Will Dot-com Shakeout Leave Developmental Tour Sponsor-Less?

Buy.com Tour Exec VP & COO Bill Calfee said that "barring an unforeseen turnaround in the dot-com marketplace," CA-based Buy.com's five-year, $42.5M title sponsorship of the PGA Tour's developmental tour "won't extend beyond 2002 — if the company survives that long," according to Ryan Herrington of GOLF WORLD BUSINESS. When Buy.com entered into the title deal in October of '99, it "guaranteed only the first three years, using a line of credit as security for payment." While a Buy.com spokesperson would not comment on plans for the final two years of the deal, a source said that the $8.5M per year price tag will "likely preclude it from remaining the sponsor." Meanwhile, Calfee said that the tour is looking at "several options, including changing from" having one title sponsor to the "event-sponsor model practiced on the PGA and senior tours" (GOLF WORLD BUSINESS, 2/19).