaments, fixtures and teams.

(03:46):
And that info instantly appearsin the lineup app where players
, fans and organizers can seeeverything in one place, from
live scoring and team entry toplayer stats and schedules.
We've made it easy to run andfollow polo, whether you're
organizing games or just turningup to watch.
Lineup makes polo moreconnected, accessible and future
ready.
Search for lineup polo on theapp or Play Store to get started
.

Speaker 1 (04:06):
Benoit Perrier, how are you doing, man?
Very well, very well, and you,I'm doing great.
I'm so excited to have you aspart of this podcast series.
Chanty Polo Club has been on mymind for a few years,
especially going into the ParisGames, and you guys have been a

(04:26):
very recognizable club on theinternational stage of polo.

Speaker 3 (04:29):
Yeah, thank you.
We have a good team, we havegood partners, good players at
the club and on good tournaments, on good fields.
So this combination to have agood team working every day is
one of the main components withthe polo field.
And then you need to havepartners who believe in your

(04:51):
club and to follow us and tosupport us and to have teams
coming at the club, to havemembers who want to invest in
the club, to become shareholders.
So it's a whole combination.
It's really important to havethis full combination, to have a
club who can improve and offera large rank of services and

(05:13):
facilities to any polopassionate.

Speaker 1 (05:19):
And then that's one of the reasons why I've been so
interested in having you on,because part of my job is, you
know, I always identify and keepaware of a lot of the teams,
the players, the clubs who Ifeel like from a commercial
standpoint, from a branding andmarketing standpoint, are just
doing it right and doing it very, very well in telling, just not

(05:42):
advertising and promoting thesport of polo, but in alignment
with demographics, the polo'saffinity to you know, obviously
it's.
I know it's more of a luxurysport but a more affluent sport,
but I think you guys do a goodjob of just making it accessible
and promoting it to everyone.
There's a little bit ofnotoriety, I think, the fact

(06:05):
that you guys are in France theParis Games were just there, so
that just amplifies theattention that polo and your
club is getting.
So I'm thrilled to have you onbecause I love talking to those
individuals who are responsiblefor their clubs from overseas.
Is this an opportunity forclubs in the United States and
elsewhere to take key points andbest case studies back home

(06:30):
with them that they canultimately amplify their
properties and organizations aswell?
But before we get into theChanchi Polo Club obviously
you're the commercial and eventsdirector there and done a
fantastic job.
I've heard your name tossedaround among many of Polo's
trailblazers and leaders hereback home in the US, but before

(06:51):
we get into that, I'm alwayseager to learn about how you got
into Polo.

Speaker 3 (06:57):
Yeah, the first thing how we started Polo.
Well, I started Polo thanks tomy father.
It's a funny story.
We were a family in horsebreeding for racing horse racing
and my father one of theclients and friends of my father
asked him to go to buy somepolo horses in Paris to bring

(07:20):
them close to Switzerlandbecause he wanted to start to
play polo.
So my father went to Paris,went to a different place where
you can find polo horses, andbought two horses for his
friends and he bought one forhim at the same time.
So, bring him back.

(07:42):
And we're living in Lyon, veryclose to Lyon, in the Beaujolais
, my father used to have a horsebreeding place with three
stallions, 30 mares for horseracing.
So we start to have this horse.
He start to take some pololesson and step by step he
become addicted.

(08:03):
So soon we get some otherfriends coming at the house, at
the farm and step by step we endwith 50 horses, polo horses at
the farm and 50 friends comingevery weekend to enjoy, to play
Polo.
But it was very like we callPolo Campo, very friendly, no,

(08:25):
professional.
Even the fields in was not veryflat at that time.
One of the field was going upand going down.
Another one was going down andgoing up, so it was just very
amateur.
So I learned polo in thatatmosphere was riding a little
bit and I really started to rideand to play a little bit with

(08:48):
some of the friends.
I was 12 years old that's whenI started to play polo.
So it was very family polo,family friends, no competition,
no professional.
Really that's the start of the.
Not professional really was atthe start of the.
Because all the polo, my polostories, is through my father

(09:09):
who was building his, his lifeafter 40 years old now you
mentioned that he, when he wasout purchasing polo horses, he
bought one for himself.

Speaker 1 (09:21):
Had he been playing polo before that, or just is
this?
Hey, let me give this a try.

Speaker 3 (09:26):
He's a good rider.
He's a good rider, so he startslike that.
And then he went to take somelessons at the time with my care
family, which is a veryimportant family in polo in
Paris, brought some friends withhim and they start like that.
I mean, at that time I remembervery well because we the first
competition we have organizedwhen I was maybe around 14 years

(09:50):
old was French ChampionshipPaddock Polo.
Paddock Polo is three againstthree on the small field, on
grass, easy to organize, to playfor everyone.
It's fun.
You play with the arena balland it was funny because these
friends Organized to play foreveryone.
It's fun.
You play with the arena ball andit was funny because these
friends, this group of friends,they start to promote it.

(10:11):
Because they went to Paris,they ask what we can do to
develop polo.
Well, maybe you can do thatcompetition.
So they start to develop it.
And the first competition wasorganized 5,000 people coming to
Lyon to see polo.
And that was crazy because polowas not even show at that time
except Paris.
Very limited number of clubs inFrance and very exclusive in

(10:32):
Paris.
So that's the beginning of thestory.

Speaker 1 (10:36):
You mentioned something interesting.
You mentioned that it wasn'tarena polo, but it was something
on a smaller scale and youplayed with an arena ball.
You had a name for it.
What did you call it?
It's called paddock polo.

Speaker 3 (10:48):
Paddock polo, okay, and that's a very easy way to
start polo in a club in a funnyway.
Not arena on grass, except ifarena now is becoming a real
important topic for polo in theworld, because water can be an
issue in the future.
So we have to have differentway and we have to think about

(11:12):
to have different facilityalready in all the case.

Speaker 1 (11:15):
How was the venue set up for paddock polo?
Was it kind of like an arenasetting in a way where it was
still on grass?

Speaker 3 (11:21):
Not on grass.
On grass In one normal fieldyou can do two.
Paddock polo field.
Okay, more or less.
You take a normal standard polofield and in that standard polo
field you can do two.

Speaker 1 (11:34):
Was it three on three instead of four on four?

Speaker 3 (11:36):
Yeah, you do three against three.
Okay, because the peephole iseasy to watch, very easy to
watch.

Speaker 1 (11:41):
I know we diverted a little bit, but um uh, simon
wilson from urban polo out innew zealand, I feel like, has a
version of that.
It's in between what youdescribed an arena polo, because
the goal ends are open so youcan ride through, but the sides
of the field they're like arena.
There there's walls up and theyplay with an arena ball.

(12:02):
So, yeah, no, it's that.
That's.
That's clever.
I have not seen anything.
I mean, we call it, like youknow, stick and ball fields,
which temporarily are smallerfields for the most part.
But that's just trying to whackit around and what have you.

Speaker 3 (12:15):
That's a good opportunity for clubs when you
want to start to have a poloseason on grass and you don't
have the capacity to invest in areal polo field and you want to
start good first step for poloclub.
On the polo manager, we want tostart with not a big investment
, to start to create a number ofpeople, to have fun, to create

(12:36):
new, new polo players, easy tostart.
Of course, polo on a real field, four against four, is the best
of the best, but with polo youcan have a lot of fun and people
are looking for fun.
They're not all want to be inthe top league.
We need to have the top league.

(12:56):
We need to have top players.
We need also to have this baseof polo players and they need to
have fun.
They need to enjoy and to havefun.

Speaker 1 (13:06):
What you described, I think, is another, another
alternative.
It's an alternative to outdoor.
It's an alternative to arena tomake use of a space to make
polo accessible, especially foramateurs and new beginners.

