Major Sponsors Bring Visibility And Support To Polo At IPC

Each year, as the high-goal polo season swings into gear at the International Polo Club Palm Beach, the venue highlights a large group of committed sponsors, each aiming to help grow the reach and expansion of the sport, and preserve the tradition of polo in South Florida during the winter months.

As one of the most popular and exclusive social scenes on the weekend for players, spectators and other polo enthusiasts, sponsors of the high-goal season reap extraordinary benefits, both for their own brand visibility and engagement with the fun-loving and energetic audience base of polo.

Katherine Bellissimo of Wellington Equestrian Partners, the ownership entity of the International Polo Club Palm Beach, managed by her husband, Mark Bellissimo, oversees the sponsorship and marketing efforts at IPC during the intense winter season and is committed to broadening the sponsorship opportunities for lifestyle and commercial brands at the venue.

“Sponsorship support is a key component in the success we’ve experienced to this point at IPC and is something that our team focuses on tremendously throughout the year leading up to high-goal competition,” Bellissimo said. “It’s an incredible market for sponsors to activate and display their brands, as we see thousands of spectators at IPC from December through April each year. We manage one of the largest sponsorship portfolios for equestrian sport at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center and are confident that we will be able to do the same with polo over the coming years.”

Following suit with many of the major professional sporting league trends, corporate sponsorship deals continue to have a major influence on the prominence and distinction in the sports sector and industry, helping brands reach new target audiences and provide unparalleled experiences for fans and attendees.

“Sponsorship, in general, has to be a very forward-thinking department in terms of what we can offer or provide that will give these brands and businesses the most reward or success in reaching their target audiences,” Bellissimo explained. “We’re incredibly thankful to all of the sponsors that we’ve seen step up since we acquired IPC and are looking forward to the future of polo thanks to their continued support.”

As brands and businesses look for new creative ways to tap into new and pre-existing audiences, one thing remains certain: sports and sporting events provide a unique gateway for fan engagement and recognition, the ultimate key to a successful sponsorship. With a trifecta of opportunity, including audiences attending the Winter Equestrian Festival at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center, the Adequan Global Dressage Festival at Equestrian Village and the continued expansion at the International Polo Club Palm Beach, corporate sponsorship at equestrian events in Wellington will continue to thrive.

This year, IPC will welcome the following sponsors to the venue for the 2018 season: AIG Private Client Group; Engel & Völkers, Amy Carr and Carol Sollak; Goldmund; Hinkley Yachts; Lugano Diamonds; the Michelle Farmer Collaborative; NetJets; Rosenbaum PLLC; Seminole Casino Coconut Creek, featuring the Coco Polo Lounge; Socapri; the United States Polo Association; U.S. Polo Assn.; Veuve Clicquot; The Wall Street Journal; and the Wanderers Club.

Polo competition will begin this season on Sunday, Dec. 31, and continue through Sunday, April 22, featuring some of the best polo in the world throughout the duration of the three-month tournament season, concluding with the prestigious 114th U.S. Open Final. General admission tickets are available for grandstand seating at every match on Sunday. Pavilion brunch seating and Coco Polo Lounge tickets are also available for purchase at www.internationalpoloclub.com.

For more information about the International Polo Club Palm Beach, or to learn more about sponsorship opportunities, visit www.internationalpoloclub.com.