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O P I N I O N
November, which resulted in getting the
AAP’s endorsement to put this together.
It has been a busy time since then, talking
to patrons and players, setting up the
corporate and tax structure, creating all the
marketing materials, image and branding,
trademarks and legal documents. Initiating
conversations with potential media partners
and approaching initial league sponsors
while bringing in media, sponsorship and
logistics advisers on board.
That is where we are now. We have
all the structure set up and we are inking
a multi-year media agreement to carry the
XPL to a global audience. We have contacted
more than 20 potential franchises and all
of the top players in preparation for the first
event of the XPL to take place in Buenos
Aires from 21 September to 12 October, with
the XPL Final being played on that date.
We are also organising a showcase at
Ham Polo Club on 20 June, where we will
present the format of the league and make
some key announcements, such as the Money
Pool for the 2019 event in Argentina and the
event calendar for 2020, as well as a few
surprises, which I’m really looking forward
to sharing with the public.
I think the key element of the XPL
is that we want to be all-inclusive and
we are committed to building a sustainable
ecosystem that will elevate everyone
involved. I’m not the first to try to get
the sport to graduate into a fully professional
league, but I’m convinced that the plug-in
framework developed is correct for the sport.
It’s correct because it puts the power of change
in the hands of the teams and players who
are the most important element in the sport.
It gives them a stake in the league so that
they participate in the upside; we’ve built in
a tiered mechanism so that teams with
different economic conditions can participate
and have a chance to be part of the XPL.
Obviously, the hard part has been to get
people to look in the same direction, as this
is a very polarised sport, but I’m confident
that our message will get through.
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Juan
Zavalia.
This page:
Eduardo Novillo Astrada
at Palermo 2018
I M A G E S O F P O LO
