Javier Herrera: Connecting Polo's Global Community

Send us a text

When Javier Herrera broke his knee playing rugby in Argentina, his doctor gave him two recovery options: ride a bike or ride a horse. That fateful choice led him to discover polo and eventually create PoloLine – transforming how the sport is covered, consumed, and connected across the globe.

In this candid conversation, Javier reveals how he launched polo's first digital media platform during the late 1990s dot-com boom, when he identified a critical gap: polo enthusiasts worldwide had no way to follow tournaments or players without waiting months for magazine coverage. Starting with nothing but determination, he and his business partner Sebastian Amaya began photographing matches in Palm Beach, selling VHS tapes of Argentine tournaments, and gradually building what would become polo's most trusted global news source.

The journey wasn't easy. Javier recounts sleeping at polo clubs in exchange for coverage, scanning physical photographs before digital cameras were affordable, and convincing skeptical players and patrons of the internet's value when most still received tournament draws by fax. What makes his story remarkable is how PoloLine evolved alongside technology – from basic match reports to comprehensive video content, eventually pioneering polo livestreaming years before it became standard practice.

Beyond building a media platform, Javier created the World Polo Tour ranking system that helped standardize tournament importance globally, giving structure to an international sport that previously lacked cohesion. Today, as a consultant for Global Polo TV, he's focused on bringing polo to mainstream audiences through partnerships with ESPN and other networks while maintaining the authenticity that attracted him to the sport.

Whether you're fascinated by entrepreneurship, sports media, or polo's unique culture across Argentina, the US, and Europe, Javier's perspective offers invaluable insights into how passion, vision, and persistence can transform an entire sporting landscape. His story isn't just about polo – it's about seeing opportunity where others don't and building bridges that connect communities across continents.

Support the show

About Hive₂O Hard Honey™
Hive₂O Hard Honey is a pioneering beverage company that brings the rich, balanced taste of honey to the forefront of the industry. With a focus on innovation, quality, and community, Hive₂O offers a range of hard honey and alcohol-free beverages designed to surprise and delight with every sip.

As a thank you for tuning into this episode of Outside The Boards Podcast, Hive₂O is offering listeners an exclusive online discount and free shipping on all four packs. Use code OTBPOLO24 in all caps at checkout. Visit hardhoney.com to explore products.

About Lineup Polo
Lineup Polo was built to revolutionize how polo is managed and experienced. With a mission to support the polo community and expand the sport’s reach, the platform digitizes processes and centralizes communication. Lineup Polo is committed to the game's future.

Available as a free app and web portal, Lineup Polo allows clubs to manage tournaments, automate leagues, payments, and memberships, building a new digital ecosystem for polo.

About Outside The Boards™
Founded after witnessing their first polo match in 2012, Outside The Boards™ seeks to share the sport’s beauty, intensity, and lifestyle while addressing industry fragmentation. Through best practices, insights, trends, and consulting, OTB™ helps stakeholders and brands unlock polo’s marketing potential and navigate the sport with clarity...

Episode Transcript

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,

(01:37):
attendance and exposure Saddleup.
Welcome to Outside the Boardswith me, daniel O'Leary.
Hi everyone, daniel O'Learyhere and welcome to the Season 5
of the Outside the Boardspodcast.
On this episode of Outside theBoards, I'm excited to sit down
with the true pioneer in polomedia, javier Herrera, the
founder and driving force behindPoloLine.

(01:58):
For more than two decades,javier has been at the forefront
of polo journalism, buildingthe sport's most trusted global
news platform and fundamentallychanging how the game is covered
, consumed and connected.
Based in Argentina, theheartland of high-goal polo,
javier launched PoloLine with asimple but powerful mission to
give the sport the consistent,high-quality media coverage it

(02:21):
deserves.
Since then, polol Line hasgrown into an international
powerhouse, delivering news,match updates, rankings,
features and insights to fansand players across every
continent.
Javier's work has bridged gapsbetween traditional clubs and
modern audiences, betweenestablished stars and
up-and-coming talent.
Whether he's covering theArgentine Open from Palermo, the

(02:44):
Gold Cup in the United ArabEmirates or a grassroots
tournament in England, javierbrings sharp editorial integrity
and a deep passion for thesport.
That's impossible to ignore.
But what makes his story evenmore compelling is how he's
adapted with the times.
Attention spans are short andcontent is everywhere.
Javier has kept PoloLinerelevant by leaning into digital

(03:06):
tools, video storytelling,multilingual reporting and
social media, all whilemaintaining the quality and
credibility that made theplatform respected in the first
place.
Javier isn't just documentingPolo's evolution, he's shaping
it by amplifying stories fromaround the world and giving
players, clubs and fans a voice.
He's helped make Polo moreaccessible, visible and

(03:28):
connected than ever before.
So, without further ado, let'swelcome Javier Herrera, founder
of PoloLine, to the show.
Enjoy.

Speaker 2 (03:41):
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 organisers cansee everything in one place,

(04:02):
From live scoring and team entryto player 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 3 (04:21):
Javier Herrera.
How are you doing, my friend?
How are you Good to talk withyou?
No, absolutely.
It's great to talk to you, mygosh.
I've been meaning to connectwith you for so long, not just
on this podcast, but for otherreasons, but finally we got a
chance to connect.

Speaker 4 (04:35):
I've been following you on your podcast.
I love your podcast.
It's really, really good.

Speaker 3 (04:40):
I really appreciate that.
That means a lot to me, forsomeone who I would identify as
a non-polo player.
I fell into this industry ininteresting circumstances, but
I've fallen in love with thepeople, the places, all that,
and there's just a lot to sayabout the game man, there really

(05:00):
is.
I can't be any clearer.
And it's just fun to bringpeople like yourself in to have
honest conversations about whatthey feel, where the sport's
going, what's doing bad about it.

Speaker 4 (05:11):
So, yeah, it's a small community and at the end
of the day, we are a big family.
You know everybody has theirown roles, their own position,
but at the end of the day it's abig, big family.
And what I found is liketraveling all around the world.
When you meet someone, in anycountry, that plays polo, it's

(05:33):
like you have an instantconnection you know, different
from anything else.

Speaker 3 (05:37):
So 100% agree.
And I tell people I said youknow, look, the moment you pick
up a mallet and you startplaying this game, your window
and doors to other countries,look, the moment you pick up a
mallet and you start playingthis game, your window and doors
to other countries, culturesand things like that open almost
immediately.
Yeah, and it is something thatis very, very special about this
game because, to your point,you can call someone up you

(06:01):
don't know them in anothercountry that you've heard from
the grapevine or someoneintroduced you to, and the next
thing you know, you have a horsewaiting for you, but in some
cases, accommodations and ahome-cooked meal on top of that.
So, so true, yeah, it's uh.
We often talk about that quotefrom Winston Churchill.
You know, your handicap is yourpassport to the world.
It couldn't be more true today.

Speaker 4 (06:21):
That's one of the best phrases I heard in boyo, by
far.

Speaker 3 (06:25):
Yeah, and more and more every year.
Even though that I've kind oftaken a step back from the sport
, from running pro polo, stilltrue to this very day.

Speaker 4 (06:33):
Yeah, I find out that when you talk about polo, when
you say you play polo, it opensdoors that it will never happen.
If you say that you playfootball, soccer or any other
sport, people have a conceptionof the sport that is completely
different from the rest and thepeople that play it is like I

(06:54):
told you before, it is likefamily.
So you know, that phrase fromWinston Churchill is really,
really good.