Speaker 3 (13:17):
At the end of the day , so yeah, and you know how many
stories we heard about poloclubs where people argue and so
even they cannot be four againstfour.
So it's a good way to start,easy way and you can have a polo
school and it's not verycomplicated that's great.

Speaker 1 (13:35):
I know we might revisit that as we continue to
talk, but I just want to getback to you and your father.
And what have you?
And you said that you got yourstart in polo at the age of 12.
Were you riding before that atany time or any other equestrian
discipline?
Were you on track to become ajockey?

Speaker 3 (13:53):
No, no, I was not very attracted by horses.
I was riding when I was very,very young, like six, seven
years old, and then I had anaccident and I stopped to ride.
For at least four years and ahalf.
I started to be confident, tobe back on the saddle, thanks to
polo.

Speaker 1 (14:13):
What kind of injury did you have?
Was it related to polo no?

Speaker 3 (14:16):
I was riding and I had the horse a bit crazy, so
bad fall, that's all but justmore shock than really injured.

Speaker 1 (14:27):
Did you advance at all?
You know how did you playcompetitively.
You know deserves there acertain handicap that you
reached at some sort of point.

Speaker 3 (14:35):
I was never considering polo as a
professional play.
I reached two goals on the gap,but I was studying and I went
to work in different topics.
And then I was more goals onthe gap, but I was studying and
I went to work in differenttopics.
And then I was more working onthe organization and the polo
management and looking forsponsors, organizing events
around polo than trying to playas a professional.

(14:58):
So I didn't have a career likea polo professional player.
That means to buy horses, tryto sell myself to different.
I was with playing who wants toplay and I was on to have fun
with friends and they werehelping me a little bit.
I played with good friends asthey were supporting me by

(15:24):
rating me some horses, but neverbeen like to do a career like a
polo professional.

Speaker 1 (15:32):
How long have you been in the business of polo?

Speaker 3 (15:35):
I was working a few years with Patrick Guerin Hermès
when I just finished my studies, patrick was having the idea of
Patrick Gormes.
He's a founder of ChantillyPolo Club, the one who asked my
father to come to Chantilly todevelop the club.

(15:56):
I was just ending my studiesand Patrick was looking for a
few people to help him to be theassistant to develop, to
receive and to host the PoloWorld Championship in 2004 at
Chantilly.
So it was a two years project.
So I started to work like 2003,2004 on it.

(16:19):
Then I did another year to helpto develop all events and then
I went to work in differenttopics.
I went to work in eventbusiness in Paris and on
publishing and I came back a fewyears later to work back for
Chantilly Polo Club.
So now it's like 14 years thatI'm working at the club and the

(16:43):
club was founded when Aroundwhat time?
Founded in 1995 on the firstseason on grass 1996.

Speaker 1 (16:53):
Okay, got it, and so you were kind of brought in to
really make significant changein terms of the Polo Club's
future commercialization and itsevents.

Speaker 3 (17:02):
I've seen all the development at the club for the
last 30 years.
I mean, uh and I was in polobefore that in uh, we're
breeding horses, schoolinghorses at the farm and, um, I
mean, I always been with.
Polo for me was more hobbiesand a job, yeah, but with the
time you have to become more andmore professional in what

(17:26):
you're doing and the club isgrowing up.
So you need to to grow up alsoin your way to organize and to
to improve and to be betterevery year in the the way to
organize polo, because at theend it's a lot of money invested
by polo players to play highgoal polo, medium goal, low goal

(17:47):
.
So you really have to give yourbest to host and receive

(18:24):
international and local membersat the Chanté Polo Club.
Mm-hmm.
Now, when you came into deChantilly is a very protected
location.
It's a donation of the lastlord of Chantilly to the state
through the French Academy atthe end of the 19th century, so
surrounded by forest.

(18:44):
There is a very, very, veryimportant horse culture with
horse racing, the K3N show andthe horse museum at Chantilly
and also the Polo Chantilly PoloClub.
The jumping Patrick, guérandHermès came at Chantilly at the
beginning because the bestriders for jumping were based in

(19:08):
Chantilly.
It's a very special location.
It's stunning.
Yeah, honestly, I love thatplace.
It's beautiful, it's green.
We're surrounded by the historyof the last centuries, the last
centuries, the last pastcenturies.
It's funny because even in 1920, they were playing polo after

(19:33):
war they were playing polo veryclose to the club because La
Vercine, the team of theRothschild family, was based
here.
So there is a location close tothe club.
It used to be the polo fieldfor the Rothschild family.
They were playing competition.
Churchill came here.
You find different pieces ofthe history, not only polo, but

(19:58):
also the history of France, onthat special location.

Speaker 1 (20:03):
Yeah, well, you also mentioned the ties with military
as well, and that's a verystrong connection here in the
United States is that oftenpeople forget that Polo played a
critical and important piece oftraining Calvary officers and
forces in battle, and Polo wasused to do that and people often

(20:23):
forget about that key piece toit.
So it's it's nice that you youtouch on that, because
oftentimes in my conversationswith people when we talk about
the history polo especiallygoing pre-world war, that sort
of thing it's often talked aboutthat, that strong connection
between them you, you're totallyright about that.

Speaker 3 (20:42):
I mean, polo has been a sport thanks to the army,
thanks to the British army.
First the sport was existing onthe format with thanks to the
Marajah and the Persian Empirewas going through the centuries.
But Europeans, they reallystart to play polo thanks to the

(21:05):
British who brought back fromIndia the sport of.
The Erlingham Polo Associationis the first polo federation is
the first one.

Speaker 1 (21:16):
Now going back to your club.
In comparison to other clubs onan international level, you
guys have to be one of thebiggest.
I mean you guys have ninefields, is that right?

Speaker 3 (21:28):
Yeah, we have nine fields, eight polo fields and
one stick and ball field.

Speaker 1 (21:34):
Okay, and then.
How many horses for stabling doyou have?

Speaker 3 (21:38):
We have at the club 400 stables plus a lot of
paddocks, and then we arebuilding temporary stables and
the quantity of temporary stabledepends on the request of the
teams.
Actually, we are at the startof the season on the grass and
we have 360 stable temporarystable in addition to all of the

(22:01):
400.
September is really the secondbig spot of the year after June.
May, june until mid of July isthe high season for us, and then
September, and September is theFrench Open.
We host in September around1,400 horses at the club.

Speaker 1 (22:21):
Wow, that's incredible In terms of the size
of your polo club in comparisonto others internationally, you
guys have to be one of thebiggest.
I mean, do you feel like youcan put an 18 golf course on
your property?

Speaker 3 (22:33):
I mean, the organization is done to be very
flexible.
The organization is designedwith a lot of flexibility to
build or to take off quickly, toadapt or logistic according to
the number of horses.
But for having that, you need tohave very good providers.
You need to have a good teamfor the logistic aspect.

(22:57):
That means you need to havesuppliers, this capacity to have
trucks to bring the equipment,to have the staff to go and come
back.
That's very important.
Don't have the logistics.
We cannot welcome so many teamsfor the logistic aspect of the
stabling and the food and theprocess to maintain stable

(23:18):
during two months, three months,three weeks.

Speaker 1 (23:22):
Are you guys in the business of breeding and
training horses as well?

Speaker 3 (23:27):
We don't breed.
We breed a few ones.
My father and I, we arepartners.
We have horses for rentinganother company than we have and
we breed a little bit becauseit's one of the passion of my
father to breed.
So we do a few ones.
But what we do is we areschooling Polo horses.

(23:51):
So as we have the horse racingfacility very close, we school
horse racing to Polo.
But you have a lot of playerswho breed like one or two mares
and some other professionals aretrying to do in a more
important way, in Normandy, forexample.

