United States

The United States is governed by the United States Polo Association (USPA), founded on 21 March 1890. The sport arrived in America in 1876, and within a generation the country had developed a distinctive high-speed style, built around long passes and fast-break tactics, that distinguished American polo from its English origins. The USPA oversees competitive polo from grassroots club level through the national team programme.

The oldest and most storied international fixture in the sport is the Westchester Cup, contested between the United States and England since 1886 and one of the longest-running international trophies in any sport. The United States leads the all-time series 12 wins to 8, though England won the most recent match, played at the National Polo Center in 2023. At the FIP World Polo Championship, the United States won the 1989 edition in Berlin, defeating England 7-6 in the final, and finished as runner-up in 2015 and 2022.

The heart of American polo is the National Polo Center in Wellington, Florida, acquired by the USPA in June 2022. Wellington serves as the winter polo capital of the United States: from February through April, the world's elite players converge on Palm Beach County for the American high-goal season, which is anchored by three 22-goal tournaments including the U.S. Open Polo Championship, founded in 1904 and the flagship event of the American calendar. The facility has nine fields and a main stadium seating 1,640, the largest polo viewing structure in the country.

The defining figure of American polo history is Tommy Hitchcock Jr., who held the sport's maximum 10-goal handicap continuously from 1922 to 1940 and led the United States to the silver medal at the 1924 Paris Olympics. In the modern era, Guillermo "Memo" Gracida Jr., a Mexican-born naturalised American citizen, accumulated 16 U.S. Open titles over a career spanning more than three decades and maintained a 10-goal handicap for 21 consecutive years. Nic Roldan, born in Buenos Aires and raised in Wellington, is among the leading American players of the current generation.

For international fans, the Wellington season runs from February through April in the America/New_York timezone. February matches fall in Eastern Standard Time (UTC-5): a 15:00 EST start is 20:00 in London, 16:00 in Buenos Aires, and 06:00 the next day AEDT in Sydney. After the clock change in March, a 15:00 EDT start converts to 19:00 in London. Check United States time for live conversions.