Sponsoring an Event Rider

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Webster

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Hello, I am new to this forum and relatively new to the internet so please bear with me, but have been told by one of your members that you may be able to help.

Many years ago I evented at Novice level, but gave it up to start my own business when horses had to take a back seat. Now with the business established and family grown up, I went to an event with some friends and realised how I would love to get involved with it all again, although not riding as I am past that!

The friends suggested that perhaps I could do this by sponsoring a rider through my business. However i have been away from the scene for so long I am not sure where to start. Looking at websites the well known riders seem to have several sponsors and i am not looking to be a name on a list, but rather be involved, coming to events and following the horses I sponsor. As such I thought perhaps being the title sponsor of a lesser known professional rider would be a better option. My budget would be in the region of £10,000 a year and I would hope to recoup a proportion of that in new business from the promotion of my company which is not equestrian, but would appeal to country home owners.

In short I am wanting to know if this sounds feasible and what i could expect to get for my support. I intend to contact British Eventing for more advice, but wanted to get some pointers first. Also I am anxious to find a talented rider who needs and deserves my support rather than someone already with financial resources. Any advice much appreciated, thanks.
 
Any Idea of what level you would like the rider to already be competing at?? And I'm assuming you're looking at an affiliated rider rather than an unaffiliated rider looking to affiliate? :)
 
I think at the end of the day someone would bite your hand off for that sort of support but you will need to be very careful who you choose. Eventing by its very nature is a very focused and full time sport and some riders are better than others at supporting their sponsors and working hard for them. I would try and find someone local to you that you can become a real part of the team and be involved and get to know. You will be over run with approaches but hopefully if it is a local rider you can get a feel for what they can offer.

The other thought is a title sponsor of a BE horse trials? A lot of events are short of sponsors and you can get a lot of local coverage for your business with riders travelling from all over the country picking up programmes and taking them back.

Good luck and I hope you find someone very deserving.
 
Yes am looking for a rider competing Novice/Intermediate/Advanced with atleast 3-4 horses so I get reasonable exposure as I can remember how easily they get injured!
 
Be careful!!! Suspect you will have dozens of PMs from some of the kids on here. I sponsor my daughter who events at Novice level and am in discussion with another event rider at a slightly lower level, hopefully that will work out well. We did consider a rider at a higher level, but BE90/100/Novice is where most of the riders are, and we would be a hell of a lot more publicity. Like you, we are looking to moving into this type of market. Make sure you get value for your money - my daughter definitely does this for us. £10k is a lot of dosh in anyone's business, so meet them and make sure they are right for you and your business.

Alternatively, what about sponsoring an event? We looked into sponsoring an event very local to us, but it no longer runs. We didnt bother for all sorts of reasons, the recession mainly, but we worked out we would be getting a lot of publicity for a reasonable outlay. It works out more expensively if you want to offer corporate entertainment to your clients, but you know your business. Good luck with it.
 
I think to get maximum exposure you should run a competition for riders to earn this it could be promoted in horsey magazines like Ridgeway Rider and also in the Western Daily Press Riders section. Rider would write in with applications and maybe you would spread the money out among different levels. This would give you maximum exposure then at all levels rather than having your eggs in one basket. It would make your money go further and the riders would probably use it better. The riders could write blogs for your website and help towards promotion. I think grassroots/amateur riders tend to work harder than pros as more grateful for perhaps less!
 
Thank you for all the suggestions. lots of food for thought. i have just found my 'PMs' and have rather a lot to now go through! Will do so over next few days, and may be contacting some people. Just too many though to reply to everyone.

In answer to posts, I would rather support a rider rather than an event as I want to be involved with the rider and their horses at the event and would enjoy helping out on the day, providing a picnic and then holding my breath as they go round the cross country etc. Not really interested in below Novice level which in my time would have been classed as unaffiliated and do want someone with atleast aspirations to get to the high profile events. Exposure of my company I think would do better at these events amongst the spectators rather than amongst the competitors at lower levels. I am suprised if many amateurs at low levels have sponsors apart from family connections?

I have has quite a few PM's from teenagers, but sorry I wouldn't consider anyone under the age of 18 years, there would be issues with drawing up a commercial contract with a minor for starters...
 
