The Ryder Cup has become such "a sports spectacle" in
the past 15 years that companies are "finding themselves
besieged with requests from around the world for access" to
this year's event at the Country Club in Brookline, MA,
according to Gregg Krupa of the BOSTON GLOBE. BankBoston,
PricewaterhouseCoopers and Xerox are among the 59 companies
who paid from $250,000 to $500,000 "for tents and tickets"
to the event. BankBoston Exec VP Ira Jackson: "This is not
just about having a good time. It's us doing business at a
major sporting event." Krupa added that some observers said
that "a quid pro quo is clearly implied" with Cup
hospitality. Boston PR consultant Ray Howell: "Everyone
expects that it will play out that way, eventually. The
sense of everyone is that deals are going to be cut with
this very much in mind." Since the Ryder Cup has become "so
desirable," many of the companies have "doubled and tripled
their investment" in the event. Lyman Bullard of Boston law
firm Choate, Hall & Stewart, which paid $250,000 for tickets
and a 100-person tent at the event, said that clients were
"just ecstatic about it, blown away" after they received
their invitations from the firm (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/14).
