The WGC-Bridgestone Invitational began today at Firestone Country Club in Akron, and the tournament this year is "offering an expanded use of mobile-entry services, allowing both grounds and Championship Club ticket holders to use virtual passes on their smartphones to enter the event," according to Zachary Woznak of CRAIN'S CLEVELAND BUSINESS. The service also "lets fans transfer tickets to friends and family electronically." Electronic ticketing is "still relatively new to golf." Ticketmaster "only brought the technology to the PGA Tour last year," shortly before the '14 Bridgestone, where the service "was limited to grounds-ticket buyers." PGA Tour championship management ticket operations head Jamie Hall said that only 5% of the "eligible grounds-ticket holders took advantage of the mobile-ticketing service at Bridgestone last year." He said that that is "about average for the PGA Tour events as a whole." He added that the PGA Tour "doesn’t save any money by offering mobile ticketing." Instead, he said it is just “keeping up with the industry.” Woznak noted encouraging the use of mobile tickets is a "shift for the PGA Tour, which used to ban cellphones at events so the devices wouldn’t distract players." Hall said that the Tour lifted the ban in '11 when it "recognized the popularity of mobile apps and started providing fans with additional information via their cellphones." He added that the Tour "plans to continue with its expansion of digital services, offering complete mobile-entry options within the next few years" (CRAINSCLEVELAND.com, 8/5).
OHIO PLAYERS: In Cleveland, Kevin Kleps notes the tournament's total attendance "has increased each year" since '09, with last year's event drawing about 90,000. Tournament Exec Dir Don Padgett III said that a "key aspect of that development is a sponsorship renewal rate" that is usually in the 80-90% range. Bridgestone extended its title sponsorship through '18 in August '13, and Padgett said “a lot” of the tournament's sponsors followed suit. Also, Akron Children's Hospital VP/Development John Zoilo said that the hospital's partnership with the tournament "has resulted in donations that are 'comfortably' in the seven-figure range." Kleps notes this year, Akron Children's Hospital and University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital "will each receive $100,000 as the tournament's signature charities, plus $100 donations from the tournament for every birdie compiled by Ohio natives Ben Curtis and Jason Dufner." Akron Children's Hospital is "one of the sponsors of the Bridgestone's Signature Suite on the 16th green." Zoilo said that the suite -- which costs $49,500 plus taxes for a group of 24 -- "helps the hospital 'deepen' its relationships with its donors" (CRAIN'S CLEVELAND BUSINESS, 8/2 issue).
