The PGA Tour's Ideon Classic at Pleasant Valley, MA, which
ended Sunday, is looking for a title sponsor. Pleasant Valley
owner Ted Mingolla "is going on the assumption that this year'
title sponsor," Ideon Corp., will no longer be associated with
the tournament. The event has been in search of a "long-term
title sponsor since Bank of Boston ended its nine-year
involvement" in '90. Mingolla is in discussion with other
sponsors, but he has had difficulty signing a deal due "to the
state of the Massachusetts economy." Mingolla felt the exposure
of The Golf Channel, which televised the event, "made it
attractive" (Joe Gordon, BOSTON HERALD, 7/30). But Jack Craig
writes that the tournament needs a title sponsor and added TV
exposure to become a "major" event. Next year's event is also
committed to The Golf Channel, "which can be found virtually
nowhere" in the Boston area, according to Craig. But a title
sponsor willing to commit $2.5M would make Pleasant Valley "a
major TV event." The networks require $2M from a title sponsor,
for which it receives around thirty 30-second spots "over the two
TV afternoons." Craig calls ESPN "a much more efficient
purchase, demanding far less for 54 commercials over three days
of coverage, one reason Anheuser-Busch shifted most of its golf
ads to ESPN" (BOSTON GLOBE, 8/1).
