Global Champions what?

For sure I am not the only equestrian following either Formula 1 or football, most of my horsey friends also follow these things. Some follow them more, some less, but they do follow both these as well as other sports.

Interestingly enough I don't know anybody who actually follow either Global Champions Tour or Global Champions league. NOT a single person!

If and when GCT or GCL ever come up on any kind of discussion it's more about the environment.

Or they end being discussions about sportswashing, and specific riders ditching their own big national events in favour of riding for big money in the Middle East kind of thing.

Other than that, the interest for these events seem kind of slim.

Personally, I believe it is amazing what Jan Tops built up. But after all these years it is still very unclear to me who the target group of visitors may be.

For sure rich riders getting prize money to get richer is a great carrot to get them to attend. But then what?

The prize money is actually so steep that a horse who made a bunch of average results over a season, just need the one win to sail up straight in to the top of the rankings in regards to annual income.

Not only is the prize money steep, the work of the media office of GCT/GCL is on another level. They seem to pump out media releases, photos and other footage by the minute.

Even so, the actual media attention is slim to nothing during the ongoing season.

Cause unless being endorsed by a specific rider most members of the press won't attend. When they do, they face the risk of getting manhandled by the GCT/GCL security.

The whole situation was extremely unpleasant but only the tip of the iceberg as the working conditions during the weekend was extremely difficult. The press got no access to the riders after the classes, there were no press conferences and if reporters tried to talk to riders after the classes, they were all dismissed, and the riders were taken away.

The quote above relates to an incident at a venue back in 2023.

Do we even need the FEI?

For sure the smell of money is what grabs the attention of the riders, but on top of that I cannot see GCT/GCL is much more than a club for internal admiration.

Cause everybody knows the unfortunate, and somewhat, normal state for these shows seem to be to run them in front of empty grand stands. So question is, is GCT/GCL good for the sport, or is it the other way around?

What are the consequences for arranging a series like this? Money wise it is a rider's wet dream, but the media attention is closing in on zero. So are the spectator counts.

What are the consequences for the rest of the showjumping world when this series seem to knock out all competition? What does the GCT/GCL have [on top of the money] that other events, organisers and the FEI cannot seem to produce?

Is the money factor the real reason legendary events such as Hickstead, Hamburg and Falsterbo now struck sponsor deals that rub a lot of people the wrong way?

Have we come to a point where the sport would be better off by being split up as whole?

Which for showjumping could mean riders need to make a choice. Either you ride the GCT/GCL, or you compete at regular FEI events, but you can't have both. Like an A-league vs. a B-league circuit staged by completely different governing bodies.

Technically, at least in regards to show jumping, we're kind of already there, and have been for a long time.

So do we really even need the FEI as it stands in its current form. I don't know, the only thing I do know is our beloved equestrian sport seem to have come to some kind of absolute turning point, and something's got to give.

Do you have any thoughts on this? Don't forget to forward it to a friend and share your thoughts in the comment section. Promise not to bite 🤗