IMG, LPGA Drop Purse, TV Plans For Tour Championship Sans Sponsor

By Jon Show, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal

IMG and the LPGA have dropped the purse and network television coverage for the season-ending Tour Championship in Houston after being unable to find a title sponsor. The purse was originally announced last November as $2M with plans for weekend coverage on NBC, but the purse was decreased to $1.5M and network coverage was abandoned after IMG was unable to replace Stanford Financial as title sponsor. The Houston-based institution would have footed both costs but was taken over by the U.S. government in February amid a fraud investigation, just months after agreeing to title sponsor the tournament. As the tournament owner, IMG is responsible for television and purse costs and has been pitching a $3-3.5M annual sponsorship to replace Stanford’s estimated $4-5M annual spend, said sources. The LPGA and IMG last week announced a multi-year deal for The Houstonian Golf & Country Club to host the tournament.