(24:11):
So it's important to have, Ithink, to have some breeding
actors for polo.
Argentina is Argentina still thebest and they do that very,
very well.
You cannot compete, but you canhave a production of polar
horses in europe.

(24:31):
They do in america, they do inengland, they do in europe.
Uh, so now if you are a goodrider you can do it.
You need time.
And what is inconvenient?
In Chantilly during the winterwe have a special program that
for professionals.
Come with young horses at theclub.

(24:52):
We do a special rate, winterrate, to help them.
We invoice them at cost.
They have a good way to have aninfrastructure.
They can play during the winterwith the green horses and it's
a good help for the club becauseit makes more players during
the winter and we can organizemore practices.

(25:14):
And they help us also for somepolo tournament school or polo
tournament on arena.
About the polo school.
Polo school is a About the poloschool.
Polo school is a big issue forthe clubs because it takes time
to have polo players To achievethe process to become a polo

(25:36):
player.
You don't become a polo playerlike that.
It takes time.
It takes time.
You need trainings, you need tohave checkers, you need to go
step by step to move on toimprove your polo skill, so you
don't become a polo player inone year.

Speaker 1 (25:53):
I can attest to that, that's for sure.

Speaker 3 (25:55):
So if you, want to have a regular time.
If you don't have a full timecapacity to play during the
whole year, it takes like fouror five years before to really
have your full capacity to playpolo.

Speaker 1 (26:08):
What is your season?
Between what times of year areyou guys most active?

Speaker 3 (26:12):
We start in April and we end October.
Okay, August we just playpractice, because most of the
teams are going to play on thecoast summer polo, so they go to
Deauville, La Bolle,Saint-Tropez For France.
Some of them, some of the teamsgo to Soto Grande in Spain also

(26:34):
.
So we just play practice andsome trainings during August.
But we are also preparing thehigh season of September.
So that means everyone ispreparing and working on the
fields to be ready for September.

Speaker 1 (26:51):
That's a pretty long season, but that's great though.

Speaker 3 (26:56):
We play around 50 tournaments per year, so it's
like around 500 games per seasonon grass.

Speaker 1 (27:02):
Wow, that's impressive.
That just demonstrates yoursize of your venue in itself.
One question I had was youmentioned that the race course
is not that far from you.

Speaker 3 (27:14):
Yeah, it's very close .
I mean we are not based inChantilly specifically, we are
just five kilometers fromChantilly Center.
Chantilly you have a racetrackand that's for every polo player
in the world.
If you come to shanti you haveto play at shanti polo club, but
also you have to go to ride inthe forest of shanti, because

(27:38):
it's really something amazingand impressive to gallop on the
lion's track in front of thecastle, because they have more
than 300 kilometers of race lineinside the forest.
Oh wow, maintain every day totrain, because more than 2000
horses are trained every day inthe forest of Chantilly and the

(28:02):
Eagle Center.
You have in La Morlaix also ahuge training horse training
facility and the Forest ofChantilly plus another location
close to Chantilly also whereyou have, so it's one of the
biggest centers in France forhorse racing.

Speaker 1 (28:20):
It sounds, just the efficiencies, the benefits of
being close to that enterprise,if you will, or that ecosystem.
It sounds like it's reallyshaped your polo club as well,
or benefited from that horseracing culture that's out there.

Speaker 3 (28:35):
Well, one of the founding members of Chantilly
Polo Club is André Fabre, andAndré Fabre is the top of the
top for horse racing in Francefor more than 30 years.
So we have a link with thehorse racing.
We do events with them, withthe horse racing community.
We are part of the program toprotect horses from horse racing

(28:59):
.
We are part of the programOdola de Peace, which is a
program who helps the horsesfrom horse sport.

Speaker 1 (29:07):
It's great to hear that, because here in Chicago we
used to have the ArlingtonRacetrack, which was owned by
the same group that ownsChurchill Downs, and it closed
its doors I think three or fouryears ago, I believe, shortly
after COVID, and it was reallydevastating to, I believe, the

(29:28):
horse community here, becauseyou can go to certain suburbs
that have private pastures andwhat have you and you see
unpainted fencing and not usedby horses anymore whatsoever.
I always thought aboutcombining our efforts and seeing
if the polo community and thehorse racing community could

(29:49):
join up in any sort of way.
That unfortunately can't happenanymore, but that was a sad day
when Arlington Racetrack closedits doors and the whole entire
field now the whole entireracetrack has been demolished.
So it's great that you havethat long history and that even
connection between two differentdisciplines of equestrian

(30:10):
sports right in your backyard.
It's a cool way how to takeadvantages of audiences.
Disciplines in the equine world, yeah, so I applaud you guys.
I never knew that you had thatstrong a connection in your area
.

Speaker 3 (30:26):
So no, it's very important, very important.
And I mean we do also haveanother part of with all the
forest you can do also arcentingin the forest, which is
interesting about the ground,because initially the noble,
they were hunting a lot inshanti, because the location is

(30:47):
very sandy, so that means theground is very, not sandy, uh,
so you in the forest.
That's why the forest has beendesigned that way it's for
hunting during the year for thenobles, and that tradition has
been maintained and so so youstill have we call it equipage,

(31:07):
who does hunting, or hunting inChantilly, and it's part also of
the history and it's part ofalso why the forest has been
designed that way.

Speaker 1 (31:18):
It sounds like an incredible destination.

Speaker 3 (31:20):
Even the polo ground here.
That's why we have fields thatare very sandy, so even if it's
raining a lot, we can play.
That's good.

Speaker 1 (31:30):
The opposite is kind of here, Becomes a bit of a
soggy mess.
So, Peri, the racehorse, theclub, it sounds as though
there's a lot of luxury, elitism, things like that.
Obviously, that comes with oursport and what have you?
Would you say your club ishighly accessible when it comes

(31:52):
to people who are looking to getinvolved in the sport, play the
sport or attend your matchesand audience.
Is your club accessible?
Is it a cheap ticket to get to?
I would not say it's a cheapticket.

Speaker 3 (32:05):
I would say the philosophy of the club is to be
a park open to everyone who lovehorses and would like to come
and play polo.
The vision of Patrick and thevision of the members of the
Chantilly Hip Hop Club and thepresident of the club, arnaud
Chenevert, is really to have alocation where everyone can play

(32:29):
polo.
Of course, polo.
If you want to take a pololesson, I mean you come, you
take a private polo lesson.
It's 170 euros, so everyone canafford that.
Normally.
Okay, to live an experiencewith polo, it's possible.
The thing is, if you want toplay tournaments, if you want to

(32:52):
play competitive polo, it hasso many aspects.
You have your request to havegood horses.
You have a request to have agood organization.
You have a request to have agood organization.
You have a request.
You need so many criteria to beready to play good polo, to
play high goal polo, to have apolo team, to put a polo team

(33:14):
together on the field.
It's not easy.
First, you need to be brave toplay polo.
You need to ride well, you needto be a good team player.
You need to have good horseswith you.
I mean it takes time, takestime so you can come and
discover.
You can watch polo at shantipolo club.
It's not a place with clothes.

(33:35):
You can come and watch.
You can come walk around thefield see some polo games.

Speaker 1 (33:41):
It's open and when you say open to like spectators,
is it for free?
I mean, obviously you havecertain VIP experience, you
always have.

Speaker 3 (33:50):
VIP package for the finals.
On the main days you havespecial events for polo players.
But people who want to come tosee attend to a polo match is in
free access.

Speaker 1 (34:03):
Wow See, that's great .
To a polo match is in freeaccess.
Wow See, that's great.
I think outside of gettinginvolved and playing the sport
of polo, your pricing is incomparison.