Speaker 3 (07:02):
Yeah, javier, I'm excited to have you on here
because, you know, I oftentimesI always speak to professionals,
active people in the polo world, but you represent a side of
the game that I really enjoy,which is, you know, the
marketing, the media side ofpolo and what Polo Line has also
done in helping to promote thesport, not just as a means of

(07:25):
reporting on the results orupcoming matches, tournaments
and what have you, but alsobeing a medium that has created
transformative change from themedia perspective and the way
that people view it and see itand consume it at the end of the
day and we'll get into that.
But I'm really intrigued tolearn about Javier's story, you

(07:46):
and yourself and the founding ofPolo Line in itself, because
you were the first.
I think, let's all admit it,you were the first, we were the
first in many things, but yeah.
Yeah, tell us about yourself,javier.
Where are you originally?

Speaker 4 (07:59):
from.
I'm from Argentina, buenosAires.
I'm assuming you had playedfrom.
I'm from Argentina, buenosAires, I'm assuming you had
played.
Basically, I started playingpolo.
I used to play rugby.
I play a lot of rugby and Ibroke my knee playing rugby and
I was doing my physical trainingto come back to play and, like

(08:20):
I have two options I either ridea bike or ride a horse.
That's what the doctor told me.
I went to a country club calledLa Martona, which is between La
Martina and what now is LaDolfina and La Natividad.
So I started horse riding therejust to exercise, and I saw
they were playing polo in theback, where now is La Natividad,

(08:44):
and I said, let's try this,something different, something
new.
And once, you know, I played myfirst chucker.
I got hooked, absolutely.
It was amazing.
That's where, you know, Istarted playing polo.
And then, on the other side, onthe business side, I went to do

(09:04):
a marketing course in SanFrancisco.
So it was the time where thedot-coms were just starting.
Everything was dot-com.
Everybody had an idea and theydid a dot-com and they wanted to
sell it for millions.
And that, you know, was thattime to sell it for millions.

(09:27):
And that, you know was thattime, when I came back from san
francisco, I talked to the sonof who was the manager of the
club.
Eduardo amaya was the managerof the club and sebastiana amaya
, his son, who is my businesspartner.
So we talk about doingsomething with Polo.
When I came back, I saw that thedot-coms were growing
everywhere and there was nothingfor Polo and we found out that

(09:51):
it was the perfect way toconnect what we were talking
before, to connect all the Polocircuit, because before that, if
you wanted to know what wasgoing on with Polo, you needed
to wait six months and there wasonly one medicine and there was
nothing.
So we saw a big opportunity toconnect the polo world and to

(10:14):
give polo, uh, an opportunity tobe known.
So we first partnered with twoother guys and the basic idea
they knew about all the internetor the website part, and their
idea was to create a website andsell it for millions and our

(10:36):
idea was to make a living out ofthis because we really enjoy
and like the polo and we reallythought that there was an
opportunity there.
So we started.
You know, we were together forsix months and then they just
decided to do other sport, leavethe polo and with Sebastian, we

(10:57):
keep on going with PoloLine,and the first trip that we did
was Palm Beach.
We came here to Palm Beach.
Kali Garcia was the manager.
It was the old Polo Club.
Ipc.
Npc was not even here yet.
We talked to Kali.
I remember the Open was in BocaRaton.

(11:18):
So I talked to Kali and he gaveus a place to stay and in
exchange we covered the season.
We started taking pictures.
There was no videos or anything, just results and pictures and
we started from there.
That's how it all started.

(11:40):
That's the beginning ofPolyline.

Speaker 3 (11:43):
So was this like you say the dot com?
So was this like you say thedot com?
So was this like mid 90s, early90s?

Speaker 4 (11:48):
it was the end of the 90s.
We started mid 90s, but thiswas the ending of the 90s.
Pololine was like officially in2000, but we started in 1999,
more or less so we're talkinglike Zuckerberg?

Speaker 3 (12:02):
yeah, got it.
So there's three of you at thattime.
Okay, so we're talking likeZuckerberg.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yes, got it.
So there's three of you at thattime that were pretty much
doing everything on your own,from photographs, writing the
articles, recaps, and so on andso forth.

Speaker 4 (12:16):
When we started PoloLine because the other site
was PoloNet it was called.
But when we started PoloLine itwas just Sebastián and myself
and we were doing everythingfrom programming to do the
website, taking pictures,uploading the results.
It was just us.
And I remember the first yearthat we came here to make money,

(12:39):
we did a deal with ESPNArgentina.
It's a telesport.
It was not ESPN Argentina whichis Telesport.
It was not ESPN and they sellus the video of the Argentine
Open, the VHS, and we broughtlike a hundred videos and we
sold the videos during theseason and that's how we lived

(13:00):
the first season.

Speaker 3 (13:02):
People are going around selling VHS tapes to
ESPNn.

Speaker 4 (13:06):
Yeah, yeah, I don't know, if you remember, there was
a, a cinema here in inwellington where you can eat and
watch a movie.
So we talked to the owner andone night we we showed the
argentine open there and then weput the vhs there to sell, so
pretty much that was thebeginnings of polo lane yeah, my

(13:28):
gosh, it's like you goingaround selling like a mixtape.

Speaker 3 (13:31):
Wow, talk about the art of the hustle man.
Yep, we were young we wereyoung I was gonna say, please
tell me, you almost did theexact reverse.
He took the us opens vhs tapeand then shot it down in
Argentina.

Speaker 4 (13:46):
Yeah, there you go that time.
You never know what was goingon in England.
You didn't know what was goingon in the US.
You only can see it on amagazine and in pictures.
There were very, very few VHS.
So everything was starting.
How old were you at this time?
I was 26, 27,.

(14:09):
I want to say yeah, more orless, because I finished
university.
So I finished university andthen I took a year off.
I went to England to do somemarketing training on a company
and I played polo there.
Then this is I was around 26,27 years old.

Speaker 3 (14:31):
My gosh, that's a great story.
I feel like that's like a storythat you know, like Under
Armour and how that was createdby a guy selling t-shirts out of
the back of his van.

Speaker 4 (14:44):
If I have to do it all over again, I will choose
another sport, not polo, and Iwill be millionaires now.

Speaker 3 (14:50):
So then, what was the reception then, especially in
Palm Beach and in Argentina?

Speaker 4 (14:55):
Well, it was funny the first year.
It was like who are these guys?
You know, we know some of thepeople because Sebastian'sathers
used to play Jairo Polo and weplay with some of the guys that
were playing there at the moment.
So we kind of know the peoplebut we don't know the whole you

(15:20):
know circuit.
So at the beginning was likewhat are these guys doing?
What is this?
What is internet?
They were clueless but they seethat it was something good.
They didn't know where to seeit because most of the people
that you know I don't even knowif the morning line was there,
but they find out.
You know about what was goingon by fax.

(15:42):
You know the morning light.
They send a fax.
The first morning lights wentout on a fax, not even on an
email or an Instagram.
So internet was something thatwas completely new for everybody
.
Also, the internet speed, youcan imagine, was super, super

(16:03):
slow.
You know you have to connect,so it wasn't as accessible as
now that you have it on yourphone.
But the people were really goodwith us.
Like the first year, we're whatare these guys doing?
The second year is ah, theseguys again.
And the third year is guys, youneed to come to my club and
cover my season because you knowwe want to be part of the

(16:26):
circle.
What I find out is that we werethe only ones when we first
started, and if it wasn't thereon Polyline, nobody knows what
was going on.
So a lot of people startcalling us to cover their event.
So that was when we, you know,we really really started to grow
.
Our main income was notadvertising.

(16:49):
Our main income at the time wasthe clubs that invite us to go
and cover their tournaments.

Speaker 3 (16:55):
Okay, so they're paying you a fee to cover?
Yes, so you mentioned that youweren't the only one.
Do you recall who might be someof the other people that you
were competing against, or wasthere really no competition at
all?

