Photos: Stefano Grasso / LGCT
Mexico City will join the Longines Global
Champions Tour, incorporating the new Global Champions
League, in 2016 as part of a spectacular calendar of 15
events.
The new 2016 calendar sees the circuit make a further
strategic expansion across the American continent with the
addition of a spectacular new event in Mexico City. Mexico
City will join the dynamic destinations of the world’s
premier show jumping series, featuring at total of 15 events
this year, including Miami Beach, Rome, Shanghai, Monaco and
Doha.
The new Global Champions League team competitions will take
place at every Longines Global Champions Tour event. Olympic
and World Champions will be in action every Friday,
competing in teams made up of different nationalities in a
unique new format. Top riders have predicted that the
innovative new competitions will inject fresh excitement for
fans and TV audiences worldwide with team rivalries, tactics
and alliances energising the sport. The GCL has committed to
adhering to the highest standards of horse welfare and
integrity of competition, in keeping with the highly
regarded equine care at all LGCT events.
Teams competing in the new Global Champions League will be
battling for a share of a €7.5 million prize purse,
including an overall bonus to be shared at the end of the
season in Doha, Qatar.
Jan Tops, Founder and President of Longines Global Champions
Tour, said: “It’s an extremely exciting time to be in show
jumping and I look forward to welcoming Mexico City to our
list of fantastic destinations worldwide in 2016. We will
continue to invest in our sport to bring show jumping to
wider audiences and to more cities around the world so that
it is accessible to more and more people who can see the
best athletes in action. Our expansion in the Americas will
continue to grow our audience where there is a particularly
strong interest in equestrian sport. This year will be
fundamental in the progression of show jumping as we push
the boundaries of innovation and development for our fans
who watch on TV, online and as spectators.”
The 2016 season will feature the greatest stars in the sport
today. After a thrilling three-way battle for the 2015
championship, the new season is set to raise the competition
bar again with top athletes including World Number One and
two-time LGCT Champion Scott Brash (GBR), last year’s
Champion of Champions Luciana Diniz (POR), four-time Olympic
Gold medalist Ludger Beerbaum (GER), former European
Champion Rolf-Göran Bengtsson (SWE) and two-time LGCT
Champion Edwina Tops-Alexander (AUS).
2016 will see a total of 15 events, with further details for
London or Paris to be confirmed shortly. 2015 saw positive
growth for show jumping with more fans watching the sport,
including over one million fans viewing LGCT events live on
our online streaming platform over the course of the year.
Combining world-class horses and athletes with a clear
passion for show jumping, Longines Global Champions Tour
events attract fans from all over the globe and high profile
figures from the worlds of business, entertainment, sport
and culture. The 2015 season saw increased TV distribution
with more TV channels covering the events live including
Eurosport and BeIN Sports, and major international networks
including CNN, CNBC and Bloomberg featuring news and special
highlights features. Building on this success, coverage of
the 2016 season will again be distributed to more TV and
online audiences across the world.
THE 2016 CALENDAR
For the second year in a row, Miami Beach, USA will
be the spectacular launch pad kicking off from the 7th - 9th
April. The world’s best horses and riders will again join
the American calendar of art, fashion and music events that
make Miami Beach one of the world’s most exciting
destinations today. This first leg of the Tour will mark the
debut of the revolutionary new Global Champions League team
competition, running alongside all 2016 LGCT events.
Hot on its heels, the show jumping action heads south to
Mexico City which will make its debut at the grassy
arena of Campo Marte on 14th - 16th April, welcoming new
audiences to top sporting action and entertainment. Campo
Marte is an equestrian venue located in the Avenue Paseo de
la Reforma, next to the National Auditorium in Chapultepec
Park, in Mexico City, which previously hosted Olympic Games
dressage and individual jumping events.
The diamond city of Antwerp, Belgium, returns for a
third consecutive year from 20th - 23rd April. Shanghai,
China, a new addition to the Tour in 2014, will host the 4th
round of the 2016 Championship from 29th April - 1st May and
has become one of the most prominent and popular equestrian
events in Asia. As the season picks up speed, top action
will again unfold at the dramatic floodlit outdoor arena
next to the China Art Pavilion in Shanghai’s World Expo
Park.
The Tour then returns to Europe, beginning in Hamburg,
Germany, on 4th - 7th May before moving to Madrid,
Spain for 20th - 22nd May, which last year saw tens of
thousands of fans watch Luciana Diniz claim the first of
several Grand Prix victories.
Next comes three events at a fast pace beginning with the
iconic Chantilly from 26th - 29th May. The stunning
French Riviera and Cannes is quick to follow from 9th
- 11th June, before the ‘Formula One’ of show jumping
pit-stops in glamorous Monaco from 23rd - 25th June
for the 9th round of the season at the iconic Port Hercule.
With the race for the Championship set to be at full gallop,
July will see an event in Paris (1st - 3rd July) or London
(22nd - 24th July). In the same month the Tour returns to
the ever-popular Portuguese Riviera of Cascais,
Estoril from 7th - 9th July for the next stage on the
circuit. This will be followed by the stunning home event of
the Tour at Tops International Arena in Valkenswaard,
The Netherlands from 4th - 7th August.
Following a sensational 'standing room only' debut in 2015,
The Eternal City will once more host the best horses and
riders in the world as Rome, Italy, takes place from
9th - 11th September, at the Stadio De Marmi ringed by
magnificent marble statues. Historic Vienna, Austria,
will see another hotly-contested battle as riders jostle for
ranking points before the final leg during 15th - 18th
September.
State-of-the-art Al Shaqab in Qatar’s capital, Doha,
will once more take centre stage for the high stakes
championship climax from 3rd - 5th November as what promises
to be an incredible 2016 season comes to a close.