Speaker 3 (34:11):
Here in the US I've seen, especially here in the
Chicago polo community, there isanother aspect and I didn't
mention to you, and this is veryimportant the best French polo
players, they all start by ponypolo.
So if you want to have a goodpolo club, you need to have a
pony polo club.

(34:32):
So describe what that is.
You need to have Shetland smallponies for starting polo when
you are six, seven years old,okay, and then they play
tournaments, they have fun, theytrain and when they are ready
they go on the horse.
But in Europe we do that way.
I mean this is a step.
Step one is by the ponies andyou go on the horse.

(34:54):
In Argentina they have thisvery specific horse, very
creosal between a pony and ahorse, and they already have
another step.
They are very small compared toponies.
So that's important to havethat type of services with a

(35:16):
polo pony school and a teacherwho can organize trainings for
the kids and they have fun.
And when they start to have,let's say, 9, 10, 11, and
they're ready to go on the horse, they go on the horse and they
train on the horse.

Speaker 1 (35:30):
You kind of mentioned two things which I find very
fascinating.
One, the pony polo school,which I've always just seen.
I never knew that.
I thought it was just kind of aplayful exhibition thing that
I've seen people do.
But it's an actual strategy toinvite younger, a lot younger
six-year-olds you mentioned intothe game with very ease and

(35:52):
accessibility on playing anactual pony, not horse.
And then the other was themention of paddock polo, which I
also found incrediblyfascinating as well.
Are those two things that youmentioned?
Are those common in Europe whenit comes to polo?
Is it seen elsewhere in othercountries in Europe?

Speaker 3 (36:11):
I don't see it in the rest of Europe.
In France the thing in Franceyou have the French Polo
Federation which is in charge todevelop polo, and you have the
French Equestrian Federationwhich is in charge to develop
equestrian activities.
If you want to develop ponypolo, you need to pass through
the French Equestrian Federationbecause they have access.

(36:34):
Today the federation EquestrianFederation is 1 million people,
so if you want to have morepeople trying to play for fun,
you need to go through theEquestrian Center to create a
base of people interested bypolo.
Of course you will sell morepolo stick helmet, knee pad,

(36:59):
boots.
You will be maybe not sell morehorses because they will maybe
not go to buy horses to play onon the grass after.
And if you have young peoplewith some extra skills, they can
come to play.
You will have this sponsoringaspect of teams.
When they see young people, theytry to help, because it's

(37:22):
always good to give access toand to help young players to
become.
Maybe, if they are sopassionate, they want to become
professional.
But so there, you have to helpthem to go through the step to
become professional.
Actually, it's very difficultfor young french players to
become professional because yousee so many kids are coming from

(37:43):
argentina now.
It was not the case 10 yearsago, but now you have all this
new generation of polo family inargentina.
They're already at 13, 14, 15years old.
They already play as aprofessional around the world.
So you cannot compare, becausethey're already to play 20 goals

(38:03):
or more and they're trained onthe Rota polo.
They already have another stepin advance of the other
countries about that.

Speaker 1 (38:13):
How many active polo playing members do you have?

Speaker 3 (38:18):
In France we have polo communities through the
Polo Federation.
It's not very huge.
I mean we're talking about 900people.
Let's say 38% of the pololicense are with Chantilly Polo
Club.

Speaker 1 (38:33):
Okay, considering the size of the country and
probably the number of poloclubs, it probably is still an
impressive number regardless.

Speaker 3 (38:39):
Well, I mean, we should have the same numbers in
England at least, but even inUSA.
I don't know what are thenumbers now in USA, but it's
still a big gap between theequestrian world and polo world.
Oh yeah, 100%.

Speaker 1 (38:54):
No, absolutely.
And that's the thing.
Like you know, you need a lotof space to have polo, and even
the clubs here in Chicago,they're all relatively spread
out.
They are 45 minutes outside thecity.
I mean, it's amazing thatthat's still relatively close to
a major metropolitan market.

Speaker 3 (39:11):
We have a team coming from Chicago, Las Brisas, from
Larry Ashbrook.

Speaker 1 (39:17):
Yeah, no to market.

Speaker 3 (39:18):
We have a team coming from chicago.
Let's breeze us from larryashbrook.
Yeah, no, larry ashbrook,absolutely no.
Yeah, he's a real polo fan andhe loves to come to play to
shanti every year, like two,three weeks.
So we are very lucky to to havethat team and very happy to
welcome that team here at theclub no, that's great.

Speaker 1 (39:33):
He's the next generation that is coming
through Chicago Polo.
There's a number of individualswho have retired from the game,
even most recently, that wereincredibly active in building
the Chicago Polo community.

Speaker 3 (39:47):
They are doing a lot for Polo in Chicago, really a
lot.

Speaker 1 (39:51):
Well, hopefully we can have you here.
I think there's a lot of bestcases we can adopt.

Speaker 3 (39:55):
We go to send some players, because in Virginia
they organized this year inAugust they organized a
celebration for Lafayette.
So we will send in Virginiasome French military polo player
to play with their Americanofficers, that's fantastic,
that's fantastic, that'sfantastic.
I hope I will go to USAF inAugust.

(40:18):
I went to see this winter inFlorida to visit Michael Prince
from US Polo Association becausewe did a fantastic event last
year with them and polo inAmerica is so big, so big.
I mean what is happening inWellington, the U Polo Center,

(40:38):
all the facility.
It's very, very inclusive.

Speaker 1 (40:42):
So you bring up a great topic and I've always been
curious as to how did the ParisPolo Challenge kind of come
about?
What's the story there?
When did that seed or that ideaget planted and how was it
formed?

Speaker 3 (40:57):
Well, we had the chance to discuss with Michael
Prince and US Polo Associationto develop the project.
They are partners of ShantiPolo Club and they are partners
of the French Open and the PoloNation Cup.
They follow us and they supportus a lot, doing a lot of things
with us, and we have the samedream and same vision to do

(41:20):
something during the olympics.
And it's really when, when wediscussed with michael, where
michael said, yeah, we have todo something, and michael came
with the idea of the paris gamepolish challenge and that was
the beginning of the story.
Then we're in contact with theFederation, with Carluccio, to
organize a concept and they weresupporting us also.

(41:41):
So we quickly we developed theconcept and the idea was to
develop and to celebrate poloduring the Olympics in Paris.

Speaker 1 (41:50):
Was it tied at all to the French Olympic Association
or the IOC?
Was it tied to any of thosegroups, as kind of just a
exhibition to the Games itself?

Speaker 3 (42:04):
I mean the concept was to develop an event during
the Olympics Okay, to celebratetogether the polo community,
first, to celebrate that polo isback during the Olympics in
Paris, because 100 years ago inParis, in 1924, they were
organizing the Olympics withpolo.

(42:25):
So that was a way to celebratethat event happening 100 years
ago and also to put the light onthe sport and to celebrate also
by a game between France andUSA, so a test match.
That's why we did Paris GamesPolo Challenge and obviously it

(42:47):
was a monster success.
The US Polo Association did somuch.
I mean by developing thatproject with plenty of ideas and
bringing.
It was good for Polo, was goodfor France, was good for USA,
was very positive for Chantillyto have all these seven together
.
No, it was a great time, a lotof work, but with a super team.

(43:10):
You know, I learned a lot, Ithink, for the audience
listening, you know when Ilearned a lot.

Speaker 1 (43:15):
I learned a lot, I think, for the audience
listening.
You know polo was an olympicsport at one time.
It was and to this day, youknow, granted, the logistics of
having to continue to be anolympic sport are significant.
I think the one thing also thatthe audience should know is how
truly international polo is asa sport.

