Ginn Ends All Pro Golf Sponsorships, Effective Immediately
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PGA Tour Surprised By Ginn's Announcement
To Cut Ties With Champions Tour Event |
Ginn Sports Entertainment and Ginn Development Co. have decided to end their sponsorships of pro golf, effective immediately. Ginn no longer will host or produce the LPGA Ginn Open or the Champions Tour Ginn Championship, and will no longer sponsor individual golfers. Ginn previously said that it would drop its sponsorship of the PGA Tour Ginn sur Mer Classic (Ginn). The AP's Tim Reynolds reported LPGA golfer Cristie Kerr was the last player endorsing Ginn following Annika Sorenstam's retirement. Ginn Development President & CEO Robert Gidel: "We got to a point where we had to give up on hope as a strategy. We just now have to figure out what's in the best interest of our people, and I think that's where a lot of companies are these days." Reynolds noted losing the Ginn Open "would figure to be a major hit to the LPGA," because the event's $2.5M purse was the third largest on tour in '08. If the event is "not replaced or restructured quickly, that would mean" the LPGA would offer 30 events this season, down from 34 last year, with almost $7.5M "less in prize money." Ginn still had three years remaining on its sponsorship with the Champions Tour (AP, 1/28).
TOUR REAX: LPGA Commissioner Carolyn Bivens today said the tour is "extremely disappointed and surprised" by Ginn's announcement. Bivens said in a statement, "While we are keenly aware of the challenges that all businesses are facing in today's economy, we had been led to believe by the Ginn Company that the event would be held as scheduled in 2009." She added the LPGA will look to return to the Orlando market in the future (THE DAILY). PGA Tour Exec VP/Communications & Int'l Relations Ty Votaw said, "We were surprised to read this announcement and disappointed in it given the fact we have an existing agreement with Ginn, and we were in discussions with them on possible modifications to that agreement." Votaw: "We received no indication that an announcement like this was in the works" (AP, 1/28).
IN THE HAZARD: YAHOO SPORTS' Jay Busbee wrote while it is "not surprising that Ginn is getting out of the tournament game," what is of "real concern is the fact that Ginn is peeling out of established contracts early." Golf is "counting on these already-signed contracts to provide revenue for the coming years; if companies start cutting their losses now, the ripple effect on the tours could be far worse than even the gloomiest forecasters projected." The news is "not good, not good at all" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 1/28).
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