Valley pro golf tournaments search for title sponsors
The valley’s professional golf tournament sponsorships are in flux.
First, Kraft-Nabisco announced late last year it would end its 33-year association with the LPGA Major. And now, Humana has withdrawn from the PGA Tour just four years into an eight-year deal. Both tournaments are on the hunt for new backers.
“It’s a big ticket item, but big ticket items sell every day,” said Bob Marra, executive director and CEO of the Humana Challenge.
Lending a company’s name to either tournament costs about $6 million. The former Kraft-Nabisco championship says there’s a lot of interest from global corporations.
Asian players continue to dominate the LPGA and U.S. television viewership of the tournament isn’t on par with that overseas.
“It makes it very attractive for an Asian-based company that is intrigued by women’s golf or spending in women’s golf,” said Gabe Codding, director of the Kraft-Nabisco Championship. “A lot of companies we are talking to are from that part of the world.”
Meanwhile, the challenge for Humana after 2015 will be finding a company that aligns with the tournament’s health and wellness focus and its partnership with the Clinton Foundation, which we’re told will continue.
But with or without a title sponsor, the PGA Tour claims it’s committed to backing the tournament until a new corporate sponsor is found.
“The PGA Tour has a special group of people that works year-round at developing relationships for when this kind of situation arises so that when this happens we have a pipeline of people, and then it’s about making it the right fit,” Marra said.
This isn’t the first time large tournaments have seen sponsors change hands. Both directors say the future of the pro tournaments here are far from being in jeopardy. In part because both events are deeply rooted in history and tradition, and also because of their positive economic impact.
“Forty-five percent of the people who attend are visitors. They’re taking hotel rooms, they’re dining at our restaurants, they’re shopping, buying gas and that money gets spent over again,” Marra said.