(43:37):
I mean it's everywhere, inmajority of developed countries
throughout the world and thatshould go completely unnoticed
because, as Churchill mentioned,you know, your polo handicap is
your passport to the world.
That is 100%, absolutely trueand it's much bigger than what
people know and it takes just alittle bit of a Google search to

(43:58):
show the breadth and how bigpolo is actually in the world.
Not a lot of people playing it,but it's far bigger than I
think people realize.

Speaker 3 (44:11):
Yes, in the aspect of traveling and discovering
culture and opening doors.
Polo is a fantastic passport Ifyou play and you find friends
around the world because youdon't play polo to show that you
play polo.
If you like polo, you play.
It's an addiction.
So that's the first thing.

(44:32):
So you are a polo fanatic oryou are not.
And all the people who like thesport, they really like the
sport.
They don't come to play just toshow themselves on the field.
That's my point of view.
The one who is coming just forthe show disappears after one or
two years.
Honestly, it's a big chance tohave today in the polo world

(44:54):
community to have a brand likeUS Polo Association who can
promote the sport to developlike what they did with ESPN.
That's why it's very importantto have a and you are very lucky
to have this brand in USA Verystrong, developing a lot of
programs to support the polo,and that's very important for

(45:15):
the sport.
Yeah, I mean the federationstructures, the sport, the clubs
.
They are creating the lifearound polo.
So you need to support the club.
Actually, they are the one whoare doing an extreme job because
they have to organize thefields to prepare the season, to

(45:38):
form the new players, todevelop and attract teams
traveling.
It's a number of tasks and wehave to find sponsors to help us
, because it's very difficult tomaintain the finance of a polo
club.
To be a break event is alreadya challenge.
All the clubs, because it'svery difficult to maintain the

(46:01):
finance of a polo club.
To be a break event is alreadya challenge.
All the clubs.
You always have the sponsorsand you have also what we call
MECEN, which is investing in theclubs because they are a fan of
polo and they're supporting thedevelopment of polo.
But it's a very, very fragilebalance.
You understand that.
And so because if you have justpolo players, you don't have
clubs, you don't have polo, andwe see in europe polo is in some

(46:23):
location, is totally ending,disappear, because the clubs are
too fragile and so become verydifficult in some location in
europe to find a club where toplay.

Speaker 1 (46:35):
So maybe the future is to have a big spot where you
can have all the facilitiesnecessary to play polo club
could be in just the extensions,bringing new players on to the
professional side, public events, the list goes on in terms of

(47:05):
what the model of a polo clubcan be and to work towards.
And you're right, any polo clubfor that matter, is incredibly
fragile.
You know, polo is not arecession-proof sport by any
means whatsoever.
I've seen clubs and poloindividuals and teams go down
for various reasons across theboard, but you guys have clearly
set the bar.
I mean it is pretty amazingwhat you guys can do and we can

(47:28):
talk about this probably foranother hour.
Yeah, it's really impressive.
But even what you guys do foryour members Pony Club even from
a marketing and commercializedstandpoint, you seem to do very,
very well.

Speaker 3 (47:42):
A club is because you have shareholders and the
shareholders are pro players.
So that's very important tohave and the player invests in
the club and you need to haveprofessionals taking care about
the logistics, organization ofthe club and to promote it.
But it's a combination.
It's a work between members orshareholders who are

(48:02):
participating in the polo lifeof the club with professionals
who are totally dedicated to thedevelopment of the club.
So the problem is not all thelocations where you can do that,
because it's very difficult tohave this balance.
For example, in Wellington, mostof the places are very private,
yeah, and they have their owninfrastructure to receive a few

(48:26):
players or host a team or twoteams on their location.
And then you have the US PoloCenter, which is a fantastic
tools center for polo to developand to organize competition and
to receive the big event of thefederation, us Polo.
You need that combination andfor us today in Europe, we are

(48:51):
at the middle of Europe becauseParis is close to the airport,
so it's very easy to travel.
To come to Chantilly Polo Club,let's say, if you work in
Switzerland, in Geneva, you takethe flight, you arrive 20
minutes after going out of theairport you're at the polo field
.

Speaker 1 (49:07):
My gosh.
I didn't know that you guyswere that close.
You're in a better positionthan I've been at Oak Brook.

Speaker 3 (49:13):
Yeah, so we are very lucky to be very close from an
international airport where youcan come from all over the world
.
So we have some players.
They take a plane in themorning, they come to play the
game, they go back to work after.

Speaker 1 (49:28):
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(51:18):
Benoit, we need to take thisconversation another step
further, because I really wantto get into the details of the
Polo Club's branding, marketingand even the sponsorship,
because you guys do itincredibly well.
So I want to extend thisconversation into a part two
with you to really kind of digdeep, because I think there's a

(51:38):
lot to be learned from you whenit comes to how to position
yourself as a brand, themessaging and what have you
endemic to the polo culture andwhat have you and you do that
very, very well.
And there's also an addedelement in terms of sponsorship
and commercializing yourself andthe partners that you work with

(52:01):
and why you guys do it so well.
What are the benefits thatyou're providing them?
What do your sponsors see themost attractiveness, what are
your value propositions?
Things like that, and I wantedto take the time to extend this
conversation into part two toreally talk about those things.
How does that sound to you?

Speaker 3 (52:21):
The first thing is we have the main event that we
organize and we try every yearto create also special events to
celebrate polo.
When we can, the Olympic Games,we celebrate polo.
We are trying to celebrate polowith the Arena Polo World
Championship coming soon to USAthis year.

(52:41):
So by that we go to try todevelop new tools at the club by
having the biggest facility,arena facility in Europe, which
will be a new project ready forJuly during the playoff arena.
So we always try to find everyyear Next year is the birthday
of the club.
We will celebrate 30 years ofpolo activities at Chantilly 27,

(53:05):
.
We will organize our arena poloworld championship at Chantilly
Polo Club.
So we always try to find a wayto come with activities, news
for the season, to create newevents, new tournaments and to
promote it.
For example, the French Open isour biggest event every year

(53:28):
but it's 20 years of work toarrive to that.
I mean we start in 2001 thefirst edition and next year we
celebrate the 25th edition.
Yeah so, french Open, 16 goals,16 teams that's a real success.

(53:49):
So we're talking about eventsthat can attract partners the
Polo Nation Cup in June, withthe concept of 12 teams
representing their countries.
Clubs or teams named with theflag of a country seems very
interesting and we always tryalso to mix besides that to

(54:11):
offer a large rank oftournaments at the same time.
We create enough teams to havea polo event with plenty of
teams.
So we always have differentleagues in the same time.
During the same time we doladies tournament.
This year during the Nation Cup, we do the ladies and polo
Nation Cup, we do the mini poloNation Cup for the junior under

(54:33):
13 years old and we do the samefor the French Open with the
women French Open now for morethan 13 years and the mini
French Open.
So we try to work with theteams.
We have a president actuallyreally having a vision of the
marketing of the club, topromote the club, to brand more
the club, to develop more eventat the club.

(54:54):
So we always try to do niceevents besides polo.
You have a gala dinner to havean asado, always with some chic,
to create something differentfrom others.
We did one year a dinner on theboat, everyone in black tie,
with the club, the players andthe teams.
We did last year at the Castelof Chantilly, inside the gallery

(55:18):
of the paintings, a beautifuldinner, everyone in black tie.
So we're trying to have acertain level corresponding to
the sport and we are alsoinvesting a lot in all the polo
media.
We do a lot with PoloLinestreaming all the games.
We have a media package, wehave a media deal on partnership

(55:40):
with all the Polo Media becausethe first thing is to exist on
the Polo World community Checkerapp very important.
Click Polo very important.
Polo Times, erlingam Magazine,polo Plus 10, polo Hub.
You're also different othermedia very interesting for the
Polo community.

