Text by POLO+10 / Thomas Wirth
Nearly everyone owns a polo shirt, yet few know it was born on the polo field. As U.S. Polo Assn. completes its first season as the Official Apparel Sponsor of Greenwich Polo Club and continues its global campaign, “The Polo Shirt: An Icon Born From The Game
,” J. Michael Prince, President and CEO at USPA Global, the company that manages the multi-billion-dollar U.S. Polo Assn. brand, talks to POLO+10 about how the sport shapes everyday fashion, and why authenticity matters more than ever.
POLO+10: Many of our readers know the U.S. Polo Assn. name from tournaments across Europe. For those who don’t know the story, how is the brand connected to the sport itself?
J. Michael Prince: U.S. Polo Assn. is the official sports brand of the United States Polo Association (USPA), which was founded in 1890 and is the largest association of polo clubs and polo players in the United States. The brand is not only inspired by the sport of polo, but we uniquely embed a piece of history in every piece of U.S. Polo Assn. product. The authentic connection to the sport of polo is what sets us apart from any other sport-inspired brand, and it is the heart of every story we tell.
Today, U.S. Polo Assn. is sold in more than 190 countries through more than 1,200 of our own retail stores and thousands of additional points of distribution. But the foundation has never changed. We sponsor the sport at every level, from the iconic St. Regis British Open Polo Championship for the Cowdray Gold Cup at Cowdray Park Polo Club to the U.S. Open Polo Championship®, first played in 1904 and stewarded by the USPA as the most prestigious tournament in the United States, at the USPA National Polo Center in Palm Beach County, Florida. We have also worked with partners including ESPN, TNT, Eurosport, Star Sports, and beIN Sports to bring the sport to millions of sports fans and consumers worldwide, many for the first time. When someone buys a U.S. Polo Assn. polo shirt in Hamburg, Istanbul, or Mumbai, they are connected, whether they know it or not, to a sport with more than a century of history.
POLO+10: Your global campaign is called “The Polo Shirt: An Icon Born from the Game.” Why tell this story now?
Prince: The polo shirt may be the most widely worn garment in the world, yet people don’t necessarily connect it to its origin. Most people own one, but very few know it’s genuinely born from the polo field. From a storytelling perspective, that is a gift. As the official sport brand of the USPA, we felt we were in a unique position, and honestly had a responsibility, to tell that story.
The polo shirt was designed with a purpose. Players needed something breathable, with a soft collar and a lightweight construction that could move with them at full gallop. That functional design is exactly why it has lasted more than 100 years. It has been reinvented again and again: as preppy style, as luxury leisurewear, and today as athleisure. It moved from the polo field to university campuses to the office, and it still works in all those places.
We launched the campaign in Spring 2026 around the world. In our stores, you’ll see dedicated polo shirt walls and window displays, and we shot our campaign imagery on the polo field because we wanted to bring the shirt back to where it was born. The message is simple: the polo shirt is not just a fashion item. It is an icon that came from sport.
POLO+10: How does the sport of polo still influence the way the brand thinks about fashion today?
Prince: The sport of polo gives U.S. Polo Assn. something most fashion brands have to invent: a real world to draw from. The colors of team jerseys, the numbering, the cut of a shirt that has to perform in the saddle, the tack room, the stable, the atmosphere of a Sunday final. All of that is our design language.
POLO+10: 2026 was your first season as Official Apparel Sponsor of Greenwich Polo Club. Why Greenwich, and why now?
Prince: Greenwich is one of the most important addresses in American summer polo. The East Coast Open was first played in 1978 at Myopia Polo Club in Massachusetts and moved to Greenwich in 2005. Today it is a 20-goal championship and the only high-goal tournament on the East Coast during the summer season.
Greenwich also sits just outside New York City, one of the world’s great fashion capitals. That combination, top-level sport right next to one of the most influential style audiences, is exactly where U.S. Polo Assn. belongs. Peter Brant, owner of Greenwich Polo Club, has built something remarkable there, and we were proud to be part of it.
This year’s final was a perfect display of the sport. IGEA beat FlyHouse 10-9, with Raul ‘Gringo’ Colombres scoring the golden goal, and Cristian ‘Magoo’ Laprida named Tournament MVP. You cannot script a better finish. Our first year with Greenwich Polo Club gave us a tremendous opportunity to connect more sports fans and consumers to the game while supporting one of the most prestigious high-goal championships of the summer.
POLO+10: Fans at Greenwich experienced multiple activations throughout season: a divot stomp drink, cap giveaway, a signature cocktail. What’s the thinking behind these activations?
Prince: The divot stomp is one of my favorite traditions in all of sport. At halftime, the spectators walk onto the field and press the divots back into the grass. It is the one moment in polo where everyone, from the most experienced player to a first-time guest, stands on the same field and gets involved with the match by putting the field back together. That is the spirit we want U.S. Polo Assn. to represent.
This year we gave fans commemorative red, white, and blue hats during the halftime divot stomps to celebrate America’s 250th Anniversary. Guests could also enjoy The Divot Stomp, our signature cocktail, and we brought elements of our global polo shirt campaign on-site to show the direct line from the field to the shirt. For us, guest experiences and activations are storytelling you can touch.
