Morgan Stanley has signed on as the third top-level sponsor of the The Players Championship, the biggest event operated by the PGA Tour.
The company signed a four-year deal to join PwC and Optum as companies designated Proud Partner sponsors of the tournament, held at the tour-owned TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. This year’s event is scheduled for May 12-15.
Specific financial terms were not disclosed, but according to sources familiar with the event’s deals, Proud Partner sponsorships are seven-figure annual agreements.
Excel Sports Management represented Morgan Stanley in the deal.
The sponsorship provides Morgan Stanley with hospitality, on-course signage and, significantly, a media presence during the tournament’s broadcast. TV advertising is limited to Proud Partner sponsors.
Golf Channel carries the Thursday and Friday rounds of play. NBC airs the weekend coverage.
“The real unique part of the value proposition is the way the broadcast is treated,” said Brian Oliver, senior vice president of corporate partnerships for the PGA Tour. “There is limited inventory and it is divided among the three partners equally so they have exclusivity. It is a clean environment, and we make sure the Proud Partner level is above everyone else.”
The Players does have some local supplier deals, but the Proud Partner companies are the sole sponsors of the event, Oliver said.
The last time the PGA Tour had three top-level partners of the Players was in 2010, when it counted PwC, UBS and Jeld-Wen as its Proud Partner supporters.
The tour does not intend to sell a title sponsor for the tournament, instead selling the Proud Partner level as the event’s highest tier.
“I think we are more than happy and satisfied,” Oliver said. “We are not out searching for more. The model works well for our partners and the tournament.”
The deal marks a return to the PGA Tour event sponsorship business for Morgan Stanley. It was presenting sponsor of the Memorial Tournament from 2004 through 2010, but in the wake of the 2009 financial crisis, it did not extend that seven-year deal upon its expiration. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. took over as presenting sponsor of the Memorial Tournament in 2011.
“This partnership will enable us to deepen our connections with our existing and potential clients and demonstrate in a new forum our commitment to putting clients first,” said Mandell Crawley, chief marketing officer of Morgan Stanley, in a statement.
