The PGA of America announced Friday a five-year deal with luxury watchmaker Omega that makes it the "official timepiece of the PGA Championship, the senior PGA Championship and the PGA Grand Slam of Golf, as well as the 2012 and 2014 Ryder Cups,” according to Larry Dorman of the N.Y. TIMES. Omega has already invested in golf in Europe, “where it sponsors the European Masters, and in Asia, where it sponsors the World Cup of Golf at Mission Hills in Shenzhen, China.” The company hopes the deal will “raise its golf profile and expand its reach in the United States, from which it derived roughly 10 percent of its sales last year." Omega President Stephen Urquhart said that the “timing of the company’s expanded investment dovetails with improving economic conditions in the United States, Omega’s investments in retails stores in New York and Los Angeles ... and the return of golf to the Olympic Games in 2016.” Dorman noted the partnership idea came about nine months ago "at the suggestion of Greg Norman, who endorses the Omega brand and who is also close to PGA of America officials." Negotiations for the deal “began six months ago in November” (NYTIMES.com, 6/30). Omega is already activating around its deal with print ads running in Friday's editions of USA Today and the N.Y. Times. They depict a golf ball and an Omega watch suspended against a starry background with the copy, "The Next Great Mission." The ads feature both the PGA of America and Omega logos (THE DAILY).