You probably are right there and with the right person buying a horse could be the next step, although that would increase costs alot more I suspect and mean long term commitment. I thought sponsorship would be a good way to dip my toe back in so to speak. Doesn't mean I don't want good exposure for my company though.
 
I should have expanded lol, just realised on reading back. You say that you want to help out at events and watch the horse etc - but you've got to remember that the horse will belong to someone else, whether it be the rider or one of their owners so it might be a bit strange for you to be there :o In my eyes, being a sponsor is simply about getting exposure for your company via advertising - not necessarily becoming a kind of mascot for the rider. That's my view on it though, others might see a sponsor as a different thing entirely?

Best of luck with it all x
 
For the amount of money Webster is prepared to put in I don't think the rider would be complaining - Rosie certainly wouldn't! Shame we're not in Wiltshire :-)
 
Yes, I think its only right to let the sponsor help out with the horses and at the event, you could always do with an extra pair of hands anyway :) And considering that they are paying for the competitions surely you wouldn't be put off by them being there and offering the extra support? If it was me I would like them to be there and get to know your sponsor etc Just my opinion though ;)
 
yes i see how you mean actually, if Webster is planning on paying for the competitions. It'll be quite a unique set-up - i guess you'd have to find an event rider who mostly owns their own rides so you can be more involved.
 
I had a very interesting conversation with an event organiser. They had a sponsor in VW for an event. On the Novice day they sold no cars. On intro/PN day they sold 6 cars. Depending on what thing you are looking to promote then grassroots has 80% of the membership. If you are looking for prestigious sponsorship where you get the chance to go to some amazing events then that is slightly different. The other thing you could look at doing and I know Tristram Owers did this last year with his 4* horse is that he 'leases' the horse so the sponsor is put down as owner and gets all the things attached but they only hand over a sum of money towards that horse I think it was £6-8k. You have none of the issues of actually owning but you effectively get a horse to run under your banner. This might be a more attractive option and a good half way house of being an owner but without any of the pitfalls.
 
Webster said:
Thank you for all the suggestions. lots of food for thought. i have just found my 'PMs' and have rather a lot to now go through! Will do so over next few days, and may be contacting some people. Just too many though to reply to everyone.

In answer to posts, I would rather support a rider rather than an event as I want to be involved with the rider and their horses at the event and would enjoy helping out on the day, providing a picnic and then holding my breath as they go round the cross country etc. Not really interested in below Novice level which in my time would have been classed as unaffiliated and do want someone with atleast aspirations to get to the high profile events. Exposure of my company I think would do better at these events amongst the spectators rather than amongst the competitors at lower levels. I am suprised if many amateurs at low levels have sponsors apart from family connections?

I have has quite a few PM's from teenagers, but sorry I wouldn't consider anyone under the age of 18 years, there would be issues with drawing up a commercial contract with a minor for starters...
Click to expand...

Webster I know just the chap! Stephen Way - http://www.theeventingway.com/

He's based near Marlborough Wilts, started the season with a win in the OI at Tweseldown and has just got back from Compeign 2*. I do his PR and online stuff for him so if you look at the progress I have made with my little site (see sig) that's just a fraction of what I hope to help Steve with as he is a pro riding at a much higher level with a bigger team and great results.

He's really keen for owners riders sponsors to get involved and come and watch have a picnic meet the horses visit the yard and generally be much more than just a £ hand out. If you are interested his mob number is on the site so you can give him a bell and have a chat. I think he sounds ideal for what you are looking for and you would really enjoy being part of The Eventing Way it's good fun :)

ETA His emails are down atm but should be fixed by next week :)
 
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I am looking for a sponsor at the moment.

I am also looking for a horse to compete at intermediate and above but need the sponsorship to afford it.

I am going to a top event yard as a working pupil and have high aims for the future.

Any sposorhip deatails welcome.
 
I remember talking to someone involved with sponsoring the RAC rally many years ago and they said you have no idea how much revenue it actually creates for you. You just have to believe it does!

Aim to enjoy the process as well as looking for a return on your investment.

£10000 is a lot of money for an individual .. I should choose wisely...
 
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