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Events and Attractions

PGA Tour Honda Classic Continues Growth From Afterthought To Prime Tournament

The PGA Tour's Florida Swing kicks off this week with the Honda Classic, and since the tournament moved to Palm Beach County in '03, it has grown "into an event drawing nearly 200,000 fans" and is now "lauded by local boosters for the international attention it brings," according to Jeff Ostrowski of the PALM BEACH POST. The first year after relocating from Broward County drew just 40,000 fans, "raising fears that perhaps area fans would continue their tepid support of pro golf." However, since moving from Mirasol to PGA National in '07, the tourney's trajectory "has been nearly straight up." Attendance "has risen every year, reaching 193,052" last year. Tiger Woods playing the event in '12 "seemed a crucial cog," but if the tourney's crowds increase this year without Woods, it will "underscore the reality" that off-the-course promotions are as important as elite play on the course. The Honda Classic in recent years has "added such festivities as four nights of concerts and two fireworks shows." Kids 15 or younger "get in for free, and the tournament offers face painting and video games." The tourney's "social scene" is around The Bear Trap, the "hospitality area at the course's 17th hole that has ballooned to 60,000 square feet this year." The hospitality area in '07 was just 10,000 square feet. Tournament Dir Ed McEnroe's top challenges with "attendance soaring ... are finding parking for all the fans and staying true to the event's roots as a golf tournament" (PALM BEACH POST, 2/21). Tournament officials yesterday also said that "demand was so great for spots in Wednesday’s Pro-Am that there will be no celebrity foursome this year" (PALMBEACHPOST.com, 2/23).

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Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

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SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

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