CAMPUS EQUESTRIAN IS FOR SALE

Formed in mid-2002 with the initial intent to provide results and information related to Intercollegiate Horse Show Association shows, Campus Equestrian may or may not last long enough to reach its' tenth anniversary. Though we added coverage of Interscholastic Equestrian Association events in 2010 and tried to add coverage of Intercollegiate Dressage Association events in 2011 the bottom line is that advertisers have not signed up in large enough numbers to make the site profitable on it's own. Hence Campus Equestrian is for sale.

In an era when demographics rule society, and in most cases advertisers want to reach a young, female demographic, it is puzzling that advertisers within the equestrian community would not want to advertise on Campus Equestrian. We have never made any effort to 'market' our site through entities such as constant contact and yet we still have over 1,500 facebook fans by word-of-mouth. Through Facebook's insights we know that between February 21st and March 19th Campus Equestrian's Facebook Fans were 93 percent female (all ages), 57 percent of those females are 18-24, 17 percent are 25-34 (probably former IHSA riders who still like to follow their old team), 5.7 percent are 35-44, 9.5 percent are 45-54, 3.1 percent are over 55 and 1.6 percent are 13-17 (If we only could cover the IEA more extensively that number would go up).

Campus Equestrian receives over 100,000 hits across the site every month and over 200,000 every month from October through April the past two years (our record month was March of 2011 when we received over 468,000 hits). More detailed information regarding traffic is available upon request.

There are over 8,500 riders in the IHSA. The IEA had over 5,000 riders by mid-season and was on the bubble to reach 6,000 in only the organization's tenth official season. Add in over 600 IDA riders and roughly 15,000 people (not counting friends and relatives) are actively involved in these organizations when combined. Though we don't always succeed we have tried to offer timely and relevant information related to all three of these organization's events.

What brought about the creation of Campus Equestrian to begin with was the lack of attention being paid to the RESULTS of IHSA Shows. There were occasional print articles on the organization in the 1990's but these were usually about a specific team or rider. Just to find out whom was winning in a specific part of the country was quite the chore to obtain. Over the past ten years the coverage given to IHSA by both print and electronic media within the horseworld has radically increased. Though there may be fewer printed publications circulating in 2012 that 2002 those which survived sit up and take notice of the IHSA. They would be wise to notice the radical short-term growth of the IEA, which still has not yet penetrated such major areas as Texas, Illinois and New Jersey yet still has roughly 6,000 riders.

Most publications and websites focus on the year-end IHSA, IEA and IDA championships. Campus Equestrian has strived to cover the opposite. It is the race in many cases and not the prize, for only a select few make it to the championships. The masses win along the way without reaching the finals. It is a long road to the post-season and that road needs as much attention as the entrance to the grand finale. Campus Equestrian has tried to cover all the roads, from gathering the fall show schedules during the summer to writing detailed stories about the results of the championship events.

It may come as a surprise to some but for nearly all of Campus Equestrian's nine and half seasons the site has been a one-man operation. There have been times when individuals were hired on a one-time basis to write a story or to forward results from a post-season show to us in a timely fashion but with a small number of exceptions the Owner and Operator has run the site himself.

I attend shows, I gather information from shows I did not attend, maintain the site itself, take almost all of the photos, make all the changes to the statistical information and write all the stories. As of March 22nd Campus Equestrian was up-to-date with 17 of the 36 IHSA regions and had received the information to make four others complete for the 2011-12 season (again, only one person is updating all this). I would like to continue doing this for IHSA, IEA and (one day, honest) IDA events but financially this is no longer possible at this time. I was once asked if I would consider making part of the site 'pay-per-view' for lack of a better term (subscription service would be another way to put it). I have rejected this idea as it would put off potential advertisers (and if I tried this and someone else posted the same information for free where would I be?). Unless something of an unusual financial nature takes place between now and April 20th (such as an influx of advertisers like never before) it is doubtful I will attend any National Champion events which take place between April 20th and May 6th. I am committed to attending events through April 7th (IHSA Zone 4 Zones at Goucher College is firmly on my calendar) but updates to Campus Equestrian may cease for good on April 20th.

However if someone is interested in purchasing Campus Equestrian then things change. Partnerships would be considered. Consolidating with an existing equestrian organization would be considered. Merging with an existing website or publication would be considered. If someone wants to purchase the site only for existing traffic and do what they want with it this too would be considered. Even if a conglomerate of the above want to get together and purchase Campus Equestrian this too would be considered. If you are interested in purchasing the site, please visit our 'Contact Us' contact information page (found on the left-hand side of our homepage) and drop me a line or even call me. Campus Equestrian has been a valuable resource for following the IHSA since 2002 and had begun to cover the IEA in the same manner in December 2010. Hopefully Campus Equestrian will continue to do so.

Update: Though the site remains for sale there have been several parties who expressed interest in Campus Equestrian. For this reason the site continues to be updated past our original 'stop date' of April 20th. I covered both the IEA and IDA finals as best I could and will cover IHSA Nationals as well. Stay tuned.

Steve Maxwell
Owner and Operator
Campus Equestrian