(56:01):
And we have also just insidethe team we're working on all
the aspects of the social media,working on the communication
tools.
We try we have a press agencywho is in charge of the club.
We have an agency in charge ofcreating all the visual and to
do all the promotion tools.

(56:23):
So it's not just two, threeperson working together, it's a
lot of people involved and mostof these people they all have a
link with Polo because they allplay Polo more or less.
So we don't have the capacityto pay suppliers full price.
We try to involve the polocommunity where everyone can

(56:44):
come with some support,knowledge, asset to help us to
develop the sport and to developthe communication and to come
with ideas to develop the PoloClub.
And then for the sponsors, forthe partners.
We are very flexible on the wayto discuss with them and to
open them the way, what theywant.

(57:05):
We're trying to always listencarefully.
What are the expectations, whatare the goals they want to
achieve by coming to Polo and tocreate a long-term partnership.
We're not here to take themoney of the partner.
We're trying to create a longstory with them, to develop not

(57:26):
just a partnership.
They are more than partners.
They are part of the club.
Moet Chandon is a longpartnership with them.
We did so well because we wereorganizing events with them.
We do the apparel of the polos.
After the game we create anevent and that was an idea of
our president.
With Richard Malle we're doinga lot with them because they

(57:48):
were organizing the showArrégance and we're hosting an
event during the elegant showhere.
So we're trying to find aninteraction, not only what we
give you exposure, we're tryingto interact, like we were doing
with michael prince on shannon,on the team of us polar
association.
The same for me.

(58:08):
They're not sponsors, they'repartners and they're a member of
Club.

Speaker 1 (58:12):
Well, was there a time where you kind of were
tasked to really change theimage or the brand of the club
to make it more internationallyvisible?

Speaker 3 (58:24):
Well, the thing is about the visibility of the club
is because also the founder ofthe club, Patrick Guérin Hermès,
was having a vision and atremendous anticipation of the
future of the club.
So the first thing is, quickly,he was trying and he was
inviting and was very successful, inviting international teams

(58:47):
to come to visit the facility ofChantilly.
We host wonderful event withMaradja of Jodhpur.
We have received players fromall over the world and this was
really in the beginning of thestart of the club.
Immediately, that type ofinvitation was putting the light
on Shanti's from the startAlready having a vision of by

(59:11):
being everywhere in the world,Having the connection and the
spirit to know what is to hostpeople and what to welcome
international players at theclub.
He creates a DNA of the club bymarking us all the people
working around him to have thatvision of to be open to the

(59:35):
world, to create project, toalways not to be afraid to
create and launch internationalexchange, to work on that
direction.
I think that's part of the dnaof the club, to be open to the
world and that was very dynamicand well, his vision was to go
to organize the polo world cupin 2004.
So I mean the club was not eveneight years old.

(59:58):
When you start like that, youcannot think small.
No, the vision of the club isto have international facility
to create internationalconnection, friendship and
exchange with people from allover the world.
And then, after we're working alot on the last past 10 years,

(01:00:23):
we have a huge development onthe communication to invest more
in the communication, to brandmore the club, not just to do
events but trying to brand theclub through the media, the Polo
media, through all theopportunities we can have to
create a visibility of theShanti Polo Club around the

(01:00:44):
world.
We have really increased theinteraction with the media and
the investment in the media overthe last 10 years.

Speaker 1 (01:00:54):
No, that's great investment in the media over the
last 10 years.
No, that's great because,looking at your website right
now, you have a slew of PoloMedia Partners, from Polo Line,
click Polo Hurlingham, poloTimes, polo 10, global Polo TV,
the Chukar app.
The list goes on and on, and itsounds, though, that really
aligns with your owner's vision,into a large part of his brand.

(01:01:14):
Dna is to be an internationalbrand in itself and to
positioning itself largelythrough connections with the
polo media, which clearly hasworked for you.
There's no doubt about it, yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:01:26):
Yeah, no, it's working, because it's also the
facility of the club are workingon that way.
That means we have nine fees,we provide a lot of services.
You have a lot of horses at theclub fields.
We provide a lot of services.
We have a lot of horses at theclub, so it's a lot of energy
moving.
Yeah, I believe in that DNA ofinternational connection to have
this vision of the world ofPatrick and also to have a club

(01:01:48):
with really families, membersfrom all over the world who are
coming to play at the club.
It's very important to havehigh goals.
It pushes the club to organizemore events, to organize top
events, to welcome the teams, toput up all the conditions to
welcome international polo teamsat the club.
So it's about the branding ofthe club, the position of the

(01:02:13):
club and the service provided bythe club.
And we have this last pastyears working with the energy of
our new president, ArnaudChenervar, who is also putting a
lot of energy in that club bynew ideas, new services and to
be more efficient, not just tobe a polo club, just to provide

(01:02:36):
you an experience of a way oflife.

Speaker 1 (01:02:40):
So you raise a good point in how many things have to
work in unison, together andparallel with each other to be
successful as a club.
And, given your size, it's notjust your brand image but
backing that brand image up.
So, being a quality polofacility for international polo,
high goal polo, backing that upwith all of the media

(01:03:02):
connections that you have andconstant communications, you're
not letting anything slipthrough the cracks, clearly.
But also what I foundinteresting is you're constantly
innovating too.

Speaker 3 (01:03:12):
It's a lot of work.
I mean, all the teams workingfor the club have to work every
day on that, to make thatcreation of offering a super
service and to be ready towelcome all the teams.
It's part of the job and welearn.
Every year we learn new things.
That's also the good thing.
We're not feeling that we areperfect.

(01:03:32):
We are trying to improve everyyear on the to listen
expectation, to be open to newideas, to adapt, to be very
flexible.
We, the teams, know are theyvested in wanting to contribute
to the club's brand DNA.

Speaker 1 (01:04:00):
Are they doing things themselves to amplify the
club's visibility?

Speaker 3 (01:04:05):
It's always good to have teams because they give you
more exposure to thetournaments, but also to have
top players coming to the club.
You also give another level tothe tournament.
French open rise up a lot withthe venue of the top players at

(01:04:26):
chantilly polo club in the lastpast seven years.
I mean we have the chance toreceive nico pierrez.
We have the chance to receiveNico Pires.
We had the chance to receiveRita Castagnola Bartó, who won
with the Lions the French Open.
Rita came twice.
We started on the right-handside.
Every year now we have for theFrench Open, we have between 10

(01:04:46):
and 14 top players of theArgentine Open at the club, a
real adding value to thetournament.

Speaker 1 (01:04:53):
You're absolutely right.
I wish sometimes, even in myrole with the Oakbrook Polo Club
now and then we would haveplayers that were fantastic when
it came to marketing theirimage, their presence at the
club tournaments and so on andso forth.
Some didn't but had everyopportunity could, and even the

(01:05:14):
clubs themselves.
Some did a very good job, orthere weren't that vested or
they didn't have the bandwidth,or just they weren't
knowledgeable on how to bestmarket themselves, because the
club can only do so much and theplayers and the teams
themselves can really amplifythat the club's marketing
activities.
At the end of the day Like inthe US, I'll be honest, like you

(01:05:37):
can name probably as many asfive teams on your hand that do
it so, so well in terms ofmarketing and as a result of
that, they're really drivingattention to their tournament
and club's activities, like theNational Polo Center.
Here Teams like Lafayette is abig, visible one Allegrea,
freddie Mannix, la Delfina,valiente they do such a

(01:06:00):
phenomenal job of marketing whothey are.
So I applaud that you have acollective of teams that amplify
that message.
That's rare, I want to say it'srare.

