Place an Ad Calendars Classified Forums Sports Weather

sptimes.com Text-only News sections Arts & Entertainment AP The Wire Business Citrus County Columnists Floridian Hernando County Hillsborough Letters Movies Neighborhood Times News Update North Pinellas North of Tampa Obituaries Opinion Pasco County South Pinellas Sports State Tampa Bay TV Times World & Nation  Find your local news section Weekly sections Brandon Times City Times Homes Outdoors Perspective Personal Tech Taste Travel Weekend Xpress Special Sections Arena football Buccaneers College football Devil Rays Lightning Police reports Schools Seniority Subscriber Services Subscribe Renew Help Advertise Place an ad In print Online Market Info Join Us Internships Scholarships Times Jobs Contact us

Sponsors of events to be hit in purse

© St. Petersburg Times,
published October 11, 2001

Back in July, the PGA Tour announced a television contract for the years 2003-2006 that was said to be worth in excess of $850-million. That means a windfall for the players in terms of larger purses.

It also means a heftier price tag for tournament sponsors, who already were feeling the effects of a lackluster economy before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Unlike other sports in which the networks pay rights fees with the idea they will make a hefty profit by selling advertising time, PGA Tour events work differently. The networks pay those rights fees to the tour with a stipulation that a certain amount of advertising time be guaranteed by the title sponsor.

Consequently, if the networks are paying more, they will charge more for advertising. Those fees will trickle down to corporate sponsors, and they could range from $5-million to $8-million a year per event for title sponsors, according to Golf World.

Some sponsors already have bailed. Canon announced it no longer will sponsor the Hartford event after next year, while Air Canada is dropping out of the tournament in Vancouver. Others, like Genuity, which sponsors the tournament at Doral, are said to be mulling whether they want to be involved in golf.

While the tour celebrated its new television deal in July, it did so knowing that many tournaments do not have contracts with their sponsors beyond the 2002 event. It falls to local tournaments to negotiate those contracts, with the hefty price tags attached.

Among those is the Tampa Bay Classic, which expects to strike a deal with title sponsor Buick and be called the Buick Championship.

"With Buick having multiple tournaments, obviously the tour has a larger impact in helping round out this package," said Gerald Goodman, tournament director for the Tampa Bay Classic. "They have four television events, so that's a little different. But we have every confidence it will get resolved."

Although Goodman acknowledged that the numbers being reported appear to be a huge commitment, he noted that the previous television contracts came with the same baggage.

"Now at the end (of the contract), it seems like a pretty good deal for everybody," he said. "It's going to seem like a pretty hefty number now, but in the end, hopefully, it will be a good deal for everybody."

PREMATURE PROMOTION: Chad Campbell thought he had made it to the big tour this week. He won his third Buy.com Tour event Sunday in California, which means an automatic jump to the PGA Tour, called a "Battlefield Promotion." But the fine print of such a move up means a player falls in line behind Qualifying School graduates from last year. At this time of year, almost all of them play. Campbell arrived in Las Vegas on Monday only to find he was the eighth alternate for the Invensys Classic. He'll play in a Buy.com event instead, but he'll have a full exemption on the PGA Tour in 2002.

AROUND GOLF: As expected, Tiger Woods on Wednesday committed to next week's National Car Rental Classic at Walt Disney World. ... With three tournaments left on the Buy.com Tour, only $375 separates Paul Claxton and Tampa's Ryuji Imada on the money list. Claxton is 15th, and the top 15 at the end of the season receive their 2002 PGA Tour cards. ... The fight for the final spots in next month's season-ending LPGA Tour Championship in West Palm Beach might already be complete. The tour has canceled next week's event in South Korea because of concerns about world events and also could cancel two scheduled events in Japan. LOCALLY: A team from Feather Sound Country Club in Clearwater finished second in the finals of the Oldsmobile Scramble at Walt Disney World over the weekend. The team was led by Feather Sound pro Andy Crowe, who earned $15,000. The amateurs were Sean O'Malia, William Congelio, Tom Komarnicki and Steven Lavely. The tournament is a nationwide event that begins at the club level with more than 5,000 teams attempting to qualify. The Feather Sound team was among 140 in the final field. ESPN has an upcoming special on the event. ... The Verizon Classic, Tampa Bay's Senior PGA Tour stop at the TPC of Tampa, is looking for volunteers for the Feb. 11-17 tournament. Call (813) 265-4653.

-- Information from other news organizations was used in this report.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright