WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. & LONDON, October 31, 2024 (Newswire.com) - U.S. Polo Assn., the official brand of the United States Polo Association (USPA), is pleased to announce the brand has been awarded the Emerging Market Retailer of the Year at the 2024 Global RLI Awards. Held in London, the prestigious awards recognize the innovation and dynamism that retail and leisure industry brands utilize to continue to adapt and evolve in fast-changing market environments around the globe.
U.S. Polo Assn. was celebrated during a luxurious gala banquet event at The Londoner Hotel on October 24, 2024, in London, England, attended by the sports brand’s U.K. strategic partner, Brand Machine Group. The globally attended event hosted more than 200 guests, including many of the world’s top companies and RLI Global winners. Previous Global RLI Awards presented by Retail & Leisure International Magazine have been held in iconic cities around the world, including Dubai, Los Angeles, and Riyadh.
The brand’s winning entry was for ‘Emerging Market Retailer: U.S. Polo Assn. Becomes a Power Brand in India, Targets Billion-Dollar Milestone,’ while the brand was also named a finalist for the ‘International Retailer of the Year: U.S. Polo Assn. Delivers Record $2.4 Billion in Retail Sales Across 190 Countries’ category as well. The sport-inspired brand was selected from an expert global panel of 11 judges, alongside other winners in the 13 awards categories. U.S. Polo Assn. was among notable brands, such as Real Madrid, Harrods Holidays and Occasions Department, DeFacto, AWWG, Daiso Industries Co. Ltd., and Keystone Group to name a few.
“U.S. Polo Assn. has distinguished itself in emerging markets by staying true to its heritage, while embracing a modern, accessible, and aspirational identity. This award celebrates the brand’s exceptional growth, ability to connect with diverse audiences, and commitment to high-quality, stylish apparel that resonates across cultures and geographies,” said Jayne Rafter, Owner and Publisher of Retail & Leisure International. “Their success is a testament to the brand’s strategic vision, adaptability, and dedication to delivering authentic experiences to consumers around the world.”
The multi-billion-dollar U.S. Polo Assn. brand’s award highlights its authentic connection to the sport of polo through achievements such as delivering a record $2.4 billion in global retail sales, spanning 190 countries in over 1,100 retail stores and thousands of wholesale locations and e-commerce. In fact, U.S. Polo Assn. is projected to become a billion-dollar business in India alone, recently being designated the top-selling casual menswear brand in the world’s most populated country. Currently, the U.S. Polo Assn. brand’s retail footprint in India is impressive, at more than 400 stores across more than 200 cities, with plans to add 100 more stores in the near future.
U.S. Polo Assn.’s growth in India can be attributed to its brick-and-mortar and e-commerce growth strategies, as well as overall brand marketing through storytelling. The global, sports brand has launched an exclusive brand-specific website, USPoloAssn.in, to further enhance the digital offerings for customers and provide easier access to its product offerings across India.
Global brand ambassadors are also key to the market, which include His Highness Maharaja Sawai Padmanabh Singh (Pacho) of Jaipur India, fashion icon and Bollywood star Palak Tiwari, and for the brand’s “Legends Forever Play Together” campaign, modeling moguls Arjun Rampal and Milind Soman, alongside tennis icons Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhuphati.
The sports brand generated record growth with some 50 brand sites in 20 languages and over 9 million social media followers in 2024. Moreover, U.S. Polo Assn.’s landmark multi-year global deal with ESPN and Star Sports in India now brings exposure to several of the premier polo championships in the world to a massive global audience.
“We are proud of U.S. Polo Assn.’s recognition by Retail & Leisure International as Emerging Market Retailer of the Year, a recognition that underscores the U.S. Polo Assn.’s expansion in the global retail space, along with our authentic connection to the sport of polo and its heritage,” says J. Michael Prince, President and CEO of USPA Global, the company that oversees the multi-billion-dollar U.S. Polo Assn. brand. “Winning this category for our massive growth in India and being a finalist in the International Retailer of the Year category reflects our Global Team’s approach to connecting with consumers and our overall market impact.
"Congratulations to all other RLI participants and winners on their remarkable performances this year,” Prince added.
About U.S. Polo Assn. and USPA Global
U.S. Polo Assn. is the official brand of the United States Polo Association (USPA), the governing body for the sport of polo in the United States and one of the country’s oldest sports governing bodies, founded in 1890. With a multi-billion-dollar global footprint and worldwide distribution through more than 1,100 U.S. Polo Assn. retail stores as well as thousands of additional points of distribution, U.S. Polo Assn. offers apparel, accessories, and footwear for men, women, and children in more than 190 countries worldwide. A historic, multi-year deal with ESPN to broadcast several of the premier polo championships in the world, sponsored by U.S. Polo Assn., has made the thrilling sport accessible to millions of sports fans globally for the very first time.
U.S. Polo Assn. has consistently been named one of the top global sports licensors in the world alongside the NFL, NBA, and MLB, according to License Global. In addition, the sport-inspired brand is being recognized internationally with awards for global and digital growth. Due to its tremendous success as a global brand, U.S. Polo Assn. has been featured in Forbes, Fortune, Modern Retail, and GQ as well as on Yahoo Finance and Bloomberg, among many other noteworthy media sources around the world.
For more information, visit uspoloassnglobal.com and uspashop.com, and follow @uspoloassn.
USPA Global is a subsidiary of the USPA and manages the global, multi-billion-dollar U.S. Polo Assn. brand. Through its subsidiary, Global Polo Entertainment (GPE), USPA Global also manages Global Polo TV, which provides sports and lifestyle content. For more sports content, visit globalpolo.com.
Source: USPA Global Licensing Inc.
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