There is an enormous hue and cry about the fact that CBC couldn’t be bothered to send even one itty bitty camera to Caledon. And of course we all know that half the people that could be enjoying today live and in person are not here because TO2015 managed to list the Dressage team final as sold out when that is literally a half truth. So I emailed the media machine at TO2015. Here is what I sent:

Hi – I have some questions regarding ticket sales and broadcasting at the Caledon Horse Park.
1. ticket sales – according to the TO2015 site earlier in the week, there were very few tickets left for yesterday’s round one of team dressage. for today, the site showed just a small number of tickets available in one small tribune in a corner of the stadium. I have been at both days of the dressage, and the stadium was never more than a quarter full yesterday. It is not half full today. I would like to know how it’s possible for the tickets to be sold out, and yet for there to be more empty seats than full ones at the actual event. To be more specific: I would like to know how many tickets were sold for each of yesterday and today’s competition. I have been told the stadium has seating for 3,500.
2. I have heard an overwhelming amount of complaining from people both in attendance and trying to follow the competition from across the country. There has been no sign of any broadcasting crew here at the venue, and of course that means there has been no coverage on TV or live streaming. Canada is certain to win a silver team medal today, and we have a strong chance for an individual medal on Tuesday. I would like to know who made the decision not to provide any coverage of equestrian sport during the dressage, and on what that decision was based.
I am blogging daily and these are issues that my readers are commenting on at the bottom of my posts. I would appreciate responses to my questions as soon as possible.
Thank you,
Karen Robinson
Horse Sport magazine
Here is the reply I received from a media relations person named  Paola Gemmiti:

Hello Karen,

Thank you for your media inquiry and we hope you enjoyed the competition!

Nearly all of the available tickets for equestrian were issued and there were very few tickets left.

We think it’s important that as many tickets as possible are available to the public. We want everyone to experience the Games, and we’re very proud that 75 per cent of our tickets are $45 or less, making the Games highly accessible to our fans.

That said, like other multi­sport Games, some seats will be available to people attending the Games in a professional capacity, like members of the media or National Olympic Committees. Additionally, corporate sponsors who invest in the Games receive a ticket allocation as part of that commitment.

There are also seats that are unavailable because of obstructions due to broadcast or to ensure that athletes, coaches, officials and broadcasters have enough space available in and around the field of play to compete or conduct themselves safely.

The broadcasting schedule is determined by our host broadcaster, CBC. So, please contact them if you have questions.

Thank you,

Paola

And here is my response to Paola (and I don’t imagine I’ll be hearing from Paola again):

Dear Paola: thank you for your reply. Please see the attached photo of the largest section of stands at the Caledon Equestrian Park, taken today at approximately 11 am. The competition had started at 9 am and is not yet finished for today. This photo is an accurate representation of how it looked throughout the day.
You have not answered my question about how many tickets were actually sold for today’s competition, though I do believe I made that question as clear as it’s possible to make it. The excuse that media and corporate sponsors are responsible for empty seats is without merit. I am seated in the dedicated media tribune, and I expect most of the sponsors (those who chose to attend) are seated in the VIP section beside the media tribune.  The stadium’s 3,500 seat count does not include these tribunes.
Even if the sponsors were given regular spectator seats, I find it hard to believe you had over a thousand corporate sponsors to whom you gave tickets for today’s event.
As for your comment about ‘obstructions’, there are no sections of seats in this stadium that were not for sale, and every section had at least a few spectators in it. There are no blind spots at this venue. I suggest you learn a bit more about the layout of a sport venue before attempting to explain that the stadium is half empty due to that factor.
I will be posting your reply in its entirety on my blog shortly, along with this reply. Please advise immediately if there is any reason I may not share your message.
(the photo I sent to Paola is the one I included in my first post of today)
I had a conversation with Eva Havaris about an hour ago, and she confirmed what I suspected: that EC had absolutely no say in what the CBC deemed ‘TV worth watching’. Apparently CBC has allocated a total of 18 hours to equestrian coverage, but has shared with no one the details of what, when or why. I’m going to go out on a limb and predict that we won’t be seeing any cameras at the cross country on Saturday, and that if anyone felt inclined to clock the total equestrian coverage (aka show jumping coverage), it won’t amount to 18 hours of un-repeated footage. I still encourage you to email Eva so that she can go into battle armed with evidence that Dressage IS a sport that people want to see in this country. Especially medal-winning Canadian team dressage.