Speaker 4 (17:09):
There was no competition.
No, no, it was us and LuisGarrahan with his magazine.
Then in England was PQ magazine, polo Quarterly magazine.
We bought Polo Quarterly.
We bought PQ.
Later on we bought PQ.
So at pq.
Later on we bought pq.
So at the beginning it was justus.
There was nobody there, so wewere the only ones.

(17:32):
So, yeah, it was a good timeit's also pretty risky.

Speaker 3 (17:38):
I mean, again, you're in a sport that's very niche,
yes, and just the motivationthat you have to keep behind it
to again in year three get thefolks from other clubs
interested enough to pay you tocover their tournament.
Not everyone would do that.
I mean, some people might evengiven up after the first year at
that time those kind of things.

Speaker 4 (17:59):
I started to be honest, I started thinking
afterwards when I got marriedand got a family.
But at that time it was just,it was fun, it was flying all
over the world going to the bestplaces playing polo.
So we always were update withthe technology and update with
what was going on and how thiswas changing and evolving fast.

(18:22):
But we we never really did amarketing plan say, OK, we can
make this much money in Polo.
It was more for the lifestylethan you know the money that you
can make.

Speaker 3 (18:35):
Yeah Well also.
I mean, at the end of the day,the equity that you're creating
around building content ispretty substantial.
When, would you say, you hitthat really pivotal moment?
Was it in that third year wherethose clubs were requesting you
to kind of cover, or was theresomething even more than just
the trajectory of what you guyswere doing just booged?

Speaker 4 (18:58):
well, what really boomed us was the technology.
When, you know, internetstarted being faster and more
accessible to everybody.
That's what it boom.
Okay, that I will say.
That is a the main thing, andof course, the other one was the
claps.
But because, okay, first of allis you.

(19:21):
You know the technology, but ifyou think about the clubs,
there's still no TV.
You know very, very little TV.
So we're talking about thenormal polo club, not the top
events.
Yeah, so there is no TV.
And if there is no TV, thesponsors, they're not great.

(19:42):
So the main income of the poloclubs are the patrons and the
players.
So what they want was thepatrons to go there, have a good
time and come back next year,and the only ones promoting that
and showing that it was us.
So that for me, was the bigbreak, or the big thing.
You know the clubs trying toshow.

(20:04):
You know how good the fieldsare.
What are the new developmentsthat they were doing in the
clubs?
The tournaments, to know.
And also, you want to go andplay a tournament that is
published.
If you go and play a tournamentand nobody sees you, it's not
the same.
There is a lot of that inPoland.

(20:25):
So a tournament that is wellpromoted, that is well covered
and everybody sees that you playthere, that's what everybody
wants to play.
That on one side and then onthe other side.
I remember one day one of thetop players came and said thank
you, because of the interviewyou did me, I got a job, and
that also made me think like, ohokay, so that also generates a

(20:51):
lot of income or revenue in polo.
The regular ways of income inother sport don't apply to polo.
It's different.

Speaker 3 (21:03):
You know that other sport don't apply to polo.
It's different.
You know that when I got intothe sport with the uspa was
around 2013 and I remember mythis is I think it was the first
or second where the folks mattbaker and polo development at
that time introduced me to, youknow, drone technology and how

(21:23):
it ultimately covered the sportand how the umpires started
using it, and it was not evendabbled with yet on any of our
NBC airings or I don't even takethe live stream at that point.
But that convinced me rightthere, almost on the second day
of the job, that this is goingto be fun and that was 2013.

(21:43):
And I feel like from that yearmaybe as few years maybe before
I got the trajectory of polocontent live streaming started
to happen.
Um, yeah, because obviouslyglobal polo would eventually be
created.
You can guys like mike ferrerowith chucker tv, mac baker with
polo channel, the folks over atPolo Cam they all started with

(22:06):
us because we created Polo LineTV way before the technology was
there.

Speaker 4 (22:14):
After the website, we understand that we needed to
cover all the medias.
You know that, the sponsor,they just need to come to us and
you know.
Then we have the website, themagazine and the TV.
Tv was something different.
For that point we bought PQmagazine.
So we have the magazine, wehave the website and we try

(22:38):
really hard to put Polo on TV.
We do ESPN USA, eurosport inEurope, espn Argentina only
wanted to do the Open.
So we find out that there was noplace for Polo on TV at that
time and the videos werestarting to come online.

(22:59):
And I say, okay, this is agreat platform for that.
It's a niche, it will be shownon TV.
So we started with PoloLine TV.
We partnered with Polo ChannelI can't remember what it was
called and then we did somethingwith Mike Ferreira.
We also started with PoloCam.

(23:20):
That's the first ever game.
Was PoloCam?
I remember we met with Greg inUK.
He was filming the games forthe teams.
We met him through JohnHorswell and John said he has
all the games.
Why don't you put it online?
And that's the first time weput something.

(23:41):
It was not live streaming, butwe put the games online.
So those were the beginnings.

Speaker 3 (23:46):
No's great.
I mean it was fun to be, uh,the ground up with some of that
stuff, just to be experimentingwith televising and live
streaming, with all thedifferent camera angles and
drawings, how to do thissuccessfully and cost
effectively, which was reallyhard to do.
People coming in there and say,like, how do we film this with
such a huge pitch?

(24:06):
Yeah, it was fascinating, but Ilove the challenge they
presented.
It always excites me sometimesthinking about my involvement
with that and what ultimatelybecame Global Polo TV.
On that aspect of working withMike Ferrara and Chukar TV and
sitting down with those guysconstantly brainstorming how do
we do this, how do we do thiscollectively, with so many

(24:30):
people in the pot, you know,trying to do all the same thing
and develop all their owncontent was always thrilling, so
it's always exciting to seewhere it has come today, today,
you know, today like Chunker TVor CTV, how they call today.

Speaker 4 (24:46):
They have a TV studio .
That is amazing.
It's like you know it could becompared to any TV studio.
The cameras, equipment isamazing.
So how everything evolves andwhat you are able to do now with
the live stream is amazing.
It wasn't possible to do itbefore or it was very expensive

(25:08):
for a sport that don't have manypeople that will pay to watch.
So it was challenging.
It was very challenging.

Speaker 3 (25:16):
What would you say, would pull the line today.
And so what?
30 years?
Right now coming up, this is 25years.
Yes, it's going to be 25.
What would you say were yourbiggest milestones as a company?

Speaker 4 (25:31):
Well, for me always, the first season was when I
always remember coming here withnothing and you know everything
we needed to do.
We bought the first digitalcamera because before that, I
remember, we started inArgentina.
Before that, there was a famousphotographer called Melito in

(25:56):
Argentina it's kind of Snoopyhere and he gave us the paper
pictures.
We need to scan the picturesand put it online.
So the first year we came herewe bought a digital camera which
was like a very, very tinylittle camera and you can only

(26:17):
take pictures when the horsejust run by through you and it
was a lot of social pictures.
That, for me, was one of thefirst milestones.
You know that was big.
The second one, I'll say at acertain point it was open, free,
the content was free foreverybody, and then we closed

(26:37):
the content and you needed topay.
So that was huge also.
And then the other ones.
I would say when we startedPoloLine TV, that was huge also
because it created a completelynew business.
Actually, now PoloLine andPoloLine TV are two separate
companies, so that created awhole new business.

(27:00):
So probably those were the mainthings.
Yeah, milestone.

Speaker 3 (27:05):
What were your biggest challenges?
Were there.
Was there ever a time inrunning your business where
something was either one far toodifficult or scary?
At one point Was the companygoing to go under competition in
the marketplace, Anything?
That was the most challengingpart of the whole past 25 years.

Speaker 4 (27:24):
The most challenging part at the beginning was always
the cost.
You know, because to do a goodproduct you need good equipment.
You do good technology and inPolo you didn't have the number.
So you can do it if you have100,000 people, a million people

(27:44):
, watching you and paying.
Your audience is more than100,000 or more than a million
people, but Polo people is verysmall.
There are more people inWellington that play pickleball
than people that play Polo allaround the world.
So it's challenging.