Speaker 3 (01:06:13):
Also, what is very interesting is to see the polo
has changed so much in the lastfive years.
With so many horses bought inArgentina, so many players, good
players coming out, it'sbecoming every year more and
more competitive.
Yeah, very interesting also tosee all the images of all the
rides, all the play, changing alot in the last past five years.

Speaker 1 (01:06:39):
You mentioned also something that the club does.
It sounds as though that you'reconstantly innovating all the
time, whether it be from thebrand side to marketing,
communications televising andlive streaming the sport.
Communications televising andlive streaming the sport.
Are there things that the clubis doing that you feel no one
else is doing or you're tryingto do?

Speaker 3 (01:07:01):
No, I don't think that we are in the clubs coming
with new ideas.
Yes, but all the clubs who havebig facilities.
They need to create activitiesand to create activity to
innovate.
You have to bring new conceptto to give appetite to people to
play, to participate, tosponsor, to participate.
So you need to create conceptand to work on it and to invest

(01:07:25):
on it to attract players to comewith teams, because depends on
the activity of the club.
But a club like Shanti we have,50% of the incomes are coming
from the stabling horses basedat the club.
We need to have a lot of horsesat the club.
We have 25% depending on thegreen fee.
That means the tournament teamshave to register and then after

(01:07:49):
the race is membership eventcatering polo school.
The rest of the 25% More orless.
That's the numbers, sodepending some clubs don't have
any horses at the club.
You come, you play and you goout.
Different concept here.
So every club has its ownstructure.

(01:08:11):
Some clubs are so far away ofeverything that they need.
You come, you stay one week.
You cannot come with yourhorses because it's a location
for pleasure, relax, to enjoy aspecial place and play by
playing polo.
If I was, a team.

Speaker 1 (01:08:29):
What is something about your club that would
entice me to want to play thereduring your season?
Like?
What are some of the attributesthat like Larry Ashbrook here
in Chicago?
What is so motivating for himto want to go there and play in
a beautiful place like theirs?
Like?
What is the selling point?

Speaker 3 (01:08:46):
Well, it's difficult to talk for Larry because I'm
not him, but I have the pleasureto discuss with him and we say
that for Larry.
He likes the club, he likes thespirit of Shanti, he likes the
location, the fields, he lovesthe clubhouse with a little
garden, with a nice garden, andit's really a place and we have

(01:09:11):
an Argentine cook and peoplelike to be in the garden and to
relax after the games to discussabout everything.
So it's a place and it's veryspecial for him.
The first time he came it wasbecause we organized an
international cup for the clubs.
Then he came for the NationalCup, the Polo National Cup,

(01:09:32):
interested by supporting thattype of tournaments, and then
after you come, you participateand you have fun.
I think he appreciates a lot tocome to France.
He likes the location becauseit's quite beautiful around
Chantilly.
You have a nice forest, youhave a beautiful castle, you
have a beautiful history, a niceforest, you have a beautiful

(01:09:52):
castle, you have a history,beautiful farms from the 17th,
15th, 14th century.
Even some buildings are evenolder than that.
So it's like an atmospherebetween playing polo in a place
surrounded by history.
Also, it's interesting, it'sclose to Paris, so if you want
to do something in Paris.

(01:10:13):
It's very close.
And also the advantage, I think, it's well located.
We are very close from theairport, so you come and if you
have to stay 10 days, you caneven go to work to London or to
Switzerland or to Germany andcome back to play.
It's easy, we don't lose timeby traveling Okay.

Speaker 1 (01:10:32):
So you have it all.
I mean location, proximity totravel, which makes it very easy
for international travelers andbusinessmen and women.
Your voice went up when yousaid the clubhouse.
If you're a polo club, you haveto have a good clubhouse.
You have to have a place wherepeople can congregate, eat,
enjoy.
We need to have a goodclubhouse.

Speaker 3 (01:10:52):
You have to have a place where people can
congregate, eat, enjoy.
We need to have a place where,after the long day we have, when
you have 10 games in the day,you come back to the bar and you
have a beer or a cup ofchampagne and to discuss about
the games and what was happeningon the horses.
Don't forget that all thepeople playing polo, they are
fanatic, really addicted aboutthe sport and they love the

(01:11:13):
sport.
Yeah, you don't come to play toshanty just to show, because
you are in shanty.
You come because you are a realsport man, like the sport, you
like the horses, you like thelife of the stable.
We sometimes forget about that.

Speaker 1 (01:11:29):
It's we are, do you have a lot of events where the
general public can come and seepolo?

Speaker 3 (01:11:36):
It's an open place so people come to watch when they
want because it's very open.
It's like a big park open tothe public.
So you have a lot of peoplecoming to do some sport around
the field and they see a pologame.
At the same time, families arecoming to see some polo match.
We communicate on the maintournaments and we do

(01:11:59):
communication around us.
I mean next week we have a niceevent which is called Omal Cup
Rally d'Omal.
I mean 4,000 people will comethat weekend, that Sunday,
because they come for the cars.
We have collision cars, we havea rally starting from the club
and they come back at the end ofthe morning.

(01:12:19):
It's a real event.
A lot of people are coming tosee it and it's part of the DNA
of the club.
Also, it's like we started thatevent 10 years ago with a group
called Omal Club and now it's areal big success.
I mean they're doing afantastic job.
So it's also try to find a wayto develop project around the

(01:12:40):
club and the club is part of thelife locally.

Speaker 1 (01:12:43):
You make easy for them to come and enjoy polo.
You make it accessible to thepoint of where it's free.
You know, drive in, watch agame sort of thing.
It's not this exclusive orelusive thing to watch.
You make it highly accessibleto the general public.

Speaker 3 (01:12:58):
When you have an event with VIP, well, we need to
create a special place for theVIP on a special event.
We have special events for poloplayers besides this open space
, but the location is not closedeverywhere.
It's important to understandthat Chantilly Pirog Club is

(01:13:18):
part of the Domaine de Chantilly.
The Domaine de Chantilly is thedonation of the Duc d'Aumale to
the French Academy.
The last lord of Chantilly wasthe Duc d'Aumale and the Duc
d'Aumale did a donation to theFrench Academy at the end of the
19th century.
So Chantilly Book Club is partof this donation.
We rent a part of the landgiven to the French Academy.

(01:13:43):
It's part of the huge locationwith forest, castle, horse
museum, a lot of propertiessurrounding Chantanti.
It's quite unique.

Speaker 1 (01:13:55):
It's something I always tell polo clubs to do,
especially if there's somethingthat is accessible to the public
is to be a part of theircommunities, other public
activities, whether it be sportsparks, things like that.
So in the US we have a lot ofchambers of commerce, we have

(01:14:16):
tourism bureaus andorganizations like that that
help amplify your property tothe greater public and celebrate
you as part of their sportsheritage, for example.
It sounds like you're highlyingrained into that system
locally, which is great itreally is.
Sometimes I don't think peoplereally do enough to make those

(01:14:38):
political or community inroadsat all.
I wanted to, real quick, tokind of focus a little bit on
sponsorship.
You know you guys seem to doalso very, very well in
attracting high level luxurybrands, affordable luxury brands
as well.
Part of it is that you havevery high level tournaments and

(01:14:59):
activities for the people toenjoy.
What do you offer your sponsorsat the end of the day?
What makes them so attracted toyour club?

Speaker 3 (01:15:10):
makes them so attracted to your club.
Well, the first thing is, ifyou become a partner of the
French Open, you become partnerthe whole year of the club, the
whole season.
If you become partner of thisevent, which is for the top
event we have at the club, youare part during the whole year
in the communication of the club.
We always do a mix ofcommunication, of action that we

(01:15:33):
do in communication and alsoVIP event during the tournaments
, and that's mean we createpackage on inside that package
we put different things.
It's important to the sponsorhave a Polo experience and
inside that Polo experience youcan also propose polo initiation

(01:15:55):
for the guest, not just to cometo a gala dinner in a special
place in Chantilly or in Paris,to create an action, not just to
come and to watch polo but alsoto try to play polo, try to see
something beside polo.
So it's not just a question to,and then after you have all the
marketing, then we organize.

