Ticket prices set for 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games

By Linda B. Blackford - lblackford@herald-leader.com

The 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games will feature almost as many ticket prices as equine competitions.

Tickets for individual events during the 16-day Games will range from $25 to $150 and go on sale Sept. 25, exactly one year before the Games open at the Kentucky Horse Park. Ticket prices were released Tuesday so people have time to plan what they want to see and how much they're prepared to spend.

"We have a wide range of prices that offer something for everyone, from equestrian enthusiasts to visitors who want to enjoy the 2010 Games, the Kentucky Horse Park and many other activities and offerings we have available," said Jamie Link, chief executive of the World Games Foundation.

About 600,000 tickets will be for sale. Less than 20 percent have been reserved in hospitality packages and by members of the U.S. Equestrian Federation.

The Games' opening ceremonies — an Olympic-style extravaganza in the main stadium — have the biggest price tag. For that event, the best seats in the new Horse Park stadium will go for $150. Other seats will sell for $110. With temporary seating, the stadium will seat 30,000.

The least expensive tickets, $25, are for para-equestrian dressage, the balletic equine discipline performed by riders with disabilities.

Organizers haven't set the price for a daily general-admission ticket to the Horse Park during the Games.

The World Games will be Sept. 25 to Oct. 10, 2010, featuring international championships in eight disciplines: reining, vaulting, eventing, dressage, jumping, carriage-driving, endurance and para-equestrian dressage.

The ticket prices were based on those at the last World Equestrian Games, in Aachen, Germany, in 2004, Games spokeswoman Amy Walker said.

"That was where it was started," she said. "We wanted to offer tickets that were a range of prices so they were accessible and affordable and had something for everybody."

Prices vary depending on the stage of competition. For example, most reining events in the new indoor arena will cost $95 a ticket, but the individual final competition is $120. The cross-country phase of the eventing competition will cost $45, compared to $30 for the same day of the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event.

The closing ceremonies on Oct. 8 are $80 a ticket.

According to previous statements by Games officials, ticket sales are supposed to offset about $30.6 million of the $76 million operations budget being raised by the World Games Foundation. Other revenues include sponsorships, licensing fees and trade show rental spaces.

Taxpayer money is not being used to operate the Games, but the state has provided about $81 million to build an indoor arena and an outdoor stadium and provide extensive road upgrades at the Horse Park.

Walker said there might be some slight changes to times and prices as the venues and events are finalized in coming weeks.