(28:06):
So that was like the mainchallenge.
That's why we we went for likethe route of getting very
high-end sponsors.
You know, paying to access.
You needed to pay to access topolo line.
So that was, for me, the firstbig challenge that we had.

(28:26):
And then the other one I'll sayis is now, is the competition
is like before you can only findout what was going on if you go
to polo line.
Now you open instagram,facebook and everybody's a
reporter, like from the groomsto the players, to the people

(28:46):
they hire exclusively at theclub to promote and cover.
So you have a lot ofcompetition, a lot of
competition.
And the other thing I found wasin a moment we deal directly
with the headquarters, likeRolex, Cartier, land Rover.
We went once a year toSwitzerland, to London.

(29:08):
We have a meeting and we havean arrangement for the entire
year.
And when everything the socialmedia and everything start
growing, they say, okay, we'renot doing Polo anymore, but Audi
England is doing so.
You need to go and talk to Audiin England.
And then Cartier was not doingPolo anymore globally, but

(29:29):
Cartier Suisse is doing so.
That also was very challenging,you know, to start looking into
all the local brands and notdeal internationally or with the
headquarters anymore.
That also was complicated.

Speaker 3 (29:46):
Now I see that you are involved, either PoloLine or
yourself, with Global Polo TV.
Is that correct?
Correct?
Yes, so what do you do withthem?
Are you a consultant, or howdoes that all work out?

Speaker 4 (29:58):
Yeah, I'm a consultant with them, david
Cummings.
We like all the internationalevents.
We work with Global Polo and weproduce the games for them the
World Cup in Australia, we doFIP European, also in England,
we did the Westchester.

(30:18):
So we had a long relationshipwith David Cummings especially,
long relationship with DavidCameron especially.
And when I came to Palm Beach,when we started Polar Line TV,
one of the first places was PalmBeach, wellington and and we
discussed how the USPA was andwhere the USPA wanted to go, the

(30:39):
platform, the livestream,global Polo.
And we had an idea to createthe platform, global Polo
platform, and to put everythingin there, not only the games,
the content and everything.
So that was the plan.
But things changed afterwardsand David retired and now you

(31:03):
know the plan changed a littlebit.
David was bringing together thesport and the brand.
Okay.
So the idea of having a strongplatform with Global Polo was
that we can promote polo butalso promote the lifestyle,
promote the brand and everythingon our platform.
But when David left, the sportpart went back to the sport and

(31:29):
we only focus on the lifestylepart.
So we make an agreement withESPN, eurosport and Bainsport.
So basically we produce all theshows for outside the polo
world.
So we do the big finals, we dothe CB Whitney Gold Cup, us Open
, women's Open, theintercollegiate finals and we do

(31:54):
an international event for ESPNand also we have our breakaway
show.
We have six more shows thatalso goes on the ESPN platform,
bain Sport and Eurosport.
So, yeah, we are now, withGlobal Polo, focusing on getting
the polo outside the polo world, getting the polo to the world.

Speaker 3 (32:14):
How do you do that with Polo Line TV?
Mean, are you guyssynthetically in competition
with each other, or are theresynergies?

Speaker 4 (32:20):
No, no, there are synergies.
Me personally, I sold.
That's why I was sayingPoloLine and PoloLine TV are two
separate companies.
I sold my shares on PoloLinewhen I started working or, you
know, consulting with you onPolo.
So I sold all my shares fromPoloLine TV.
When the USP, us Polo sponsorsthe Gold Cup in England and

(32:46):
PoloLine films that we do also.
We sponsor the French Open,sauterrande, dubai, all the
international events.
Pololine film the content andthey send content to us.

Speaker 3 (32:58):
All right, no, makes sense.
What do you see as the futureof Polo content or Polo on TV?
From your perspective of wherethings are going, that's a good
question.
I mean just in the past 10 years.
I mean, all right, you've seenGlobal Polo develop from David
Cummings' vision, who has had anamazing vision of where Polo

(33:19):
and Polo should be.
I totally get it At some pointyou're just going to have to
retire for the game and whatyou're doing, but he was a true
visionary.
Even the conversations I've hadseparately have been fantastic
and I hope he'll be a guest onhis podcast as well.
But seeing Polo even Chukka TVI remember when Chukka TV you
can get it on Roku, for example,so it had that easy access

(33:45):
application on your TV, on yoursmart TV to get it has always
been valuable.

Speaker 4 (33:49):
My main idea when we started with the global Polo
platform is be accessible toeverybody on an app or you can.
You can watch it on tv, butyeah, followed by obviously the
live stream.

Speaker 3 (34:02):
You know, at that time when I was around, we had
it on nbc television.
Obviously it was pre-taped air.
I think that still goes on withespn, but uh, it's broader in
terms of the number of eventsnow poloo events that are
televised.
So it's come a long way in 10years.

Speaker 4 (34:19):
It's come a long way and we need to give a
recognition, big recognition, toShannon Stilson, michael Prince
, because we didn't imagine thatwe can do this.
Taking Polo where it is now onTV and having so many people
watching it was unthinkablebefore.
Before this, you needed to buythe airtime to put the US Open,

(34:44):
so it was costing us a fortuneto buy the airtime and just to
put the US Open final.
Now we have 12 shows year round, not only on ESPN but on all
the major networks around theworld, and we have millions and
millions of people watching polo.
So that's the future.
If you ask me that's the future.

(35:06):
I see it divided.
It should be all together butit's divided.
So I see it on one side is thepart we're doing with Global
Polo that is taking the sport tothe bigger audience.
We put in the finals and ourbreakaway shows, and that is
only going to grow because ESPNis asking for more content,

(35:28):
bainsport wants more content andevery time we talk to the big
networks they're happy with whatwe are doing and they want more
.
So that's one part and the wayI see it is growing a lot on
that sense.
And then on the other side,that is the sports side.
I don't know.
I have my own idea.

(35:48):
I don't know exactly what theHPA wants to do, but for me, the
live stream is a great platformfor the polo community and it's
a great platform for the clubs,you know, to give the clubs an
opportunity to promote theirevent, to help their sponsors,

(36:10):
to show what they're doing, tobe part of the community.
So that, for me, is somethinggreat.

Speaker 3 (36:19):
So there's a top-down and bottom-up approach.
I mean, the bottom-up approachis like you got to appease to
certain audiences and althoughthe primary audience that the
USPA has appeased to is itsmembers and those are active
playing members at the same timewho do see the value in the
live stream where Global Polo TVis more of a top-down, where
it's appeasing to a largeaudience, a non-polo player, and

(36:41):
inviting them into our world,if you will.
So the narrative, the messaging, even the storytelling can be
slightly different.
It's sometimes you know theargument I have with people who
watch the Netflix series.
Sometimes I tell them I'm like,look, there's truth to that.
But Netflix series sometimes Itell them I'm like, look,
there's truth to that, but alsoremember the audience that it's
trying to portray to.

Speaker 4 (37:00):
That's a good example and I have my own opinion about
that, but you know that's agood example because I watched
the show and I finished watchingthe show and I said I don't
know if this is going to helpPolo.
I don't know if this is goodfor Polo.
And I talked to all the Polopeople.
We this is going to help Polo.
I don't know if this is goodfor Polo.
And I talked to all the Polopeople we even do a poll on

(37:20):
PoloLine to see what people werethinking and the Polo people
were not very happy.
But then I talked to all thepeople outside Polo and it was
amazing.
They all watched it.
There was a lot of peopleasking me about Timiduta or La
Fete team.

