The future of the annual Senior PGA Tour stop in
Sarasota, FL, "is in doubt after" LiquidGolf.com announced
that it will not sponsor the 2001 tournament, according to
Mike Henry of the BRADENTON HERALD. Officials at Octagon
Marketing, the event's management company, and the Senior
PGA Tour are "cautiously optimistic" that a title sponsor
will "step forward in time to include the tournament on next
year's calendar." Octagon Marketing Group Dir & event Exec
Dir Bob Burris said that "corporate sponsorship of the
tournament requires a financial commitment" of $1.8-2M.
Burris: "A conglomerate of companies could still make it
work, and we might need that kind of effort because it is
getting late." Meanwhile, Henry noted that although
LiquidGolf.com is ending its sponsorship of the Sarasota
stop, the company is "increasing its overall sponsorship" of
the Senior Tour (BRADENTON HERALD, 8/30).
MAYBE YOU CAN'T BANK ON IT: In St. Paul, Gregg Wong
reports that 3M has become the new title sponsor of the
Senior Tour's Coldwell Banker Burnet Classic, beginning next
year. Wong writes that 3M's "re-entry into major sports
sponsorship is going more mainstream," as the company's
"last major" sports sponsorship was with the U.S. Olympic
luge program before the '92 Winter Games." 3M has been a
"lesser sponsor" of the Senior Tour event each year. Wells
Fargo was "believed to be the successor to Coldwell Banker
Burnet" (see THE DAILY, 8/30), but will remain the event's
presenting sponsor. Next year's purse will increase from
$1.6M to $1.75M (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 8/31).
