Lexington, Ky. - Money and effort make things happen. Where the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games are concerned, plenty of each is in play.
The Kentucky Horse Park has already scored, leveraging the opportunity to host the Games for the first time on U.S. soil to win millions in state tax dollars (during a budget crisis) to make major and lasting infrastructure improvements that will benefit the park and the surrounding economy for many years to come.
The prospect of the Games has driven difficult decisions to risk bonding a downtown streetscape makeover that is, in turn, attracting new business, street life and excitement (Been downtown, lately?). And the public will shoulder costs of traffic management as well as other police and emergency service costs directly attributable to the Games.
But much of the operational expense of this event is on the private sector's tab.
Many businesses have tapped into revenues, resources and/or inventory during very difficult economic times to invest in what will be happening in Lexington, Kentucky, in late September and early October. They're placing their bets on the premise that introducing their city - and their businesses - to thousands of people from all over the world can't hurt and most likely will help. A lot.
By our count, some 36 local and regional vendors are under contract to service the event, evidence that a portion of the Games' projected $167 million impact is materializing in the local economy. But many sponsorships in the forms of cash as well as in-kind services and/or products have come from companies that are not directly benefitting from Games' business. Yet, their willingness to contribute has been essential in bringing the Games to America.
Title sponsor Alltech has poured tons of money ($36 million at last count) into the event itself plus a coinciding music festival spread across the state. In the bargain, the animal nutrition company has dedicated significant internal staffing to ensure that all goes well and the brand is regarded favorably. Only a small proportion of Alltech's business is equine-related (although this sponsorship can be viewed as a play to build new bridges in equestrian markets.)
Even with the extraordinary Alltech support, still other sponsors were needed to make it happen. Rolex, John Deere, Meydan, Ariat, Fifth Third Bank, Fortune Realty, Lexmark, Maker's Mark, Rood & Riddle, UK, UK HealthCare, Sound-Elkin and the American Quarter Horse Association round out the list of top corporate sponsors.
Dozens more have assumed supporting roles. These include Blue Grass Airport, AT&T, Ford Motors, Big Ass Fans, L.V. Harkness, Papa John's, Pepsi, Dippin' Dots, Arecont Vision, Breyer, CBTS, EMC, Kentucky.com, Kentucky Ale, the National Reining Horse Association, Orion, Otto, Tarter Farm and Ranch Equipment, Theia Technologies and Verint. And don't forget such suppliers as Pieratt's, TAC Air, Smithfield, Northside RVs, Abaxis, DLF Seeds, Premier Equestrian and Light 'N Lasting Vinyl Jump Dressage Equipment.
And then there is the city's effort to make the most of the opportunity, lining up sponsor dollars to cover the costs of hosting the Spotlight Lexington Festival: 17 days of live music presented on stages located at Courthouse Plaza, Cheapside and Triangle Park.
Presenting sponsor Saint Joseph Health Systems ($250,000) has been joined by Brown-Forman, Pfizer Animal Health, WKYT, Kentucky Utilities, Applebee's, Don Jacobs, Valvoline, Lynn Imaging, Kroger, Smiley Pete Publishing and Hands On Originals.
As part of its sponsorship, Coca-Cola is providing four trailers located around the festival area, inviting non-profits to sell Coke products and reap the proceeds.
Centrepointe, LLC has agreed to let the city use the would-be site of the proposed high-rise as a location for food vendors, Hands On Originals/Spotlight Lexington merchandise sales, the Patron's Club, an Applebee's Bar and
a "Taste of Brown Forman" tent. A huge video board will carry the Games telecast in real time as well as entertainment from the main stage on Courthouse Plaza.
It will be the first time in city history that much of the downtown sector will be transformed into a "Festival Zone" (allowing open containers of alcoholic beverages throughout) over an extended period of more than two weeks (think: 17 days of the Fourth of July Festival.)
