A popular sporting event held every spring at the Kentucky Horse Park will have to find a new title sponsor. Rolex is dropping it’s 36 year arrangement with the 3 Day Equestrian competition.
Lee Carter, executive director of Executive Events Incorporated tells the Lexington Herald Leader that the event itself will continue unchanged, and said EEI has worked to build a sustainable organization that can survive financial changes. This year, the competition was officially known as the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event presented by Land Rover.
Rolex says it will continue to be the “official timepiece” of the event through 2021. In addition, Rolex has a separate contract with the Kentucky Horse Park as the title sponsor of the stadium there through 2020.
That agreement is worth $1.2 million over 10 years. But the newspaper reports that sponsorship was apparently a factor in Kentucky’s failed bid for the 2018 World Equestrian Games, because rival watchmaker Longines is the top sponsor for the World Equestrian Games, which Kentucky hosted in 2010 and has applied for the 2022 games.