BofA Opts Not To Renew Champions Tour Title Deal In Mass

By Jon Show, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal

GREEN INITIATIVE: BofA is in the process of examining its golf efforts to focus more on product sales and less on branding. “This signals a multi-year move to re-examine our overall position in golf,” said BofA Senior VP/National Media Relations Joe Goode, who called the length of the 16-year relationship with the event “pretty unusual.” The company ended its title sponsorship of the PGA Tour’s Colonial in ’06. It currently operates the Hogan’s Alley hospitality suite that travels to about 16 PGA Tour, LPGA and Champions Tour events throughout the country. In the last year, BofA added official sponsorship status with the NFL and NASCAR to its existing deal with MLB, MiLB and Little League.

THEIR KIND OF TOWN: Meanwhile, the Charlotte-based company’s summer acquisition of LaSalle Bank included ownership of the Nationwide Tour event in Chicago, which will be renamed the Bank of America Open. The event has a contract with Tour through '09. “If you look at the Colonial and the Championship I think those tournaments helped us achieve the levels of brand awareness that we have today in those markets,” said Goode. “In Chicago we’re building our brand awareness, so properties like the Nationwide Tour might make sense.”

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