The PGA Tour has signed United Rentals Inc. to a five-year sponsorship.
Tour officials declined to disclose financial terms of the deal, but one golf industry source said tour marketing partnerships range between $2 million and $5 million annually. Because United Rentals will provide rental equipment services to the PGA Tour, Champions Tour, Web.com Tour and PGA Tour Canada, the estimated spending in the deal is around $2 million annually, the source said.
The deal represents a new sponsorship category for the tour, which counts around 50 official marketing partners. United Rentals will be the official rental equipment supplier for the tour.
“The biggest thing is that it is a new category and they will spend and activate across our media properties as well and our tournaments and TPC properties,” said Brian Oliver, senior vice president of corporate partnerships for the PGA Tour.
Stamford, Conn.-based United Rentals has 881 rental locations across the United States and Canada. That volume helps tie the company’s services to the needs of the various PGA Tour events around the country, something that was a major factor in the deal, Oliver said. “They are uniquely positioned to have the services and equipment in the local markets to service the needs of the tournaments,” he said.
The sponsorship takes effect immediately and deepens the company’s involvement in golf. United Rentals has a player sponsorship deal with PGA Tour pro Ryan Palmer.
“The tour fits culturally with us and with our branch network and the PGA Tour’s vast tournament network,” said Rob Bower, vice president of national accounts for United Rentals, adding that the company has a local branch in each PGA Tour stop market.
United Rentals did not use an agency for the deal, and Bower said the company may look for future sponsorship opportunities in golf to extend their brand.
“We look at the deal as a long-term partnership and we are not just taking a stab at this,” he said. “We see it as a huge fit for us.”
