“We need a Tiger Woods effect for women’s golf to get it off the ground,” according to Stephen Urquhart, president of Omega, which has just signed a 10-year sponsorship deal with golf’s Ladies European Tour. The deal cements Omega’s footprint in golf, which marks its biggest investment in an individual sport. The Swiss watch brand has existing partnerships with the U.S. PGA and the Ryder Cup, sponsors European Tour Events in Switzerland and Dubai, and sponsors a handful of individual players, including Rory Mcllroy and rising English teenage women’s golf star Charley Hull. The deal between Omega and the LET involves the promotion of the game and support of women’s golf in Europe, whose profile has suffered because of a lack of TV exposure, shortage of global marketable stars and dominance of the men’s game.
ON THE WAY UP: But Urquhart believes that the game is on the up and will be given a further fillip when golf returns to the Olympics after a 112-year hiatus in the Rio 2016 Olympics. Urquhart said, “People forget that when the Olympics comes to Rio, there will be women and men’s golf on an equal footing and the gold medal will be same value for men and women.” LET organizers hope that Omega’s involvement will prompt other big brands to follow suit, though Urquhart would not be drawn on whether he thought this was the case. He does, though, believe that the solution to raising the profile of the LET could be through an improved promotion of tournaments, as opposed to Omega sponsoring more individual stars.
INCREASING EXPOSURE: Under LET CEO Ivan Khodabakhsh, the game is now receiving more TV exposure and Urquhart is hoping that improved exposure will help balloon interest. Urquhart points to the example of the Ryder Cup, which he said 25 years ago was a “non-event” that nobody watched. Now, he said, “it’s unbelievable.” He said, “I think we need time for it to grow. We need a Tiger Woods effect for women’s golf to get it off the ground.” Omega’s sports sponsorship portfolio has stretched across a number of sports in recent times including the Olympics, athletics and swimming. Urquhart said Omega had no plans to move into new sports.
John Reynolds is a writer in London.
