Final Curtain Call For Vegas
So, I’ve finally recuperated from my Vegas trip followed by 2 nights and days of straight work with the FEI Dressage Task Force, but I didn’t want to forget a few World Cup related items.
First, I would never have gone to Las Vegas to do the Live TV for Universal Sports had it not been for Karin Offield who, at the very last minute as she seems to always do, stepped up to the plate when no one else would, and came up with the added funding to make it all happen. Karin has been and continues to be a wonderful supporter of Dressage in the U.S., even while her riding career has taken a back seat to her latest business interests. Among those is her breeding business, the star for which still has to be the great stallion, Lingh, who is now standing in Sweden. I couldn’t help think of him while I was commenting on the Freestyle, since he did win the ‘05 Grand Prix and placed 2nd in the Kur at my final event of my own personal career in the same arena. Many thanks to Karin!
I also have to say how much I enjoyed working with Bob Hughes, Jim Carr, Andrew Catilan, and the whole gang working for Universal Sports. They are consummate professionals in every way and made me feel extremely comfortable in my role as expert commentator for the show. And even better, they are just great guys who love horses and horse sport!
Marty Bowman is another wonderful friend who masterfully directs the press and media at this and most of the biggest competitions in America and nobody does it better than he! Thanks, Marty!
Finally, we’ve all come to expect a fabulous show every two years when the World Cup comes back to Vegas. The reason for that is their amazing staff, from the organizers and managers, to the secretaries and all the gang behind the scenes without whom the show just couldn’t go on. This is a perfectly well oiled machine and frankly, I never in a million years would have thought there might be an end in sight to its coming back, but that’s exactly what is happening. The World Cup was not given back to Las Vegas, and instead will remain in Europe at least through 2013 and probably longer. And what happens when a huge show like this is not brought back on a frequent and regular basis is simple - the sponsorship dries up. Sponsors don’t want to commit their dollars to an event so far away, especially in this kind of an economy, and so the wonderful folks in Vegas just can’t hold on to this great tradition. Certainly, we can always say this or that could have been better, but overall Las Vegas put on a record breaking and history making show, again and again. I am very sorry to see it end and I applaud everyone who made it so amazing!
Cheers!
RD
Savannah Brentnall — April 26, 2009 @ 7:17 pm
I agree that Vegas has always put on a fantastic show, but I thought the decision not to have the World Cup there again in the near future was theirs, not the World Cup committee’s. I could be wrong (it’s been known to happen on occasion!), but it’s being reported that the LV group withdrew their bid, citing the current economic situation in Las Vegas.
They did mention in a press conference that, barring unforeseen circumstances, the World Cup will be back in Vegas in 2014.
RDover — April 26, 2009 @ 8:06 pm
Once it was clear that Las Vegas would not once again receive the every other year nod from the FEI, meaning that 2011 was off the table, I believe the organizers had no other choice but to opt out of any other bids. As I said, the extremely high cost of putting on an event like the World Cup is difficult enough in our present economic situation; sponsors are even harder to come by when there is no guarantee that a competition will consistently and reagularly return to the venue.
As for 2014, I believe there wil be several bids from our hemisphere and it will remain to be seen which one will be chosen.
RD