Organizers of the Open Championship are "adamantly opposed to use of the term British Open, and have launched a serious campaign to eradicate it from the American sports lexicon," according to Brian Costa of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. The event's governing body, the R&A, views the "Open Championship" and "The Open" as "interchangeable" names for the tournament. To win the broadcast rights beginning in '16, NBC Sports had to "agree as part of the contract that it would refer to the tournament strictly as the Open or the Open Championship." NBC, in turn, has "instructed announcers not to use the phrase 'British Open' on the air." Likewise, the R&A last year "appealed to American print media outlets in the hope that a change in the published name for it will prompt stateside fans to use the proper reference." But most U.S. news organizations "continue to call it the British Open." The R&A is "quick to note" that it is a "global event." Arnold Palmer Enterprises Chair Alastair Johnston, a longtime IMG executive who has represented the R&A in media rights, licensing and sponsorships since the '90s, said that the "B word has complicated some licensing negotiations in Asia." Johnston: "Business partners in Japan are saying, 'Please call it the British Open because it will mean more to people here'" (WSJ.com, 7/18). On Long Island, Neil Best notes Americans "almost exclusively have called it the British Open." In the mid-'00s, the R&A "successfully convinced its American TV partners to use the old-school term." It was similar to NBC’s Olympics decision in '06 that Turin, as Americans refer to it, "would go by its Italian name, Torino." NBC's Mike Tirico said, "That's the way they want it referred to. ... As a rights-holder they asked. That's the way they're branding their event ... it's their championship, for God's sake" (NEWSDAY, 7/18).
