Lexington, Ky., is in the running for the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games.
2010 File photo / Team USA competing in the Team Freestyle competition for Vaulting at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Lexington.s.
The Federation Equestrian International announced Thursday morning that it has received bids from Great Britain, the USA and Canada to host the 2018 world championships for equestrian events.
The FEI re-opened the bidding process on July 1 for the event that occurs every four years. The 2010 games were at the Kentucky Horse Park, while next year’s games are in Normandy, France.
Two U.S. cities are mentioned as potential sites: Wellington, Fla., and Lexington. Great Britain’s bid will identify a city before Nov. 15, the announcement said. Canada’s bid is for Bromont/Montreal.
The FEI announcement said it opted in July not to award the games to Canada “after the Canadian delegation was unable to provide the full public sector financial support required.”
A decision is expected on Dec. 2.
“The FEI World Equestrian Games is our flagship event, appealing to huge global audiences of equestrian enthusiasts and sports fans, and these expressions of interest by Great Britain and the USA alongside Canada are testament to the power of these Games,” FEI Secretary General Ingmar de Vos said in the statement.
The
world championships at the games are in: Jumping, Dressage, Para-Equestrian Dressage, Eventing, Driving, Endurance, Vaulting and Reining.
The 2010 games generated $201.5 million in economic activity, according to a third-party study by Certec Inc. of Versailles, which concluded that more than 419,800 visitors from 63 countries attended WEG events during the two weeks of the games.
According to the report, guest lodging, food and shopping resulted in $128.2 million of activity, while spending on construction, food, lodging and services to support the influx of visitors totaled $73.3 million.
The games also created $18.4 million in state tax revenue and $4.6 million in tax revenue for local communities, the report said.
The organizing committee for the games, which were planned during and took place on the heels the recession, lost almost $1.39 million, according to its IRS form 990 for 2010.
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