Now that's a party. And you don't have to be a horse person to join the fun. It's for everybody. (Although you may have to be a patient person. Festival organizers plan a letter to downtown businesses and residents by the end of August, detailing potential street closures.)
With the inevitable tensions and anxieties on the rise as the countdown to the opening ceremony is now measured in days, there are a lot of sleepless nights happening all around Lexington right now. Hosting a big international event on the scale of the Games is a new thing for us. The logistics are fraught with complexities - certainly enough to overwhelm and exhaust any of us.
And for years now, we've heard the repetition of a mantra that it falls to us to make a good showing for the entire country, as this is the first time this global equestrian event has been held outside of Europe. Other locales in the United States, interested in bidding for future Games, also have enormous hopes riding on a success in Lexington.
There has been a lot of hype, and it has not been helpful. Inflated, speculative attendance figures have raised false expectations, further complicating planning. The numbers subsequently have been brought down to size by the realities - not least among them a deep recession from which we have not fully recovered. The resulting wave of skepticism has dampened spirits.
Many hotels, their occupancy rates averaging below 70 percent of capacity on most WEG nights, have dropped the required four-day minimum stay. And private homes are not renting at a once-anticipated pace.
And if, in the end, ticket sales haven't met budgeted projections, who covers the deficit?
Yet, here comes the WEG. Not months from now, but only weeks or just days from the time your eyes meet these words.
Game(s) on, Lexington.
Roughly 800 competitors, along with their equestrian fans, are said to be coming from some 60 countries. More than 800 journalists, half from outside the United States, have obtained credentials, according to World Games Foundation PR chief Amy Walker. Many will be housed in a Richmond hotel and shuttled to and from the Horse Park, but some have reserved rooms in Lexington or are staying with friends or family in the area.
Top ticket purchasers outside the United States are turning out to be Canadians, Australians, Britons, South Africans and Mexicans. Most sales within the United States have been purchased in Kentucky, California, Ohio, Texas and Florida. About 300,000 tickets in total have been sold. And many individuals buy multiple tickets, so actual attendance is running well below that figure.
An event of such scale is bound to entail at least some dysfunction and not a little angst. We're choosing to take a reasoned, positive view and focus on the tangibles and intangibles that already have been realized as a direct result of the presence of the Games: the Fifth Third Pavilion in Cheapside Park that quickly became a magnet for the biggest weekly summertime social events this city has seen; streetscaping that is transforming the experience of being downtown; and highly significant Horse Park infrastructure that already has resulted in the attraction of major national and international equestrian events, well into the future. There is the new eight-mile Legacy Trail to enable healthier lifestyles for generations to come. Lexington's live music scene has been reenergized with new venues and bands appearing all around town. And Lexington hasn't seen such civic engagement by so many in the lifetimes of most.
No one can say with any certainty what, exactly, we're about to experience. We don't yet know what lasting impressions of Kentucky and Kentuckians our international visitors will take home with them.
That's totally up to us as a community.
Business Lexington
Acts of leadership (among many) worth emulating include that of the late Fifth Third president Sam Barnes, who shepherded a corporate contribution of $750,000, during the depths of the recent banking crisis, to make the new Cheapside Park Pavilion a reality. And there is the local businessman profiled in the August 20 print edition of , Kip Cornett, owner of Cornett Integrated Marketing Solutions, who made the decision to step up and provide his company's resources - pro bono - to help ensure that we can look back on WEG with our pride intact. And, that we had fun in the bargain.
The combined schedules of the Alltech Fortnight Festival, The Spotlight Lexington Festival, Oktoberfest, the Keeneland Fall Meet and the music and entertainment options planned by area bars, restaurants and venues are impressive.
Tons of fun, a genuine sense of pride in our town, and, hopefully, some prosperity. We could use healthy doses of all of those things. There will be plenty of time to sort out all of the issues once the last horse van has left town - just in time to figure out who gets to be mayor for the next four years.
Lexington. Never a dull moment, but you gotta love it. We sure do. So, game face on. Let's do this thing.