(01:16:16):
We always try to create avisual for each big tournament
of the club with a nicemarketing.
So all that part it can beattractive.
It's difficult to find a sponsor.
It's very difficult, yeah,especially in Polo, because in
Polo today you become a Polopartner because you want to have

(01:16:39):
an adding value in terms ofimages.
But sponsors now are lookingfor what they call return on
investment.
Okay, a car company, let's say,invests 50,000 euros in that
event, and how many cars did Isell at the end of the event?
But they want to know that.
That's what they want to know.
I put one euro.

(01:17:00):
How many euros I did with thatone euro?
So it changed a little bitbecause all the polo places
around the world are not in thesame location with the same
public.
When you go to, let's say, inArgentina, in Buenos Aires, or
when you go to Dubai, or whenyou go to London, or when you go

(01:17:20):
to Shanti, when you go toSamurais, it's always a
different setup.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:17:25):
No, you're right, it is different depending upon what
continent or country you're in.
It is different depending uponwhat continent or country you're
in.
It is different.
And Polo doesn't have a hugemedia presence in the eyes of,
like television, for example,those departments of major
brands and so on and so forthwho would ultimately spend on
some of those deals don't, andin this case we're falling more

(01:17:47):
on the event itself, theactivities, the brand visibility
, the on-site activation, theactivities, the brand visibility
, the onsite activation, and soon and so forth.
But I think you did mentionsomething that I think is
important, though is beyond thepublic events, the visibility,
tournament entitlements, you aredoing something from a
hospitality perspective, nodoubt about it, with events.

(01:18:08):
You also are really involvinglessons and clinics as part of
these relationships as well,maybe taking that a step further
and doing employee workshops inrelated to polo.
I'm not sure that I don'treally see all that often.
Sometimes people treat poloclinics and lessons very
separately from the club.
You seem to be integrating themwith some of these partnerships

(01:18:30):
that you have.
We have a polo school at theclub.
You seem to be integrating themwith some of these partnerships
that you have, we have a poloschool at the club we have seven
teachers who are dedicated toteach polo.

Speaker 3 (01:18:39):
It's part of the club .
It's not some activities withexternal inside the club and we
changed a lot of politics aboutthe polo school the last past
three years.
We're making a lot of politicsabout the polo school in the
last past three years.
We're making a lot of newefforts.
We have a logo for the poloschool.
We're trying to do tournamentsfor the polo school members.

(01:19:00):
We have a manager only for thepolo school who is taking care
of the registration.
So it's getting better andbetter in the way to improve
everything.

Speaker 1 (01:19:10):
Now.
Is there anything that you wantto share that the club is doing
, that you are going to beannouncing in the near future?
Is there something excitingthat is coming to the club over
the course of the next year ornext few years?

Speaker 3 (01:19:24):
The main challenge we're working on it's to create
an arena for the ground at theclub.
That's a big investment forthis year to be ready to
organize the Arena Polo WorldChampionship in 2027.
So that's a big challenge.
2026 is a celebration of thebirthday of the club 30 years

(01:19:46):
already.
It's flying so fast and we'revery happy to keep on the
partnership with the US PoloAssociation, with Michael Prince
, shannon, all the teams.
They are doing so great tosupport us and to be with us.
So this year we do another testmatch with Brazil France-Brazil
at the club.
And so it's all that littlestep, very good sign for the

(01:20:09):
future.
The arena will be fantasticbecause it's really another
facility with a special ground,like the one in Versailles, and
it will be the biggest arenafield in Europe.

Speaker 1 (01:20:21):
That's incredible, man.
You guys, you have a lot onyour plate.

Speaker 3 (01:20:25):
We want to have the same technology for the
irrigation.
That means the water is comingby the ground.
For the irrigation that meansthe water is coming by the
ground.
You control what is happeningin the texture of the ground to
have the perfect ground for Evenif you are not choosing to play
, but to train the horsesproperly on a good surface.
With the perfect ground, it's apleasure for someone who is

(01:20:46):
riding, cooling the horse.
It's also an excellent assetfor our club.
So we need to keep on to workon projects and on new
investments and we want toimprove the club.
Of course, all the improvementsneed to find new members who

(01:21:06):
want to invest in the club andthat's also part of the strategy
of the club to keep on and tofind new investors to come at
Chantilly and we have thepossibility also to create new
polo fields.
So project we have, project wehave.
We don't miss.
We are not missing project.

Speaker 1 (01:21:23):
No, you're constantly innovating, as I encourage all
clubs to do, constantly settingthe bar for yourself, pushing
where the sport can go, where itcan't go, uncovering new
opportunities.
So I applaud you for doing that.
And only 30 years, I mean, Ifeel like that's young in
comparison to a lot of the clubshere in the United States, for
sure, and your guys are rockstars when it comes to it.

(01:21:46):
So I applaud you.

Speaker 3 (01:21:47):
If we are rock stars, it's thanks to the members of
Chantilly who believe in theclub and they keep on.
That's the most important thing, especially Patrick, who is
watching us from the top, fromthe sky.

Speaker 1 (01:22:02):
Well, I applaud you guys.
I really do.
I can't wait to take a visitout there.
I know Paris is on our shortlist and you can definitely
count on me swinging on by aspart of my visit.

Speaker 3 (01:22:13):
Daniel, I hope you can come in September, if you
can this year to see the FrenchOpen Would be great.

Speaker 1 (01:22:21):
Yeah, oh, that's a good excuse.
I bet it's beautiful inSeptember, october out there.

Speaker 3 (01:22:26):
No, we'll be very happy to welcome you.
September is a big show for us16 teams coming, top players,
good games to watch and, if youwant to come the weekend of the
final, you will have a fantasticgala dinner at the Great Stable
and also the day of the final.
You can see the semi-final andfinals in three days.

Speaker 1 (01:22:47):
Wonderful, wonderful.
Well, I got the merchandiseshop open up in your website, so
I plan on making some purchasesand probably wear your gear
around my hometown in Park Ridge, Illinois.

Speaker 3 (01:22:57):
Well, also the part of the project we do.
We have a pro shop inside theclub, so we're really working on
that, also with Blackhound, whois one of the partners of the
pro shop.
Yeah, yeah yeah, wonderful, sono, no, it's very important to
come and to see by yourself.

Speaker 1 (01:23:14):
No, absolutely, I'm in.
I'm in.
You've sold me big time.
So, benoit, I can't thank youenough for taking the time.
I encourage anyone to visittheir website.
Go to the French Open thisSeptember.
There's a lot to mirror andlearn from a club like this that
there's a lot to mirror andlearn from a club like this that
it's constantly innovating,marketing themselves in a great
way.

Speaker 3 (01:23:34):
Everyone is welcome and anyone who wants to come to
play to Chantilly is welcome.
It's a club with a team who iswaiting for everyone.

Speaker 1 (01:23:42):
Yeah no doubt about it.
No doubt about it.
Well, thank you again, bonoix.
I appreciate it.
You have a fantastic season,have a great summer.
I know we'll be in touch andwe'll be chatting very shortly,
and I hope to make my way outthere this September.
We wait for you.

Speaker 3 (01:23:57):
All the best, thank you.
Bye-bye, daniel, bye-bye, thankyou.

Speaker 1 (01:24:03):
In 2012, the founders of Outside the Boards witnessed
their first polo match and werestunned by the sport's beauty
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(01:24:25):
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