Speaker 3 (37:36):
So I don't know it about Timiduta or La Fete team,
so I don't know.
It's a great conversationbecause I had the exact same
thing.
Everyone in Polo didn't like it.
I can see it from theirperspective because I wish it
wasn't five episodes.
I said I'm like I kind of wantto wish it was eight or 10,
because it might have been ableto capture some of the things
that the Polo community wantedto see more of.

(37:58):
Like could have you had abreakaway episode that talked
about more uh, polo allthroughout the united states and
that whole culture.
You know, yeah, and you knowyou have a small window to do
certain things.
But the non-polo people so myold world of being in mainstream
sports they enjoyed it and theysaid I didn't know it was that

(38:20):
dangerous.
I didn't know.
How is Bob Narvis doing?
Is he okay?

Speaker 4 (38:24):
You know, whatever happened to that, they're
looking to things that weoverlook because for us it's
normal.
On that side, on that part, itwas a big opportunity to show,
because Netflix is a greatplatform, so it was a good
opportunity to show the sport toeverybody.

Speaker 1 (38:44):
Before we dive back in today's buzzing conversation,
we'd like to give a specialshout out to this season's
Outside the Boards podcast.
Co-presenting sponsor, hive 2.0.
The pioneers of hard honeywhere passion meets palate.
Hive 2.0, the pioneers of hardhoney where passion meets palate
.
Hive 2.0 isn't just a beverage,it's a mission.
With over 30 years of flavorinnovation, hive 2.0 brings you
hard honey, a drink rooted inthe tireless work of their

(39:10):
in-house team, from beekeeper tofull cycle production.
They move hives, protect queensand steward honey with purpose,
crafting each can to be morethan a drink.
It's a story, a movement, avibe.
But Hive 2.0 doesn't stop athard honey, introducing their
new Manuka Water Collection, aline of refreshing alcohol-free
options that redefines hydration, infused with the natural
goodness of Manuka and inspiredby hive-born wellness.

(39:33):
These include Manuka ArtisanWater and Sparkling Spring Water
.
Both lines come in flavor,forward styles like sour wine,
hops and ginger beer.
All 0% ABV, so you can enjoythe buzz without the booze.
Whether you're poolside,pitchside or post-ride, these
sparkling and still waters arethe perfect sip for any scene.

(39:54):
From historic Egyptian honeyremedies to modern
porch-pounding pleasures, hiveDuo celebrates flavor with
purpose.
So whether you are sipping onAtomic Berry's Tropical Tang,
the nostalgic hit of PB&J or theclean, crisp notes of Manuka
water.
Hive Duo has something forevery palate.
Raise a can to taste innovationand the bees.

(40:14):
Thank you, hive Duo, forsweetening our lives and now
hydrating them too.
Stick around to the end of theepisode for a special discount
code at hardhoneycom.
And now back to the interview.
Stay tuned, stay refreshed andstay curious.

Speaker 3 (40:32):
You know I was interviewed for like three hours
for that thing and there was alot of things I wish were in it
but weren't.
Yeah, Because I, like I didanswers to their questions about
, you know, the dangerous side,the humanization of the horse
and its meaning and itsimportance, and the overall
culture of the game that peoplemisperceive.

(40:54):
They think it's all aboutchampagne, sun dresses and
seersucker and it's like it'snot.
And I said, what attracted meto the game is I'm hanging out
with my best buddies drinking aCorona or a Coors banquet beer
on the back of a flatbed pickuptruck having a barbecue after

(41:15):
there's two's two realities andthe polo player is so used to
the college sports tailgaterthan the glitzy side of things.
But I get that.

Speaker 4 (41:27):
We have to embrace that it's not going away,
especially in the us we have toembrace that and I like that
word because, yeah, that sells,it does New memberships or a
product that sells and it's alsopart of the polo.
You know, it's also part of thepolo.

(41:49):
The Sunday games are like that.
Then you come and see any gameduring the week and it's
completely different, but theSunday game is like that and
people have fun and they have agood time and they enjoy polo
and they go back home and saythis was great.

Speaker 3 (42:04):
So yeah, yeah I will tell you that, coming from the
world of sponsorship, is is anappeal to.
On the luxury side, yeah,people have larger discretionary
income to play the sport.
It's incredibly expensive andthings like that.
But I will tell you you'reprobably going to see more BMWs

(42:24):
in a parking lot than you aregoing to see Rolls Royces so
affordable luxury.
You should be all over thisthing.
And even some of the brandsthat you wouldn't think that
polo was attractive, like CoorsLight beer.
Some of the blue-collar brandsthat are out there also appeal
to this sport and I can build apretty easy case as to why a

(42:48):
blue-collar brand that appealsto just the general market can
easily take interest in a sportof polo.
And just because it's expensive, it's incredibly accessible.
Interest in the sport of polo.
And just because it's expensive, it's incredibly accessible.
You know it doesn't take thatexpensive ticket to get in, to
roll up your car and enjoy apolo event.
That's how it's playedpredominantly in the United
States.
That's how you experience it.
You know Palm Beach is one area.

(43:09):
I mean it's right next toMar-a-Lago, so you can imagine
the demographic and culturethere.
But come up to Bintan countryin Wisconsin and Chicago, it's
different.

Speaker 4 (43:22):
I agree.
One of the other things thatyou know it's an endless
discussion because I'm on thearena committee also, so we talk
a lot with Robin Sanchez whichalso will be great for your show
to have her and the differencebetween arena polo and the
normal polo.
So arena polo has and now yousee Nacho Figueras and Adolfito

(43:46):
trying to do an internationalcircuit, but arena polo has more
options to get to the wideraudience than the regular polo
because the fields are smaller.
You can build a field anywhere.
You need less horses.
There's a lot of benefits.
But we need to sit down as anorganization the whole USPA and

(44:06):
say, okay, guys, where do wewant to go?
What do we want?
So there is not a right answerbecause there is not an
objective.
We don't have an objective asan organization.
So if the objective is grow thesport, so let's do arena polo.
If the objective is to sellmore shirts, let's do polo.
But I think that is what ismissing to know exactly where

(44:30):
are we going, what are theobjectives, what we want to
achieve, and depending on onthat, there are different ways
of doing things.
Because for me, arena polo is agreat show, it's a great
spectacle.
You can put that on tv.
You can do a circuit on tv.
So, yes, but it's more comparedto rodeo or stuff like that.

(44:51):
Yeah, and the other one, the,the grass polo, is more high-end
.
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (44:58):
Yeah, outdoor polo, the green grasses, it looks
cleaner.
I mean it's, yeah, but you'reright.
I mean there is almost catersto audiences and yeah, the
smaller field, the arenas, it'smore accessible.

Speaker 4 (45:08):
Half of the USPA members are arena members.
The main entrance to polo isthrough arena, either for school
or the local arena places.
There are more people gettinginto polo because of arena than
regular polo.
Then they can grow into polo.

Speaker 3 (45:26):
I had a really fascinating conversation with
Chip Campbell in my last season.
It was my last interview that Ihad and we were talking about
how do we imprint polo on peoplethat might take it up later in
life, and I was always curiousas to all the people that, let's
say, played polo in their youth, let's say from 18 and younger.

(45:47):
How many of those people hadthe propensity to pick up the
sport, let's say, in their 30sand 40s they returned to it.
I would really be curiousbecause I have an affinity to
horse riding in general.
I started riding when I was 10.
Polo was never introduced to me,but I fell in love with horses.

(46:08):
I sensed the value and theresponsibilities and bravery and
skills in our youth and it gotme thinking that.
You know, the camp that Ilearned to ride was in Northern
Wisconsin and I always thoughtto myself had they put polo as
part of that equine curriculum?
And they start kids off ridingas early as eight years old, all

(46:29):
right and then go through aboutlike 14, 15.
Had they done that and you know, between that time thousands of
kids would have gone throughthat camp.
Now that I'm 40, would any ofthose kids that I went to camp
with had picked up the sportlater in life, when they had
that discretionary income tolease, own or continue the sport

(46:51):
in some sort of fashion, itwould be an interesting project
in my opinion.

