Quail Hollow Tourney Faces Tough Climate For Sponsor, Tix Sales
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Corporate Sponsorship Revenue At Quail
Hollow Tourney Down About 8-10% |
The economic downturn has "made sponsorship and hospitality sales a tougher pitch" at the PGA Tour Quail Hollow Championship, which teed off this morning, according to Laura Williams-Tracy of the CHARLOTTE BUSINESS JOURNAL. Criticism "directed at the banking industry's role in the financial crisis" forced Wachovia to pull its name from the event, and Tournament Exec Dir Kym Hougham noted that overall "corporate sponsorship revenue is down 8% to 10%." Hougham: "Financially this will be the hardest year." Williams-Tracy notes the only "significant change" is the "loss of Sprint Corp. as a primary sponsor." Sprint has "dropped to a lower tier, but it's not clear what the financial parameters of its new deal are." None of the 40 companies that "buy sponsorship packages worth $50,000 or more have backed out of the event," and Hougham said that of the major corporate sponsors, 95% have a "four-year contract commitment, which helped soften the impact that could have been felt in the downturn." Williams-Tracy notes 20 of the 48 PGA Tour title sponsors are "in the financial or auto industries, two of the hardest-hit sectors of the economy," and Hougham said that against that backdrop, the Quail Hollow Championship "has fared comparatively well" (CHARLOTTE BUSINESS JOURNAL, 4/24 issue).
TICKETS SLOW TO SELL: The CHARLOTTE BUSINESS JOURNAL's Sam Boykin writes while the tournament once was "considered an automatic -- and early -- sellout," this year's event "has been hit by the general recession, as well as the suddenly diminished interest in business entertainment." Tournament Chair Mac Everett acknowledged that ticket sales are "lagging this year, but he thinks the event will still sell out." Everett: "We're doing well based on the environment we find ourselves in." Boykin notes ticket prices for this year's event remained the same as last year, and tickets "went on sale at a SouthPark mall kiosk" last month, marking the "first time the PGA Tour event has made tickets available at a retail location" (CHARLOTTE BUSINESS JOURNAL, 4/24 issue).
WHAT'S IN A NAME? ESPN.com's Bob Harig listed Wells Fargo/Wachovia as a "Bogey" in his Birdies and Bogeys feature. Wells Fargo "took over for Wachovia last year, and then in the wake of all the federal bailout talk, decided to drop its name" from this week's event. The Quail Hollow Championship name "certainly sounds better, but wouldn't it be prudent to get some return on investment?" Wells Fargo is "still on the hook for its sponsorship fees this week -- as it will be through 2014, the length of the contract" (ESPN.com, 4/29). CNBC.com's Darren Rovell wrote, "If hosting people at golf tournaments legitimately works and it makes sense to business, then I, as a taxpayer, want to see banks continue to have their names on tournaments and continue to do what they do in hospitality tents. ... If putting your name on a tournament can generate profits, then why is Morgan Stanley, like Wachovia/Wells Fargo, taking its name off the Memorial? Isn’t it worse to pay for it and get nothing out of it? Why can’t executives answer public pressure with stats that will convince taxpayers and politicians that continuing to use this type of marketing is good business?" Rovell: "The answer might not be what the PGA Tour and other sports leagues want to hear. That is, that the money that these companies were spending often did not justify a return on investment. And that the no name tournaments, propped up by scared companies, are just a step away from having to eliminate some of the tournaments themselves" (CNBC.com, 4/29).
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