We also believe a sponsor should give back. For the East Coast Open, U.S. Polo Assn. made donations on behalf of the two finalist teams to Rising Starr Horse Rescue and Old Friends Equine Rescue. Without the horses, there is no polo, and supporting equine-health organizations and the polo player community is something we take seriously.
POLO+10: POLO+10 readers follow the European season very closely. How important is Europe to U.S. Polo Assn., both in sport and in fashion?
Prince: Europe is one of our most dynamic and strategically important markets, and it has one of the richest sporting cultures in the world, so the two go together naturally.
This year we made our debut as Official Jersey and Apparel Sponsor of the 41st Snow Polo World Cup St. Moritz in Switzerland. Snow polo on the frozen lake is one of the most unique sights in any sport, and with more than 26,000 people in attendance, it showed us how much passion for polo there is in Europe.
In England, we continued our multi-year partnership with Cowdray Park Polo Club as Official Apparel Partner of the St. Regis British Open Polo Championship for the Cowdray Gold Cup. It was also the first time the British Ladies Open Final was played on the same day as the Cowdray Gold Cup final, which says a lot about where the sport is heading. Onsite, our U.S. Polo Assn. tent featured the global polo shirt campaign, including an inflatable polo shirt and a photo wall, and fans enjoyed The Divot Stomp served with a polo mallet stirrer.
As your readers saw earlier this month, we also supported the 55th Sotogrande International Polo Tournament, the Barnes French Open, the Engel & Völkers Berlin Maifeld Polo Cup, and the Museumplein Polo Amsterdam. Europe has always been central to the polo shirt’s history, and European consumers value authenticity. That is exactly what we offer.
POLO+10: Polo has long had a reputation for exclusivity. How does a brand sold in 190 countries fit with the sport’s elite image?
Prince: I would say the polo shirt proves that polo was never meant to stay behind a fence. It is the one piece of the sport that belongs to everyone.
A big part of our role at USPA Global is to open the sport’s doors wider through storytelling. Through broadcast partnerships and our award-winning series, Breakaway, on Global Polo YouTube, millions of fans worldwide can now watch premier championships and behind-the-scenes content from a sport they never had access to before. Through moments like the divot stomp, first-time spectators become part of the game. The sport of polo has something few other sports have: men and women can compete together at the highest level. That is a powerful, modern message, and one we love to share.
Every person who wears U.S. Polo Assn. is a potential new sports fan.
POLO+10: 2026 marks America’s 250th anniversary. How does an American brand with a global audience approach a moment like this?
Prince: The sport of polo arrived in the United States in 1876, and American players competed in the Olympic Games in Paris in 1924, so the sport has been part of the American story for a very long time. For the 250th Anniversary, we partnered with ESPN on a special episode of our Breakaway series, “Polo in America,” which looks at the history and impact of polo in the United States.
In our stores and products, you’ll see our classic red, white, and blue palette celebrated through curated collections. Our reach is global, but our identity is clearly American, and we think that is part of our appeal abroad. Consumers in Europe, Asia, India and the Middle East are drawn to timeless American sport style when it is authentic and rooted in a real sport with real history.
POLO+10: U.S. Polo Assn. was recently ranked the world’s number one sports licensor by License Global. How does the brand continue to grow without losing the authenticity you’ve described?
Prince: We were very proud to be ranked the top sports licensor in the world in 2026 by License Global, alongside other incredible sports brands such as the PGA Tour, NFL Players Association, and Formula 1. After $2.7 billion in retail sales in 2025, our next target is $4 billion in global retail sales and 1,500 U.S. Polo Assn. stores.
India remains the brand’s fastest-growing market, where U.S. Polo Assn. is widely recognized as the largest sports-casual menswear brand in the country, with a long‑term path toward $1 billion in retail sales. The brand is also activating several strategic markets in 2026, including Australia, Poland, Argentina, Brazil, Thailand, Vietnam, and certain African markets.
But growth is only meaningful if it stays connected to the sport. That is why we keep investing in both sides of the business. On the sport side, we continue to add partnerships like Greenwich Polo Club and Snow Polo World Cup St. Moritz. On the product side, we are continually innovating and advancing, with a strong focus on menswear and boys moving forward. And from a sales and marketing perspective, direct‑to‑consumer channels continued to be a primary growth driver globally, supported by the expansion of U.S. Polo Assn. retail stores, enhanced in‑store experiences, and a growing digital ecosystem.
POLO+10: What can POLO+10 readers look forward to from U.S. Polo Assn. in the coming months?
Prince: We are closing out a very strong year in the sport globally, and we have some exciting news to share before the end of the year that we believe the polo community will be excited about. We look forward to sharing more with POLO+10 readers very soon. In the meantime, our global polo shirt campaign, An Icon Born from the Game, continues worldwide, and we are already planning an even bigger 2027 season in the United States and Europe.
The post “The Polo Shirt is Born from the Game”: A Conversation with J. Michael Prince of U.S. Polo Assn. appeared first on POLO+10.
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