Speaker 4 (46:55):
The answer is very simple.
It would be an interestingproject, in my opinion.
The answer is very simple whenyou leave school, you need to
buy your own horses, have yourown grooms, take care of your
horses, play your club fees anddues.
If you want to play in a biggertournament, you need to hire a
professional.
It's impossible Unless you havemoney or you come from a polo
family or a polo money family.

(47:16):
That, for me, is not letting thesport grow.
Let's say you play polo atschool, you know.
You say, ah, this is good.
And you, you know, at schoolthey give you everything.
Great, you get out of schooland you want to keep playing
polo.
Okay, there is a club where I goand pay any number, but an

(47:36):
accessible number.
Okay, I pay this much per monthand they take care of
everything.
I just go there with my boots,my mallet and my helmet and I
always have four horses for meto play checkers and I play
checkers.
I can keep playing polo for anaccessible fee.
I don't need to worry abouthorses, I don't need to worry
about grooms or anything.

(47:57):
I just pay my monthly fee andplay polo.
And then, if I have more moneyor if I want to grow.
Yeah, you have all thepossibilities.
But at least you know there isan option where you pay
something that is not crazy andespecially it's not so much the

(48:19):
money, it's the organization.
Polo takes a lot oforganization, especially here in
the US.
If you're not organized, it'simpossible to play polo here.
So if there are clubs that willprovide that, I think that
would be amazing for polo, likeif you can just go and pay a
monthly fee and the club willtake care of everything.
That would be amazing for polo.
If you can just go and pay amonthly fee and the club will

(48:39):
take care of everything, thatwould be great.

Speaker 3 (48:41):
Yeah, love, 100%, 100% From your eyes.
Where do you see the nextbiggest opportunity with polo?
Where do you think where youlike to see specifically how the
sport is marketed?
Where would you like to see itgo from here, from where it is,
because you played a big rolewith global polo, its

(49:01):
development, its expansion.
What's the next step?
You need another netflix series.

Speaker 4 (49:08):
I mean there are a lot of discussions.
There are some big news comingup that I don't know if I can
tell them, but on our side atleast, we're looking for having
constant events, like the TVnetworks, they don't want the
final, they don't want one off,they want to have continuity.

(49:30):
They want to have a tournamentthis month and then another
tournament, and so I see itgoing that way is whatever we
did up to here.
Grow it.
So instead of showing just the12 finals, maybe we show more
games on the networks.

Speaker 3 (49:47):
So the frequency of polo and the progression of a
tournament, exactly, and you'rewatching March Madness.
At the end of the day, you haveX, y and Z number of rounds and
you see the progression of whatbegins and ends.
Just to build that overall hype.

Speaker 4 (50:01):
You need to be able to follow.
You know like the best exampleis the Formula One that you have
a lot of racing car companiesand you have a lot of pilots and
they change every year, so it'svery difficult to follow up.
But this is the step we up.
But you have continuity.
You have all the circuits, youhave all the races.

(50:23):
So the race in Miami isdifferent from the race in I
don't know Brazil, but it'sstill the same circuit.
So something like that, likeyou know where we can have a
circuit, where we can unify theinternational circuit.
And then it makes sense becauseyou follow the players all

(50:45):
around the world all year long,so they can be competing in the
US or in England, but you followthe players.

Speaker 3 (50:52):
So you have a great concept here because,
technically, golf does that.
You have a great concept herebecause, technically, golf does

(51:19):
that and golf does that becauseyou have the European tour, you
have the PGA, you have the Asiantour.
All of them have theirdesignated.
However, each one of them haskind.
The British Open Is there, likeyou said, is there a circuit of
the biggest tournaments withthe highest propensity that the
same players or teams are allgoing to participate, and it
kind of covers a whole entireyear.
I think that's plausible, I do.

Speaker 4 (51:34):
The future for me?
Yes, and if someone can do it,it's Michael Prince and US Polo
ESSN.
Nobody else can do that,because we are the main sponsor
of all the biggest tournamentsaround the world.

Speaker 3 (51:47):
Yeah, well, and look at it historically, historically
, even when you look at othersports, a lot of this innovation
comes from its sponsor, okay,or a sponsor out of nowhere.
You can tie that back to, let'ssay, skateboarding okay, if it
wasn't for skateboarding.
Let's say inline skating andthe creation of the x games.

(52:09):
That was largely responsiblefor two brands mountain dew and
vans.
Yeah, the shoe company, likethat was a trajectory.
They put that stuff on the mapbecause of their investment into
the game.
And you could say the same thingabout ocean racing, for example
.
Where would ocean racing bewithout Oracle?
Oracle, exactly, and there'sothers.

(52:32):
And it's a great case studyfrom you know, sponsorship and
marketing is, yes, us Polo ASSNhas carved out its sport for
them and they're the primarysubsidizer.
Let's be honest.
No, no, it's true.
Yeah, so it's been done before,and I think US Polo ASSN is

(52:54):
seeking something that theplaybook has been made and has
shown to be successful.
But the one risk is that ifsomething were to happen to US
Polo ASSN, then is there anyoneto pick up the torch, or has it
been built enough to carry thetorch onto itself?

Speaker 4 (53:13):
But once you create the base, it's like the X Games.
Now the X Games they can do itby themselves.
They don't need Montendieu orthey don't need Pulse, they are
a big enough name.
So I think this could be thesame case.
One of the things that wecreated and this is interesting
when we go around the world, you, you know, covering tournaments

(53:37):
and going to the best clubs isthat when a sponsor came, they
say I'm sponsoring polo and forthem it was exactly the same to
sponsor the gold cup in englandor tournament in a ranch in
buenos aires.
So they don't understand.
There was no standard of whatis good, what is bad.

(53:59):
They have no idea, they justconsole polo.
Yeah, so we get together withthe main polo clubs and we
created the World Polo Tour.
So that was a ranking of thebest tournaments, the best clubs
, and winning that gives youpoints to a ranking of players.
So that was huge because a lotof people and nowadays they use

(54:22):
the World Polo Tour tounderstand which is the main
circuit, which are the maintournaments, who are the best
players of the year, who are thebest players.
And that's probably one of theother milestones I forgot to
mention, because that was huge.
That for us was really huge.

Speaker 3 (54:40):
And the World Polar Tour still exists today.
I mean, I think I'm on itswebsite right now, so you still
have an important educationaltool to inform people.
This is where the biggest theseare the biggest players, these
are the biggest tournaments.
It was funny.

Speaker 4 (54:52):
I have complaints.
But some players that they comein and say they're not giving
me my visa because I'm not inthe ranking.
Really, yes, what do you wantme to do?
I say no, nothing, just tellthat you know it's not an
official ranking.
I say, yeah, it's not anofficial ranking, but if you're
not in the ranking, you're notone of the best players.

(55:15):
So it's funny, because they usethat for the visas.
Really, oh my gosh, people payattention to that.

Speaker 3 (55:26):
They're kind of digging themselves into a hole
when you do it unintentionally.
When it comes to securing thevisa, I've had to do that work
on my end before for some of theplayers that came through
Chicago.
That's never come up before.
No, but if you see, the WorldPool Tour.

Speaker 4 (55:37):
I've had to do that work on my end before for some
of the players that came throughChicago and that's never come
up before.
Yeah no, but if you see, theWorld Pool Tour is just
gathering the best tournamentsand just giving points, and you
know, anyone can do it.
We just do it to reflect whowas the best player of the year
which won the best tournamentsof the moment.
It's just showing what is outthere.

