It’s always been a mystery to me how a company can determine that they can get the value out of a $3 million sponsorship deal of a golf tournament (just making numbers up). I mean, I’m positive they don’t get a percentage of revenue. In fact, they’re pretty much covering prize money.
I understand it’s a ton of exposure to millions of fans, and if Tiger’s at the tournament it’s even more of a captive audience, but is it worth $3 million to sponsor the Western Open? Just looking at $3 million for a name recognition seemed weird to me, but an article in Business Week’s Branding the Course piece offered some interesting information.
First, I’ve always understood why certain companies (uh, enhancement drugs) chose the PGA Tour or Champions Tour as their choice of sponsoree. They both reaching for the same demographic, 40 – 65 year old males. This makes total sense. One thing that doesn’t make sense to me is the PGA Tour’s lack of masculinity. Shouldn’t the Tours have some restrictions on sponsorships based on public perception. Am I the only one who’s not comfortable saying I’ll be watching the Cialis Western Open. Maybe I’m just insecure? I mean, Coleman or Craftsman are after the same demographic, plus they sound more manly. Let’s sign them up. Plus, I’m a little annoyed that you can sponsor everything now, including base’s at a baseball game.
The article points out other amenitities that title sponsors receive, which I’ve never considered. Much of where the money goes is to the amentities offered to the company at the actual tournament. The company gets the poshest house to entertain and can get VIP passes wherever it wants. Plus, since the company is paying the player’s salary (winnings), so (I’m just guessing here) they can probably get a player to pose for some advertisements or photo ops.
This article also hit what I think is the smartest way companies can associate their name with the Tour. I think the best way to get the most out of your dollars is the charity route (Crestor Charity Challenge) or other unconventional routes (Outback Blimp). Both of these offer the same coverage that a title sponsor would get, except this coverage is every week and is much cheaper. AstraZeneca, the parent company of Crestor, has committed $100,000 to the winning player’s charity of choice for each of the 35 PGA Tournaments. This offers a lot in terms of press, advertising, and charity. The Outback Blimp is great. The name recognition alone is incredible. Who doesn’t remember the Goodyear Blimp or even the MetLife, Snoopy 1 Blimp? I’ll remember that before I’d remember who sponsored the Kemper Open.
One thing is for sure, the PGA Tour hasn’t sold out completely. The big tournaments (4 majors, Memorial, The Players Championship) haven’t added a title sponsor, but I’m sure they’ll be considering it at some point.
Being a title sponsor for a tournament is more about showing off than actually getting something out of it. For my money, I’d do what Outback and Crestor are doing. They’re getting press and it’s cheaper! Hey Erik, maybe The Sand Trap could offer $1,000 to the player’s charity of choice for any double-bogey’s or higher on the PGA Tour this year?
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