Storage Needed: Tampa's '09 PGA Event In Search Of Title Sponsor

PODS Letting Title Sponsorship Of PGA Tour Event Expire

PGA Tour PODS Championship Tournament Dir Gerald Goodman is "very confident" the event will find title sponsorship after PODS' deal expires following this weekend's event, according to Rodney Page of the ST. PETERSBURG TIMES. PODS in '07 signed an agreement to title sponsor the event through 2012 at nearly $7M annually, but it "invoked its bail-out clause" after the company was sold last December. Goodman said the PGA "tells us over and over, 'You are a priority.' Right now, we are anticipating a sponsor." However, Page noted the tournament, which has previously been sponsored by JCPenney and Chrysler, could be "in danger of ending its run in Tampa Bay."  PGA Tour Dir of Tournament Business Affairs Tim Crosby: "Realistically, we can't wait until the fall. We have to have some sense of urgency after this year's tournament. I don't want to tie it down, but I'd say late spring, early summer, probably. ... Our first priority is to get Tampa back on its feet." Crosby said that could mean returning the tournament to a fall date, while one of the fall events would move to the third week in March for next year. Crosby: "It's conceivable we could move it to the fall series." He added that the "worse case" scenario is the tournament would be dropped from the '09 schedule (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, 3/3).