Speaker 3 (55:59):
Polo has been your career, your entire life, with
the obsession of your stint inrugby which I love, by the way,
because I love hearing that,okay, someone did some type of
crazy-ass sport prior to beingin polo, so they have a bit of a
screw loose, which makes totalsense, because you kind of have
to have a screw loose to playpolo.
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (56:19):
I used to surf, snowboarding and skateboard you
know what I think?

Speaker 3 (56:24):
it was this past year that I learned that awful Cabo
Yasso was a surfer.
I'm like what the hell.
Totally makes sense, though.
Totally makes sense.
I learned to surf, but hisfather was but the question I
was going to ask is with theWorld Polo Tour and everything
so you've had a whole career inpolo what drives you every day

(56:47):
to continue to put your heartand soul and life into this game
?
Because I can imagine that atsome point it probably
frustrated your children andyour wife.

Speaker 4 (56:57):
Yeah, yes, I don't know.
Nowadays it's a lifestyle,because it was getting my wife
very frustrated.
She came with me to onetournament in Deauville and I
was taking pictures and I neededto talk to the sponsors of the
tournament.

(57:18):
So I said you know, you thinkyou can take the pictures.
Well, I have this meetingbecause they only can do it now.
So I say no, I don't know.
She was afraid.
Anyway, long story short, shestarted taking pictures and now
is one of the best polophotographers.
So now it's a lifestyle for thewhole family.

(57:40):
Do you have children playing?
I have two daughters, one, theyoungest one, she did play.
She played kids polo.
She wants to play and I don'twant her to play.
So let's see, maybe she will,maybe she don't.
She's young, she's 11.
So she's thick and bold andevery time she has an
opportunity she plays kidstournaments.

(58:02):
The other one, no, the otherone likes more music and art.
So yeah, not so much the sport,but you know it's a lifestyle
for a family and also becausethere is a lot of things to do.
Polo still is a very amateursport.
It's a very, very amateur sportand there is a lot of room to

(58:23):
convert this sport into aprofessional sport and I think
that for me is my main thing tokeep on going.
There is a lot of things to doand a lot of opportunities and I
think we have still a long wayto go in the sport to put it out
there.

Speaker 3 (58:44):
I'm just really impressed that there's still a
group of people out there thatare continuously motivated, with
very little upside it's one ofthose high risk, high reward
situations and they keep oninvesting in themselves, trying

(59:06):
to create positive andtransformative change in the
sport constantly, whether it'syourself, people like Shannon
Stillson, mike Ferreira, theDMZs, the girls from Line Up
Polo, for example, who are doingthings, and they're so
motivated and setting aside justa lot of their personal time,
money to bring polo to themasses or connect polo in a way

(59:33):
to other mainstream sports wherepeople can understand.
And I think that's amazing thatpeople are continuing to have
that motivation and drive,because I think we all see the
light at the end of the tunnel.
It might be dim, but it's there.
It's there.

Speaker 4 (59:49):
It's definitely there .
It's definitely an opportunity,but, as you say, it's a lot of
effort and sometimes it's toohigh risk.
The polo is too high risk.

Speaker 3 (01:00:00):
It is and, look, it's not a recession-proof sport.
Anything can disrupt the sport,from a person, club, tournament
or anything like that kind ofgoing down from its
participation.
So I think we all acknowledgethat it sucks.
Yes, but one question I didhave from you being that you're
from Argentina.
Yes, and so I'm assuming thatyou go back and forth from

(01:00:23):
Argentina All the time.
Yes, okay, so what do you seeas kind of the biggest
differences in gameplay and evenculture from one country to the
other, including England?

Speaker 4 (01:00:37):
Yeah, there are three very different places for polo
markets, for polo Argentina.
The best example is me.
I saw that they were playingpolo and at the end, at the back
of the polo club the countryclub actually and I just get

(01:00:57):
there, say, can I play polo?
Yes, you can.
It was easy, accessible.
You have a lot of peopleplaying, it's easy, accessible.
It's more like a sport.
In Argentina, it's more like afamily tradition, it's easy to
access and you have a lot ofplaces to play polo.
You have a lot of horses andaccessible.

(01:01:20):
You need people to play poloand you need fields to play polo
.
So Argentina is full of fieldsand full of horses and full of
people that play polo.
So that makes it super easy andwe have a culture of polo.
We have Palermo in the middleof the city.
So, no matter what, you don'tknow anything about polo, but
you know that.

(01:01:40):
You know, in November is polothere and we have the best polo
in the world and it's culture inArgentina.
So here I would say polo is morefor the elite.
If you don't have money, it'sdifficult to play polo.
So that would be a very, verystrong barrier because the only

(01:02:03):
way you can access polo isthrough school or with money.
There is no other way to accessthe sport.
So that put it in a verydifferent category.
England is a mix of Argentinaand a mix of USA, because of
course it's expensive and toplay polo and good polo in

(01:02:25):
England is very expensive, butyou still have the clubs where
you know maybe you have one ortwo horses and they let you run,
and I think you have more clubsand you have a more rural
culture in England, so thatmakes it more accessible.
So England for me would be amix of the two.

Speaker 3 (01:02:48):
It's a great topic because oftentimes it does come
up in conversations.
Why is it more popular herethan over here in the US?
Why are there more Tengolerswho are Argentine than there are
in the US?
And once you apply cultural,social, economics and financial
barriers and things like thatand just overall accessibility,

(01:03:10):
that really comes to light.
But there's a lot of otherexamples where other sports have
the same problem and it's likehockey, for example.
Hockey in the US is not an urbansport, it's much suburban and
much more in northern statesthan Canada and places like that
.
And then also there's afinancial barrier because the

(01:03:32):
discretionary income to affordthe equipment and get out hockey
rinks and so on and so forth isexpensive.
Soccer is another example.
It's versus, let's say, say,basketball, which is more of an
urban sport.
It's a concrete game ratherthan open fields and grass.
So there are a lot of examplesthat you can touch on from other

(01:03:53):
sports.
It's not an anomaly for polo.
It's not because you can pointto the same problems that exist
elsewhere.
It's a matter of just pluggingthose holes, if you can, to see
if there's a way to boost thatparticipation or viewership,
whatever it might be.
So yeah, I mean it's afascinating discussion.

Speaker 4 (01:04:13):
Especially with polo.
You need to play good horseswith good players, good
tournament, good fields, goodplayers, good tournament, good
fields.
And you only get that not easybut accessible in Argentina.
Here you play good horses, goodplayers, good polo, good fields
.
If you play the gauntlet, youonly have like three months a

(01:04:36):
year.
You know there are some moretournaments, but the level of
excellence is the gauntlet.
In Argentina it's year-roundand there are a lot of
tournaments.
So a lot of clubs and a lot oftournaments where you have good
fields, good horses, goodplayers and constant polo,
year-round polo.
So it's difficult to competeagainst that.

Speaker 3 (01:05:00):
Yeah, you could get away with it in the US US and
some of the mid-states in termsof like year round Go ahead.

Speaker 4 (01:05:07):
But also the other thing is like, if you look to
the normal polo player inArgentina, the US, we're
probably similar.
But if you look to the peoplethat live out of polo, that's
where we make the difference andthose are the people that then
are going to go up and get to 10goals, and that doesn't happen

(01:05:28):
here.
Here, I don't know there is nocontinuation, it's very little,
like high goal players that theyhave sons and the sons play
polo and they continue.
There are very few cases here.
The sons play polo and theycontinue with.
There are very few cases here.
And in Argentina.
It's like with five families inPilar and five families in

(01:05:49):
Cañuelas, you have only polo andthose are the people that are
going to grow up to be tangopolo players.
You don't have that here.
You get to polo late, or youget to polo through school and
then it's difficult for you tocontinue.

Speaker 3 (01:06:07):
So, yeah, that that's the difficult part where do you
see, globally, the most growth?
In polo.
Are there other countries thatare investing?
You see more patrons, moreplayers, just just investment in
general.
Other countries out there?

