Event Rider Masters appoints Sunset+Vine as TV distributor

Event Rider Masters (ERM), a premier equestrian eventing series, has appointed the UK-based independent TV sports production and media company Sunset+Vine as its global television distribution partner.

The deal will see Sunset+Vine take responsibility for distributing ERM international highlights shows and support it in its ambitions to move the current extensive live streaming coverage from online-only to linear TV broadcast partners.

Founded in 2016, ERM is a condensed two-day version of the traditional Olympic equestrian three-day event, featuring the traditional three disciplines of dressage, showjumping and cross country. In 2019, the series staged six legs of competition across the UK, France, Germany, Belgium and Ireland and offered the world’s top Event Riders a prize fund of £350,000.

Sarsfield Brolly, head of international distribution at Sunset +Vine, welcomed the appointment: “We are delighted to have been appointed by Event Rider Masters to act as its international distribution partner for the forthcoming series. The new short-form event format is something we believe that broadcasters, and viewers alike, will welcome.

“For the ERM 2020 series, we will be integrating our branded content model into the output which will enable us to offer broadcasters high-quality programming at very cost-effective rates. We anticipate a healthy take-up from broadcasters and are looking forward to working with ERM’s trusted production partner, Red Handed, towards delivering a condensed final day live package.”

ERM chief executive Jim O’Toole, added: “We are excited to be working with Sunset+Vine who bring global relationships and market-leading expertise in bartered programming which will add significant value to our commercial partnership offering. We currently air in 100-plus countries via 31 broadcasters and see this appointment as a springboard to increase that reach dramatically.”

Launched in 2016, the Event Rider Masters series comprises six legs each encompassing three phases, where each phase is completed by the same horse and rider combination. Phase 1 Dressage, Phase 2 Show Jumping and Phase 3 Cross Country; all at the CCI4*S level of Federation Equestrian Internationale (FEI) approved competition. Dressage and Show Jumping are arena based, while Cross-Country covers a track of between 3.4 kms and 4kms in length comprising between 30 – 35 solid jumping obstacles over natural terrain.