The LPGA Tour was examined by USA TODAY's Jerry Potter
under the header, "Tour Tries To Balance Loss Of Two Key
Sponsors With More TV Exposure." There is "concern" the du
Maurier Classic, one of the Tour's high profile events, will
be gone after '98 "because Canadian law prohibits tobacco
companies from sponsoring sports and cultural events." That
would be the second of two $1M "hits" for the LPGA Tour this
year Sprint had earlier said that "it didn't want to
continue as primary sponsor of the Titleholders
Championship," a $1M event held in FL. But LPGA Tour
Commissioner Jim Ritts is "confident he can structure a
sponsorship for The Titleholders in time for next season"
and is also "developing a series of LPGA events for ESPN and
ESPN2." Ritts: "Rights fees are a huge source of revenue
for the PGA Tour. We can't reach that level, but we can
improve." With the exception of the U.S. Women's Open on
NBC and the 10 LPGA events on The Golf Channel, all other
televised Tour events are time-buys (USA TODAY, 7/31).
BIG APPLE EYES THE BIG TIME: Aware that the du Maurier
may lose its LPGA Tour status as a "major," GOLFWEEK's Chuck
Stogel reports that JAL Big Apple Classic officials "have
made overtures" to the Tour about upgrading their event and
being classified as a "major" tournament (GOLFWEEK, 7/26).