Speaker 4 (01:06:25):
No, it's funny because I see that the polo is
growing.
Maybe it's not growing the highgold.
The high gold is getting moreand more expensive, so that is
not going to grow, it's alwaysgoing to stay the same.
But I do see it growing a lotin the medium and the low goal,
especially in Argentina.

(01:06:45):
The Argentine Polo Associationdid a really good job in
promoting the low goaltournaments and medium goal
tournaments to play competitiveand to play professionally and
to have the opportunity to thefinal of the tournament to be in
Pilar or to be in Palermo.
That was great Around the world.

(01:07:06):
I think probably this is thesame case, not growing that much
, but I see growing the low goal, the medium goal.
I see it growing and that is abig opportunity.

Speaker 3 (01:07:20):
Well, that's great because I see and this is
probably from US Polo, assn butI do see a lot of growth.
Or just maybe it's becausethey're just producing more
content and so they're justgetting smarter around social
media and things like that.
But in India, united ArabEmirates and areas like that I'm
trying to think of the desertpolo event that Richard Mills is

(01:07:40):
a part of and the investmentthat's going around there I'm
hoping to have them on thispodcast too, by the way, and
it's hopefully in the nearfuture.

Speaker 4 (01:07:49):
Yeah, yeah, New projects.
There's a lot of new projectsthat they have polo as a
reference, like the Alula case,or even the polo in Dubai is a
proper tournament, but itstarted with exhibition games.
Now they have a proper circuit.
Egypt, Azerbaijan there is alot of places where they use

(01:08:15):
polo to get visibility fortourism.
So I see that a lot.
But the problem with that is Idon't know if the polo is going
to stay there and grow or it'sjust an event.
You know, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:08:32):
And I love those exhibition events that are out
there, like snow polo, beachpolo.
I do it's good.

Speaker 4 (01:08:38):
It's good for visibility and it's good, and
it's good fun to play also.

Speaker 3 (01:08:42):
So yeah, whether the horses like it, I'm not really
quite sure, but yeah, it is madefor an appeal.
There is an attraction to it.
I've been to it.
There are a lot of fun, yeah,yeah, so no question about it.
But my gosh honey, I feel likewe can go on forever and ever
and ever again.
I had one point I forgot that wewere actually recording a
podcast, but I really appreciateyou taking the time with me

(01:09:06):
today, be my pleasure andspending over an hour.
I feel as though we might haveto do a part two Because I feel
like there might be topics thatwe didn't touch base on, but it
was really exciting to hear thestory of Polo Line.
What you're doing for the sportnow and just talking about just
what has happened in the last25 years since PoloLine was
founded, in the trajectory andthe accomplishments and the

(01:09:26):
milestones that we talked abouttoday, is really, really neat.
We've come a long way.
We've come a long way.
There's still more to come, yes, and I wish you continued
success and hopefully we get achance to work together on a
professional level.
Absolutely, but keep ongrinding it out, man.
Don't retire anytime soon, okay, we still need you.

Speaker 4 (01:09:49):
I won't, man, I don't plan to do that.

Speaker 3 (01:09:51):
Thank you, Javier.
Thank you so much for takingthe time and again, all the best
to you, your family andeveryone down in Palm Beach.
And I know that season is goingto be coming to a quick close
pretty soon and I'm assumingthat you're back down to
Argentina, when are you off toimmediately after the US season?

Speaker 4 (01:10:09):
I will probably go back to Argentina and probably
this year go to England also,okay, Well, hopefully our paths
will cross.

Speaker 3 (01:10:19):
I did get a chance to work for some of your guys with
polo line up here in chicago.
Yes, I sure did before.
So yeah, we need to do more ofthat.

Speaker 4 (01:10:28):
See, we need to do more events, more club events,
more give the opportunity to theclubs to have exposure on a
bigger platform, either globalpolo or the uspa polo network.
But but I think that issomething the sports and most of
the clubs need.

Speaker 3 (01:10:46):
Yeah, well, I also got to give a lot of credit to
clubs too, because they havecome a long way too.
I feel like in the past fiveyears alone, some of these clubs
have had aha moments and reallygetting their social media,
their content, together.
I think programs like Kavanaughand ai and things like that
will make things easier forpeople and getting their message

(01:11:06):
and story out there.
So, um, I gotta applaud some ofthe clubs.
I feel like when I waseducating them when I was in the
uspa 10 years ago, it was likesometimes talking to a wall.
I feel as though they they kindof are starting to solve that
for themselves and that's justWelcome to my work.
Alright, Javier.
Well, I want you to enjoy yourweekend.

(01:11:27):
Happy St Patrick's Day.

Speaker 2 (01:11:29):
Yeah, I'm no Larry, so I'm Irish, so I won't be,
able to get out to the world andgo on Ireland.

Speaker 3 (01:11:41):
You have it on your blood, I do.
I do.
Well, everyone's Irish on StPatrick's Day, including
yourself, so you can go to NewYork's pub and have a Guinness
in my honor.

Speaker 4 (01:11:52):
I will have one on your honor.
Absolutely, I'll take you whereI'm at.

Speaker 3 (01:11:55):
All right, I'm Slip.
I'm here to thank you again andtalk soon.
Thank you, man.
Good and talk soon.
Thank you, man, thanks.

Speaker 1 (01:12:04):
In 2012, the founders of Outside the Boards witnessed
their first polo match and werestunned by the sport's beauty
and brutality.
Few sports, if any, have thesecombined qualities.
The sport's grace, intensityand warlike imagery create a
shock and awe viewing experiencelike none other.
Combine this with the sport'sparty-like atmosphere and
lifestyle and you have a recipefor success.

(01:12:26):
Today, the sport has yet towitness its full potential.
The industry is fragmented,riddled with politics and
inexperience.
Outside the Boards waspurposely designed to change all
that and bring clarity to thesport by introducing best
practices, insights, trends andconsulting services to industry
stakeholders and interestedbrands so that they can reach

(01:12:48):
their marketing potential andbetter navigate the sport.
Whether you're a club seekingcustom sponsorship and marketing
solutions or simply looking forstrategic advice, we encourage
you to contact us today orsubscribe to gain access to
industry insights.
Visit us at OutsideTheBoardscomor to learn more, or email us
at info at OutsideTheBoardscom.

(01:13:11):
Let's change the game, andthat's a wrap for today's
episode.
A heartfelt thanks to ourseason sponsor, hive 2.0, for
helping bring outside the boysto life.

(01:13:33):
Hive 2.0 is reimagining what itmeans to drink with purpose With
their signature hard honey lineand their brand new Manuka
water collection, made for thosewho crave flavor without
compromise.
Collection made for those whocrave flavor without compromise.
Whether it's buzz-worthy kickof hard honey or the
alcohol-free refreshment ofManuka artisan water and
sparkling spring water, hive 2.0delivers unmatched taste backed
by tireless dedication of theirhive-centric production team.

(01:13:53):
Choose from styles like sourwine, hops and ginger beer all
0% ABV and enjoy the sweetreward of nature's work in every
can.
Hive 2.0 celebrates theincredible efforts of the
honeybee, blending tradition andinnovation into every drop From
hive to hand.
This hydration and celebrationat its finest.

(01:14:17):
As a thank you for tuning in,hive 2.0 is offering
outside-the-boards listenersfree shipping and exclusive
online discount on all fourpacks.
Free shipping and exclusiveonline discount on all four
packs.
Use code OTBPOLO P-O-L-O-25,.
Add all caps at checkout onhardhoneycom.
Don't miss the chance toelevate your drink experience
with Hive 2.0's delicious andpurpose-driven creations.
Stay refreshed, stay curiousand remember every sip counts

(01:14:40):
with Hive 2.0.
Until next time, take care andwe'll see you on the polo field.